A couple of friends, whom I knew best in the 1980’s, will visit St. Louis, Missouri, my home, this weekend. They will be our guests, at our restored historic townhouse; I am in charge of showing them my city during their visit and entertaining them. They are socially progressive people and it occurred to me that they might enjoy a chance, while here, to take to the streets, to support nonviolent demonstrations against police murder of unarmed African-Americans, in our community and elsewhere.
In the last month, a broad cross-section of St. Louis people have turned out for actions, protests, demonstrations and other acts of resistance and opposition loosely organized under the banner of Black Lives Matter. In numbers ranging from dozens to thousands, these actions have peacefully and nonviolently imposed temporary closures of streets, expressways and parking malls. Flash mobs of protesters have popped up on iconic city streets, in front of the mayor’s house and at the scenes of local murders by killer cops.
Our season of protest in St. Louis broke out last month, when a racially biased judge acquitted a killer St. Louis cop of the obvious murder of an unarmed African-American, Anthony Lamar Smith. Protest leaders have promised three hundred days of action. “This street closed due to injustice” has become part of the fabric of St. Louis life, and this will, foreseeably, persist.
Although I have recognized that a new twist on nonviolent civil disobedience has broken out in St. Louis, the significance of that didn’t entirely sink in until I saw this comment, by Meteor Blades, in one of my posts covering the protests —
We’re beginning to see a some understandable resistance fatigue nationwide, and that’s worrisome because just getting Trump toppled is not going to be enough by itself to block the Republican agenda. After all, Reagan was elected just six years after Nixon flew away in Marine One.
Therefore, it spurs hope to have an example of people who are continuing to resist despite any fatigue they may be feeling and even as heavily armed police mock them. Throughout the history of the U.S., effective resistance has always required being relentless. So huzzah to these street protesters.
Huzzah, indeed!
So, I started to think about whether resistance tourism might be a thing. My leftist friends are already planning a visit. I should find a nice action, demonstration, protest or nonviolent disruption where we can stand-up and march, while they are here. They will be here for a few days. We’ll see a play, go to the zoo, visit the monuments, see great art, enjoy the parks, eat at fabulous restaurants, dig some blues, tour a brewery and march for racial justice. Not a bad weekend.
If there were such a thing as resistance tourism it would serve beneficial purposes. Extra supporters attending any action add to the apparent size of the action even if they don’t directly commit civil disobedience themselves. In other words, walking on a sidewalk and walking in a street are two different things, but both are very good. Any demonstration that looks larger, is larger. Further, the more outsiders who come in to participate in sustained resistance in St. Louis, the more that, as Meteor Blades might suggest, people from elsewhere could appreciate the value of persistent and relentless resistance. Win Win.
So, there’s that.