Critical Mass

A week ago today we were wondering what would happen in the U.S. midterm elections. Now we know 124.3 million Americans cast a ballot. The results couldn't be clearer in what is said to be the biggest turnout since 1914, before most of us were born.

Two years ago, I showed up to the first protest rally without a sign to hold up. I just went, as I always have when I feel moved to do so by issues bearing down on freedom. On that bright, crisp February day in the Sunshine State, there were less than 50 people standing around with signs to "Save Democracy". The next time a rally was organized, I made a sign and joined hundreds of others. And so it went for every protest when more and more people with signs seemed to be moving the needle toward reaching critical mass.

Political Scientists said that we needed 11.3 million people to have an effect and accomplish our goal of stopping the outrageous behavior of our sitting government. The numbers of protesters across the country while ever-growing, fell short. Then, Tuesday happened. It was clear we had surpassed critical mass and things were about to change, one way or the other.

What became clear to me was something else.

Protests do not tell the whole story. Each time I joined, I was either dismayed by the numbers, or relieved. But, I was always disappointed that sign-carrying Americans were mostly of a certain age, my age or older. I questioned my thirty-something daughter about not getting out there when so much was at stake. We went together once when I was visiting her in Boston on the date of a "No Kings" rally. We talked about the reasons to protest: make your voice heard; stand up to power; join in solidarity.

It turns out I was the one about to learn a lesson.

Protests are not the measuring stick that matters most to effect lasting and sustaining results. For every protester there are many more people who cannot or will not engage in the public square--leaving out social media here is my own bias, as I make my point.

Before I was old enough to vote, I carried signs into the public square to join in solidarity with students' voices against the Vietnam War. It was personal because friends and neighbors were drafted, or fled, changing our neighborhood as boys with buzz cuts during the long-haired sixties wore army uniforms. Then, abortion rights under "Roe v Wade" made its way to the public square and many of the same people protested together, myself included. When I found myself doing the same thing fifty-years later, I stood alongside women my daughter's age. The right to choose once again was under threat, but this time for my granddaughters and daughter.

Each protests over the decades was not a decision forced on me, but a choice I made. Not everyone makes that choice. I used to ask "why not"? without considering the many obstacles some people face. I used to think some people didn't care enough--I used to think some people, mostly those of the younger generations, had abdicated their right to peaceful protest-- I used to think, if only all these other people would come out we would reach critical mass!

All these other people did come out when it counted most and we blew through critical mass theory before the polls closed! Next time I am out with my sign, I'll remember that there is more than one way for citizens to stand united.

The only way to get change is not through the courts or — heaven forbid — the politicians, but through a change of human consciousness and through a change of heart.

— Leslie Marmon Silko