An Idea for Protest in the Internet Age
Born in Bozeman, Montana
Crosswalk Soapbox (CS) is simple.
A group of polite, law-abiding protestors spends 30 minutes a day, same time, same day of the week, circulating through the crosswalks on Main Street and its side streets. The crosswalks in downtown Bozeman are green for crossing Main Street for 40 seconds. They are green for crossing side streets (Willson, Tracy, Black, Bozeman, Rouse) for 30 seconds. In CS we are legally entitled to move through those crosswalks with signs and other manifestations of free speech. CS is an alternative to large protests and their signs on the sidewalks of Bozeman. The signs carried in current protests, however clever, are not really readable to the audience, passing drivers. In CS, there is ample time for drivers and pedestrians to read the messages we want to convey and consider them.
I have spoken with several Bozeman Police officers in some detail, and they confirmed that they saw no legal issue with CS.
Given that this would be a weekly, biweekly, or even daily event, there is no need to upset shop owners and civilian pedestrians with excessive noise. To that end, there will be signs like "No Honk, Flash!" encouraging drivers to express their support visually by turning on their emergency flashers (red/white triangle pushbutton on the dash). This avoids complaints about the noise inflicted by well-meaning but annoying honking. And it suggests a new idea for protest, one that is available, at any time, to anyone driving a vehicle.
Note on signs: Best if they are pithy (maximum 8 words) and readable from across an intersection (minimum 9 inches tall) and free of obscenities. Be clever and clear.
I applaud the regular efforts at the Courthouse and marches organized by Indivisible. I applaud the positive effect of keeping those already on "our side" invigorated. I just happen to believe that CS would be more effective in reaching people who are sympathetic to our view AND those who may be having doubts about their support of Trump et.al.
As a regular event at a regular time, CS allows wide latitude for people to participate when they have time, as often as they feel motivated. Depending on current events, signs can be as somber, as sarcastic, or as humorous as the moment needs.
CS lends itself to attracting news coverage of this novel approach. That news coverage that can be posted on Social Media is a first step to expanding the idea beyond Bozeman.
The legal "weeds" regarding crosswalks:
It is technically illegal for any motor vehicle to enter ANY PART of a crosswalk while ANY PART of the crosswalk is occupied by pedestrians. All those right turns on red that we all make when the part of the crosswalk in front of us is empty? Illegal. If someone is one inch from the curb on the complete other side of the crosswalk from you in your vehicle, you break the law with that right-hand turn.
Pedestrians must keep moving through the crosswalk. There is no rule about how fast you move. Obviously, older people in wheelchairs or young moms with a couple of toddlers in hand may end up crossing far more slowly. If you drop a glove and stop to pick it up, are you breaking the law? Unclear. If you are nearly through the crosswalk and realize you left your wallet in Chalet Sports and turn around to retrieve it, you are legal. You are still moving.
You just entered the crosswalk while the light is green. You are one inch into the crosswalk, and the red hand begins blinking the ten-second countdown. You can finish your traverse of the crosswalk AT YOUR OWN COMFORTABLE OR SAFE PACE. Even if the light goes red while in the crosswalk. You are entitled to complete your crossing, and NO vehicles can enter the crosswalk while you are crossing, even if the vehicles have a green light. It would be legal if you entered the crosswalk on green, it turned to a flashing red hand immediately, you got to within an inch of the other side and decided you'd changed your mind and turned around and crossed all the way back.
Non-violent Civil Disobedience: Unfortunately Indivisible Bozeman has chosen to eschew any association with any mention of breaking the law. IMHO, this is self-sabotage. Without non-violent civil disobedience, the Civil Rights Act would never have happened. The Vietnam War would have lasted longer and been deadlier. The image of the dead student at Kent State and lunch-counter sit-ins rattled the moral compass of America.
How could CS morph into Non-violent Civil Disobedience? By just staying in the crosswalk through a cycle of green light for vehicles. This poses very little risk of harm to anyone. (Remember, if there is ANYONE in the crosswalk, it is illegal for cars to enter the crosswalk, even if the light is green for cars). And how would this be deployed? For instance, in the middle of a 30-minute-long CS, protestors stay, without warning, in the crosswalk for one light cycle. They could do that just once every CS, or randomly several times during a CS. Will that discomfit drivers? Of course. But the message is that your fellow citizens think that a driver's additional 40 seconds of delay drives home the message... "This is important, pay attention". It sends the message that your fellow citizens are willing to test the tension between Free Speech and the laws governing crosswalks. It sends the message that your fellow citizens are willing to be ticketed and/or arrested to get the message across. Some drivers will be angry and complain but some drivers will turn on their flashers and wait patiently because they agree.
And consider the impact of CS taking place simultaneously in cities large and small across the nation. And consider the impact of regular uploads of videos of CS in many places.
Consider how childishly entitled that angry driver who posts "I was delayed by 40 seconds yesterday at a downtown crosswalk".
An approach to non-violent civil disobedience like CS could be an effective element of a General Strike.
And give me a break, I am not a genius with AI picture production. But you get the idea. AI can't seem to get vehicles oriented at intersections correctly... oh well. Click here for a video.
And a special thanks for inspiration to James Corden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZSVf-yD7N8
Contact me if you are interested, intrigued, or just want to learn more. Kent Madin rett139@yahoo.com