Peaceful Protest as a Tool for Social Change

Peaceful protests have always been a powerful weapon to generate social change and to advocate for social justice. The Black Lives Matter protests are a means to make visible that the US government has failed to address police brutality against Black Americans in the United States, that racial discrimination is still a reality and that it needs to be addressed with urgency

The right of protest can be legally exercised if it is done in a peaceful and non-violent manner The year 2020 will be a historic year in American history Social and civil unrest exploded in 2020 as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought unprecedented deaths, a massive increase in unemployment rates - with much higher rates among Black and Hispanic workers as compared with White workers - and anger at long-standing racism and racial inequities in the country Between March and May of 2020, abusive policing and racial injustice claimed two new victims, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd Both were Black victims of deadly police brutality in the context of poorly planned raids and an abusive use of force by White police officers.

In the year 2020 alone, approximately 1,930 killings - hate crimes - against Black Americans took place, indicating that systemic racism against Black Americans is still rampant in the US. Discrimination is complex and multifaceted, and it is present not only in State or public structures but also in civil society in general Discrimination affects the way people are treated in all spheres of society: politics, education, employment, social and medical services, housing, the penitentiary/criminal system, law enforcement and the administration of justice in general The pandemic threw all these blatant inequities into sharp focus, and it was no longer possible to ignore them.

Nonviolent resistance and Satyagraha are important tools underlying peaceful movements like Black Lives Matter or the 100 Million Campaign founded by Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi to eradicate child labor and promote children’s right to education To tackle these problems in a cohesive manner, apart from building the Global March Against Child Labor, “he conceived, shaped, launched and led one of the biggest civil society initiatives, called the Global Campaign for Education by linking the issue of child labor with education and encouraging international NGOs, teachers unions, and civil society organizations to work together.”

Kailash Satyarthi recognizes that child empowerment should be one of the greatest priorities of every civilization. He has shown that protests can be effective and a powerful tool to encourage social change. However, peaceful protest will not guarantee that protesters will not be met with unlawful use of force by police, who often abuse their power and force in the name of maintaining or restoring public order

Peaceful Protest

The Kenyan School House Campaign

100 Million Campaign

Global March Against Child Labor

Why was there social and civil unrest in the United States in 2020?

Children of Bal Ashram

100 Million Campaign

Children of Bal Ashram Study Guide

1 Million

Global March Against Child Labor

#SayHerName Campaign to visualize police brutality against black women

Darnella Frazier public statement on how witnessing George Floyd took a part of her and her 9-year-old cousin’s childhood

Operation Days Work (3mins 32 secs)