Examples of Blockades
A blockade is a physical disruption of movement, or encircling a building that your message is focused on.
Examples of Blockades: Encircling the White House to protest drone policies by linking arms and shouting protest chants. Or, preventing staff from entering a building of a corrupt organization by linking arms, or using gear such as chains, u-locks, etc.
At Brandeis University, students created a faux shanty town to protest the University’s investment in the South Africa apartheid government. These are all examples of blockades.
How can you adapt this to peace advocacy? Here are some ideas:
Blockade actions can be an extension of a protest, as in the White House example above, or they can be physically disruptive, in which case they should be pre-planned. Contact Kate at firstname.lastname@example.org for more details. Here are some ideas:
- Linking arms is a very peaceful gesture. It can become a powerful protest when people, linking arms to disrupt the exit/entrance of a pro-war speaker, start singing peace songs or chanting protest slogans.
- If you have specific demands, create a protest around the building/organization that you are protesting. Ask protesters to link arms around the building as they protest. This could be the White House, a University official, or another entity.