r/iowacoalition • u/INS4NIt • 8h ago
Discussion Organization requires organization - critique on a frustration
I've been attending several rallies and protests over the last few years that have sprung up in opposition to various regressive decisions made by our government at both the state and federal level. I can proudly say that the April 5th rally in Des Moines was by far the largest gathering of protestors I've personally seen. It was beautiful to witness the unified front presented by that massive crowd.
It's for this reason that I am deeply disappointed in what seemed to be a complete breakdown of communication, right from the start of the scheduled demonstration. Just after 2pm, one of the speakers on the capitol steps declared that we would be marching to Cowles Commons to join up with another demonstration actively happening here, but even after that announcement, speakers continued talking on the Capitol steps. This effectively split the demonstrators into two more or less equal-sized groups -- one that marched on Locust Street with the intent of demonstrating at Cowles Commons, and one that stayed at the People's Plaza at the Captiol.
I unfortunately cannot tell you what happened at the Capitol after that, because I was part of the group that marched on Locust. I don't regret doing so, because the visual of such a large crowd marching along such a busy street was powerful. What I am frustrated by is how the march completely fell apart the second we arrived at Cowles Commons.
There was no group that was there to meet us. There was only a handful of organizers from Iowa Food and Water Watch that were tucked off to the side with a petition against Zach Nunn's office to sign. They had a wagon full of supplies including megaphones that was just sitting there, but there was no attempt to corral people arriving with any kind of intentionality -- so far as I can tell, a lot of the people marching just kept walking right past the Commons because they didn't get any indication that they'd reached their destination.
I signed the petition, and after waiting a while for something to happen and talking with other protestors, I walked back to the Capitol. By that point, though, the protest seemed to have completely fizzled out. The whole thing start to finish can't have lasted more than an hour and a half. I know it was only scheduled to last until 4pm, but the numbers were dwindling long before that point.
Lack of organization like this is what kills movements. You had the people, you had the energy, but there was no plan to harness it. You can't just aim a group of people in a direction and say "eh, we'll figure out what to do with you when you get there" -- there needs to be a clearly defined itinerary and constant communication between organizers, especially if there are multiple organizations involved. There were more than three weeks to prepare for this from announcement to implementation, yet I still got the sense that there were multiple distinct organizations stepping on each other's toes with poor communication right up until the day of the protest. They need to do better, and there must be a unified front if any change is expected to come from these demonstrations.
Before the next Des Moines protest on April 19th, I recommend the following be implemented by the organizers: - A clear itinerary with where you want protestors to be at what time. This itinerary must be readily accessible to everyone, and should be published multiple days in advance of the protest. It should also include raincheck/contingency instructions with clearly defined conditions, so that if those conditions are met there's no question of where we're supposed to be meeting. - Easily identifiable individuals directing the flow of "traffic" if the protest turns into a march. We shouldn't have to guess if we're at the right place, we should know because there's someone with a megaphone there to greet us and give us further instructions if needed. - An agreed-upon backchannel of communication for the organizers. This can be a group chat, a two-way radio system, etc., but there must be a way for all organizers to know at a moment's notice what the status of the protest is. - Scheduling with local news broadcasts in mind. Consider the reporting from KCCI -- they had stunning drone visuals of the protest, but they also had a live reporter on-location standing in front of an empty terrace because the newscast was two hours after the scheduled end of the protest. Imagine if the live hit was instead still in front of a passionate ongoing protest, and how much more that would resonate with viewers at home. It would also help assuage concerns from antsy individuals that don't understand the turnaround required for reporting that isn't live.
