Standing Rock Wins — Protest That Works

The protest at Standing Rock has proven that focused, unwavering, and heart-based power cannot be stopped.

The people of Standing Rock stood as a mountain of many and won. A mountain remains immovable in the presence of fear, anger, and hatred. The Standing Rock Mountain outlasted chaos and violence.

Erratic, irrational, and rage-infused thinking is unsustainable, though it can seem overwhelming. The Chaos Theory 3D. Consider a passel of toddlers in a bouncy tent for several hours. At first, the frenzy of their enthusiasm is larger than the tent that contains them, with their bodies becoming projectile explosions against the sides. As time passes, the extensions of their wildness are less targeted, their noise becomes muffled, the agitated rush dwindles into heavy-breathed sighs, and occasional, brief bursts of jumping.

By early evening each child is head bobbing into their supper.

The force of these past several months of chaos can appear enormous, but that is an illusion created by the media, egoic and authoritarian delivered rallies, and online rampages by one man and his followers. This force isn’t real, it’s looking at an erupting bouncy tent with open-mouthed awe, but not recognizing that endless juice for the long haul does not exist.

What is real is the Standing Rock protests. And from their triumphant success, we can take away learning tools to benefit a sustained and victorious opposition.

1. Come Together With Focused Intention: For those of us opposing the ideas espoused by the currently announced leader of America, we are the majority. I state this unequivocally. The majority of our country and the world are not merely self-motivated and hate filled. If that were true our race would have gone extinct centuries ago. We’d have killed each other and left no person standing.

Every time it has seemed darkest, that the rise of hatred would rule, one person or many stood firm with their humanity and won. Roosevelt, Churchill, Rosa Parks and Dr. King had the conviction of their heart-based rightness to carry them forward. I propose that our focused intent be our humanity; the heart that is necessary for our individual, national and global survival. #HumanRightsForAll

Let’s set aside differences, skin color, tribalism, and past arguments. At Standing Rock, many tribes quieted long-held arguments for their unwavering commitment to our planet and the water that humans need for survival. In this moment, when there are several groups targeted at the same time, we will require understanding and adherence to the power of a combined effort for all humanity.

2. Be The Mountain: When tossed a mayhem cocktail do not move. Stand firm with conviction. If crazy town brings aggression, be the mountain, because the mountain is sustainable and hyper-kinetic lunacy is not.

Remaining focused and peaceful before a storm of unbalanced and at times frightening behavior is ridiculously difficult. The violence of the bouncy tent may not be sustainable, but it is real. I’m terrified of being harmed, that’s a natural reaction. But a mountain stays put no matter what. Bullies may bring violence, but that cannot stop us from remaining firmly opposed.

Using Standing Rock as the model means being engaged for the duration. Snow? Build a tepee. Water cannon? Be the mountain and have a change of clothing. Crop dusting? Have a gas mask. Rubber bullets? Wear a protective suit and it’s still going to hurt. Compression bombs? Hurting is the least of it. No media? Make media.

I lived with a raging narcissist and survived. There have been times I wondered how I won. What I came to realize is that I wouldn’t go down. No one could make me become what was being thrown at me. I fought back when possible, used my brains to skirt skirmishes, slyly took aim when the bully wasn’t looking and brought in backup. My backup were the arts, reading, writing, watching a sunrise over the beach, love, friendship, and an illogical yet ingrained belief in possibility. I wouldn’t go down and I won’t now.

Today along with the other backups is a mental image of a great mountain. In meditation or in public, I bring forth the mountain. I imagine myself in the belly of a great vertical landmass, standing for all humanity.

3. Protest Until There is No Reason to Protest: Americans are viewed internationally as lazy. If I’m honest, there’s some truth in the assessment. We can at times be lazy. But historically, on the whole, we don’t give up and have been able to overcome situations that may initially seemed to have insurmountable odds. Let’s remember what people can do when they have to.

The colonists fought against the British, who utilized their national army. The settlers were viewed as weak and unprepared but came out on top. The construction of Mount Rushmore took only fourteen years (I’ll bet there were unpaid or minimally paid labor and abusive practices in that endeavor, but let’s set those aside for now). The Apollo 13 mission crew and NASA. And it took two hundred and forty years for a woman to be named the candidate for a major political party in the U.S. That was a sustained effort for equality which still hasn’t reached the ultimate victory.

Many protests of the 19th and 20th century created change, but the improvements didn’t go far enough. Racial equality, women’s rights, child protections, labor laws, wars, financial parity, etc. Even with the Standing Rock win, we cannot stop. Opposition to inhumanity is the beginning, it is a sustaining opposition that is the answer to unsolved, ongoing societal and ecological problems. Consider it firming our core indefinitely and protesting until there is no reason to protest.

The consistency of sustained resistance is impossible to ignore because it never goes away.

4. The Power of Many: Intentional, heart-based focus of many can overwhelm the insanity of a few. Concentrated power is like a magnet, drawing people to the center. It may seem the same as the bouncy tent because all power feels somewhat similar. But the power of people with a focused-heart-based intention is quieter and endlessly stronger. It’s the eye of the storm, the fire contained in a blowtorch, a wave that doesn’t stop coming. Heart power is strong, it doesn’t end or collapse in exhaustion, it steadfastly holds hope and possibility—it is to infinity and beyond.

A mountain amassed from the core of our planet is eternal. The base is entrenched into the earth and does not waver. We are the mountain. Our cause is humanity. Take action now. Make calls to protest, march in cities across the nation, reach out to one another, stay connected to our focused intent, stand against all hate, and remember the lessons of Standing Rock. When we win—and we will win—we all win.

May our focused intent for all humanity stand as one mountain.

#ProtestUntilThereIsNoReasonToProtest #HumanityForAll