Subject: How to conduct a successful protest Date: Sat, 20 May 2000 20:28:18 -0500 From: "Dave Usher" To: tz777@yahoo.com To all Child Support Billing Error Protest team leaders: Suggestions for a Successful Child Support Agency Peaceful Protest" _____________________________________________________ We are now emailing to you information on "Suggestions for a Successful Child Support Agency Peaceful Protest." This information will soon be followed by a "recruiting" flier and other relevant information to help coordinate this national effort. The suggestions below have been developed by individuals who have had successful demonstrations. Remember, our goal is for each protest coordinator to have at least 25 participants for each local protest. This is a reasonable goal that we all can reach. If you are able to organize 250-500 people, of course, that is great, too! To help you keep organized it would be desirable if you would get a 3-ring binder or large folder to keep your protest updates and a list of your participants (names, phone numbers, addresses, and email address if available). Please remember to keep a log of all people who have contacted you to help or to participate in the protest. It would be best to keep the log and updates in this one binder or folder. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT ACFC IS CALLING FOR A PEACEFUL PROTEST. ACFC DOES NOT CONDONE VIOLENCE OR PROPERTY DAMAGE OF ANY KIND. The best demonstrations get their point across. We want to convey our message and to get our message out to other child support payers and family court victims who may be looking for us or who maybe don't yet know that we exist. Many people who don't yet know there is an organized effort afoot to change the family court and child support system feel alone and isolated. Part of our goal in our protest is to reach out to people who need to find us and join us in our efforts for positive action and change. There are times when the formal protest is necessary, and we believe this is the time. We should not be afraid to honestly and peacefully point out those individuals or institutions who callously cause social decay, or who abuse laws for political or personal financial gain. There is a big difference between reacting in anger, and standing up forthrightly in sincere opposition to political or legal abuse. ___________________________________________________________ Copyright 2000 by ACFC Suggestions For a Successful Child Support Agency Peaceful Protest: NOTE: These protest suggestions are not to be used as legal advice ___________________________________________________________ Getting permits: It is very important for you to check in your local area, what are the laws and ordinances for protesting before proceeding. It is the responsibility of every coordinator to check in their local area if a permit to protest is necessary. Be sure to ask about both state and local ordinances. You can do so by calling your local police department, or county officials in the area you are demonstrating. Normally, they can lead you to the right person to contact. Once you have established who you are supposed to contact, tell them that you are having a protest and ask if a permit is necessary. If so, then ask what procedures you need to follow to get a permit. Getting a permit is a simple procedure. If you are told that you don't need a permit it is advisable that you ask for a letter stating so. Make sure you keep your permit, or letter stating a permit is not necessary, in your binder. Bring your binder to the protest. PA Systems and Bull Horns: You must also check within your city whether there are any legal restrictions on the use of PA Systems or Bull Horns in your protest area. If there are no restrictions, you might want to consider borrowing or renting one. PA Systems and bull horns can help get your message across to your protest participants who might want to repeat back to you what you say. They are also useful for generating interest in your protest. Passersby will want to know what the noise is all about. ________________________________________________________ Doing "Visual" protests: Media is often looking for "visuals". This means colorful or bold-lettered signs with catchy phrases like "I'm a Dad, not a Wallet" etc., wearing pictures of your child, etc. Banners can be very effective. In another update we will have catchy slogans and sayings that you can use for your posters. We will even have posters that you can download from the coordinators update page. For posters and banners, keep letters large and words few -- maybe only 6 words written in very dark and bold large letters. For a poster, you can get a poster board from any discount store and put 2 holes and a rope through them in order to wear the poster around your neck. An alternative to wearing it around your neck is to get sticks from the hardware store to glue on the back of the poster board. You can obviously hold them high so they stand out for any media photographs. T-shirts are effective for getting out the website or phone number since they cannot as easily be edited out of a newscast as can a poster with a website or phone number. Signs: Signs are the message that will be seen on television. It is best to prepare them on a computer (printed landscape), then blow them up to poster size and staple to posterboard. A 20" x30" size is usually suitable. You can make your own signs if you prefer. Tips on Content for Signs: A. Do not put anything on a sign that is not demonstrably provable. "My child hasn't had a father for 675 days" is just fine. "Judge Wapner Lies" is not good. "Dr. Smith Steals Children" is begging for a libel suit. B. Be very careful in comments made about individuals on signs. If a judge took 85% of your gross salary as child support, you can talk about that because it is a fact. Just don't call him a thief in the process. C. Attack the issues, not the person. You want your opponent to hate the issue as much as you do. You do not want them to hate you. D. Never mention the names of "non public" individuals (such as private attorneys or child support case workers) in your signs or handouts. "Public" people such as politicians (who by being in the media, or by being elected, have waived privacy), are fair game -- but again you should be accurate in what you say. In short -- there are libel and slander laws out there, and you don't want to cross the line. E. If you stick to the issues rather than attacking individuals, you will get your message across better and avoid risk of libel suit. Banners: Banners can be very effective, especially if you don't have many people in your protest. Perhaps you can have 3 people holding the banner -one person on each end and one in the middle. To make the banner, you can get a long roll of paper at your local office store or ask your local physician to donate a roll of paper they use for examining tables. Take dark markers and write your message in huge letters and bright colors if possible. Think how it will look on the evening news, and whether people will be able to read your message and understand it in a few seconds that it might be on the air or as people pass by in their cars. Keep the words to a minimum, but make them punchy. Be creative. Use your own phrases or phrases such as: "Stop Errors by Child Support Agencies" "Stop child support agency injustice." "Hold agencies accountable." (There will be more suggestions on phrases you might want to use in upcoming updates). The website will have ready-to-use signs that you can download from the ACFC coordinators update page, if you wish. Fliers: An informational flier can be used to pass out to media and spectators at the protest. You can use the information provided on the ACFC protest page. Be sure to include a phone number that people can use to get more information or to join our effort for change. You can use ACFC's 800 number 1-800-978-3237 for this purpose or your local group number or both. (This information is also available in Update 1 - May 17, 2000) Handouts: In certain instances, prepared handouts have been very effective. For example, if your prosecutor is trying to lock up a physically challenged father with an outrageous support order on criminal nonsupport charges, a handout simply describing the absurdity of the situation can work wonders. Handouts are an excellent way to fill out your issue with a more detailed description of a complicated issue. Keep it simple, of course. Writing tip: A well-placed question in a headline opens the mind of the reader better than a statement does. "Are child support agencies causing family destruction?" is far more provocative and will draw more attention to your issue than a statement." Handouts are only effective in locations where you expect pedestrians, but they can help the media understand the story better as well. Often, what you write in the handout will be used on the air as the story is introduced. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WRITE...YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE IT WILL END UP. _____________________________________________________________ Press releases and dealing with the media: Some of the protest coordinators may have already been contacted by media by way of the protest page. Some of you may already be experienced in dealing with media and are comfortable doing this. Some of you may want to forward these media calls on to people at ACFC experienced in doing this. Don't worry. Help is available to you in this regard if you need it. ***IMPORTANT: If you are contacted by media, would you please let ACFC know by calling us at 1-800-978-3237. Ask for the media department. If any article or news report runs about your local protest, would you also please let us know right away. We want to keep copies of articles on file and records of the protest media nationwide. Thanks very much for your help. We will make every effort to provide you with background information that a reporter would be interested in for your local area. We are also willing to offer suggestions and provide guidance to you if desired for your specific media situation. We are also willing to provide interviews from the national office. We've already been sending out a press release with basic information on our national protest to major media outlets. We are also preparing a press release that we will release to all protest coordinators for you to use closer to the national protest date. Included with this press release will be instructions on how to distribute the release to the media, which media to contact in your specific area, the best way to reach the media with the news of your local protest, who to call or fax, when to send out the release, how to handle calls from the media, etc. ACFC will also continue intensive efforts at the national level to generate national and local media for this nationwide protest. Media Interview Tips People need to know the issue, and how they can join in with us. It's important to give the 800 number and the website address. Once you do a good job of convincing people that you have a good point, they need to have somewhere they can call to join you. You can always give them the ACFC national hotline 800 number so we can hook them up with your local protest group and to help us organize in even greater numbers for future national protests. The issue you speak about must be simple enough for the average uninformed person to understand and connect with in a one 8-second sound byte. If you can't bake your message down to 8 seconds in front of a mirror, it is too complicated. Remember to....... a. NEVER mention even one word about your case or personal situation. The issue is why you are there. If they ask, just tell them "My situation is no different than a few million other people affected by our issues." b. Pick your most "knowledgeable" one or two people for interviews. All others should be instructed to NOT TALK TO THE MEDIA...tell them to shyly decline and send them to you. This is VERY IMPORTANT. Be aware that anything said by participants could end up in a print story or on the air. c. People doing media interviews should wear a suit or other professional clothing. Take a comb with you in case the wind is blowing. d. Some interviewers want "feeling", and won't leave you alone until you emote. This calls for an ad-lib to fit the moment. Stay away from words like "angry". Statements with a little feeling, like "I am scared for the futures of our children and families" are great. Demonstrate the suffering. e. What you say must be said in 8 second sound bites. Practice this if necessary. You have at most two breaths per question to say it. f. Try to keep the interview focused. It is a mistake to let it get off the issue. Either your interviewer will get confused, or overloaded with information, and your story might be weakened to the point where it ends up on the cutting room floor. g. Preparing your interviewer: It is very important to realize that many of the reporters are just as uninformed about the issue as the rest of the world. You can win the hearts of these people very quickly by pointing out how all this nonsense hurts women, children, and men. If you are seen as an individual who truly cares about the well-being of families and children, then they will like what you have to say nearly every time. _____________________________________________________________ Tips on how to protest ** Stay on the sidewalk, next to the street, on "public property". Don't picket in the street. **If there is no sidewalk, walk a strip of grass within 3 feet of the street pavement. ** Don't go into any private property areas, which usually include mall parking lots (for example). ** Pick a location that has an appropriate area where you are in sight of the facility, or within camera-shot of the facility. ** If the facility is on the street, and there is little or no sidewalk, don't picket right in front of it. Picket across the street or on one side of it. ** Try to position yourself so the maximum number of people driving by can see you, and so you can hand out fliers to as many pedestrians as possible. ** Don't block or cross any driveways or entrance ways as you picket, or restrict pedestrian traffic in any way. ** Keep walking in an elongated circle (so they can't accuse you of loitering or vagrancy). ** Don't stop to talk to anyone unless they are with the media. ** If someone tries to start an unfriendly conversation, politely excuse yourself from the conversation and keep on walking. ** Every person should have $20 on them and a driver's license. ** If asked to move by an officer of the law or security guard, don't argue with them unless you really know what you are doing within the law. Just move to a different spot as they request. ** If you are presently involved in family litigation, check with your lawyer first before participating, and avoid involving your children in the protest. **Don't bring small children or babies. If you are presently involved in a court action, it is probably best not to bring your children. **Get there at least 15-30 minutes early to "group up" so you don't miss the media. They will not wait for you to get your act together. **Make sure the cameras get shots of a sign with your local phone number on it or T-shirts. You get lots of members that way. **Think "Martin Luther King", and don't do anything he wouldn't do. **Smile for the camera. Be proud. _____________________________________________________________ Notice to Police: It is a good idea to personally call or notify the Chief of Police in the city where you will protest to let them know what is planned. They shouldn't have to worry when a large group of people shows up unexpectedly. This is the courteous thing to do. ____________________________________________________________ Recording: Try to make sure that someone in your group has a cell phone during the protest. You may be able to convince a radio station to do on "on the scene" interview by cell phone. Some protest organizers feel that the tape recorder and camcorder are the most valuable tools of protests. They are your ultimate protection from false claims made by your opponents. It is "politically correct" for people to go around claiming that some anger-laden fathers rights activist threatened them. The tape recorder and video recorder are your insurance policy and truth detector that will win for you every time. It is a very wise idea to have someone park their car so as to allow a video to be made of any demonstration, in case a passerby or someone else unrelated to the protest gets out of line. Point to the camcorder so they know they are being recorded. This can nip any trouble in the bud. It is also a good idea for spokespeople to have a microcassette recorder on them at all times and to tape record any interactions with police or any individual behaving in an unfriendly manner. Problems like this are very rare, but due to the potential seriousness of the situatuion, the audio or visual record is most crucial. Another good use of a camera and camcorder is to capture the event on film. To show the success of your protest. You never know when in the future the media may ask what your group has done, and you can visually show them. If you have any photos or video tapes of your protest, ACFC would be interested in seeing them. ____________________________________________________________ Counter demonstrators: If there are counter-protesters, maintain your dignity. Don't give them an opportunity to paint you in a bad or negative light by provoking you to make angry remarks to them. We do not advocate any kind of violence or property damage. Nasty verbal remarks aimed at counter-protesters are counter-productive. It will only make us look bad. Hatred and verbal remarks do not persuade, which is what we are trying to do peacefully. Please do not engage in negative banter with opponents of our demonstration. Go about your business, ignore them, keep 8 feet distance from them at all times, and do not talk with them. ____________________________________________________________ THIS IS A CALL FOR UNITY...LET'S ALL WORK TOGETHER TO HELP SAVE OUR FAMILIES...THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR NOBLE EFFORTS...WE CAN DO THIS!!! PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. ACFC