Autorentext

Annie Leonard is a lifelong activist who has protested on multiple continents over many years. She spent seventeen years with Greenpeace US, including serving as Executive Director from 2014 to 2023; created The Story of Stuff film, book, and organization; co-launched the Jane Fonda Climate PAC; and campaigned against the international trade in hazardous waste and technologies around the world. Annie speaks and writes frequently about environmental and democracy issues, focusing on pollution, waste, consumerism, climate, and activism. She has appeared in numerous media, has testified before Congress, and has received a number of awards for her work, including an honorary degree from Vermont Law School and inclusion in Time magazine’s Heroes of the Environment.

Klappentext

An excellent introduction to the power of public dissent." -- Kirkus

"If supporting grassroots activists taught us anything, it is that when enough individuals come together, it is possible to take on a system." -- Yvon Chouinard **
What would the world look like if we couldn’t express outrage against the systems we disagree with or support the changes we seek?

Our right to peaceful protest is under attack, and we must act now!

Protest: Respect It Defend It Use It offers a powerful look at the role peaceful activism has played in advancing the public good—and shines a light on the urgent need to protect this democratic right. This is not a how-to guide. Rather, it is a celebration of what collective action can achieve, an invitation to be inspired, and a reminder that each of us has the capacity to make a difference.

Featuring more than 40 iconic campaigns from around the world, the book combines photos, artifacts, and memorable quotes to create a vivid testament to the power of public dissent. Guest essays from Jane Fonda, Tennessee Representative Justin Pearson, Dolores Huerta, Nemonte Nenquimo, and others reveal how protest shaped their own commitment to driving change. Through storytelling and first-hand reflection, readers are invited to witness, reflect, and engage in peaceful activism—right here, right now.

Rivers that don’t catch fire. The freedom to marry whom we love. Clean air and water. Even weekends off. Peaceful protest—protected in the U.S., as in many countries, as a cornerstone of participatory democracy— helped bring about each of these victories. Free speech, dissent, and public mobilization are essential tools for advancing so many causes, including environmental protection, workers’ rights, human rights, self-determination, and climate, social, and racial justice.

Yet even as protest has delivered lasting progress—and perhaps because of it—the right to speak freely and organize is increasingly under threat. Crackdowns are no longer confined to authoritarian regimes; anti-protest sentiment is spreading across established democracies. Activists are being vilified, targeted, and even criminalized. In the U.S., anti-protest laws have been enacted in 49 states. SLAPP suits—meritless legal actions used to silence dissent—are on the rise. New legal concepts like “negligent protest” are being used to hold organizers liable for damages, while violent actions by anti-democratic forces are reframed or excused.

Published to coincide with the 250th anniversary of one of history’s most consequential acts of protest—the signing of the Declaration of Independence—this book is an invitation. It invites readers to learn about the creativity, courage, and impact of peaceful protest, to be inspired by those who came before, and to recognize that this essential democratic right belongs to everyone—now more than ever.

Inhalt

PROTEST: Table of Contents

GV=Guest Voice

Foreword: Defending Democracy (Robert Reich) 

The Right to Protest Under Threat (Annie Leonard)

The Long Arc of Protest (Andre Carothers)

Protests

1 The Trailblazing Abolitionist (Philadelphia, PA, United States, 1738) 

2 Boston Tea Party (Boston, MA, United States, 1773)           

3 The Jerry Rescue (Syracuse, NY, United States, 1851)

GV: Rebecca Solnit

4.     Women's Suffrage Procession (Washington, DC, United States, 1913)       

5.     Gandhi’s Salt March (India, 1930)     

6.     The Flint Sit-Down Strike (Michigan, United States, 1936-37)

GV: Rev Yearwood

7.     Rosa Parks’ Bus Protest (Montgomery, AL, United States, 1955)     

GV: Jane Fonda

8.     The Fort Hood Three (United States, 1966)  

9.     The First Earth Day (United States, 1970)

GV: Sandra Steingraber

10.  Greenpeace vs. Nuclear Testing (Moruroa, French Polynesia, 1973)           

11.  Section 504 Sit-In  (San Francisco, CA, United States, 1977)

12.  Franklin River Blockade (Tasmania, Australia, 1982-83)

GV: Favianna Rodriguez

13.  Daily Protests Against Apartheid (South African Embassy, Washington, DC, United States, 1984-85)       

14.  Save The Narmada River Protests  (India, 1989)

GV: Peter Staley

15.  A Giant Condom on Senator Jesse Helms’s House (Virginia, United States, 1991) 

16.  Shutting Down the WTO (Seattle, WA, United States, 1999)

17.  The Winter of Love: Same-Sex Marriage  (San Francisco, California,  US, 2004)      

GV: Dolores Huerta

18.  A Day Without Immigrants (United States, 2006)     

19.  The Fight for $15 and a Union  (New York, NY, United States, 2012)           

20.  SOPA PIPA Protests (United States, 2012)    

21.  The Lobster Boat Blockade (Somerset, MA, United States, 2013)

GV: Nemonte Nenquimo

22.  Si Yasuní (Quito, Ecuador, 2014)                   

23.  The Flag Comes Down (Columbia, SC, United States, 2015) 

24.  Kayaktivists Confront Shell Oil (Seattle, WA, US, 2015)        

25.  Ghosts in the Machine (Madrid, Spain, 2015)\

GV: Maurice Mitchell

26.  Colin Kaepernick Takes a Knee (United States, 2016)           

27.  Water Protectors at Standing Rock (Standing Rock Reservation, ND, United States, 2016)

28.  RESIST Over the White House (Washington, DC, United States, 2017)        

GV: Isra Hirsi

29.  Greta and the Youth Climate Strikes (Sweden, then global, 2018)   

30.  The Protest Village in the Trees (Hambach Forest, Germany, 2012–20)      

31.  Funeral for a Glacier (Iceland, 2019)

32.  Fire Drill Fridays (Washington, DC, 2019-20)

33.  Honoring George Floyd (Houston, TX, United States, 2020)

GV: Justin Pearson  

34.  The Lost Class (Las Vegas, NV, United States, 2021) 

35.  Shell No! Protesting Shell’s Offshore Oil Drilling (South Africa, 2021) 

36.  Women, Life, Freedom (Iran, 2022)

37.  Pipeline to Peril (Uganda and Tanzania, 2023-present)

GV: Nnimmo Bassey

38.  The Rocking Chair Rebellion (United States, 2023)   

…