Dr. Ellie Murray is an epidemiologist at the Boston University School of Public Health. She has been quite active and effective in communicating complex epidemiological concepts on Twitter and in the general press since COVID began to spread. She has an excellent set of tweets on how to protest in a way that minimizes the possibility of viral spread:
Harm reduction for protests in a pandemic:
•wear your mask + eye protection + heat resistant gloves
•yelling can spread droplets, choose signs, drums, or similar noise makers
•stick with a buddy group to keep your unknown contacts low
•carry water + hand sanitizer + bandages— Ellie Murray (@EpiEllie) May 30, 2020
Yes, symptoms can take 3-14 days to show up and you can spread infection even before that. So, definitely consider self-quarantining if you can (& if you aren’t out protesting again tomorrow)
— Ellie Murray (@EpiEllie) May 31, 2020
Be safe, be smart, be courageous in whatever way you can be.
oldster
I’m an old man. I grew up smugly laughing at the “good Germans” who did nothing to prevent the rise of Hitler. I thought it could never happen here, and that if someone were crazy enough to try, then the nation would rise up and put a stop to it.
But here I am, now, totally at a loss about how to push back. I don’t know whom to call, or what to say. I live in a rural area with a wing-nut congressman. There’s no point in protesting here.
I drove to DC for the Women’s March in Jan 2017. If there were another one, I might go down again, but I am also moving slower than I did.
I am ashamed of my own passivity, but I don’t know what to do.
WereBear
I was just chatting online with some friends. Here’s ideas for what any of us can do from home.
BlackLivesMatter.com has petitions to sign and other ways to help.
Tori Glass is an educator with White Homework.
Krope, the Formerly Dope
I ran into my first unmasked person in a business today getting breakfast. Not only that but he was kind of encroaching my personal space. I didn’t want to make a scene, so I didn’t confront him. Besides his masked coworker was very nice.
But I’ve been wondering at passive ways to get the message across. Fake coughing fit?
artem1s
irony is dead. just days ago Dump was threatening the governors for not opening up. Now he’s threatening them if they don’t call out the guard, rough up people out on the streets and impose curfews on what are mostly service workers who are needed to open back up. Now I really can’t wait to go shopping! if I’m lucky I’ll get tear gas with my toilet paper. Gonna be a long hot summer.
TS (the original)
WaPo has a heading up
Biden delivers remarks on George Floyd protests
It will no doubt be lots of other places if you can’t access WaPo
Served
At the two protests I’ve been at, 99.9% of people were wearing masks. Organizers and protestors are handing out masks along with the usual food/water/info cards. Most of the unmasked I saw were people passing through or caught up in the route who quickly left.
If you are trying to figure out what you can do if you can’t be there physically, please consider a donation to your local bond fund, or to the ActBlue bond fund
Our protest in Chicago was successful yesterday because of 1) SUPERB organization from a first-time organizer. Truly inspiring. 2) White people showing up, shutting up, and using their bodies to keep the police at bay.
Roger Moore
@artem1s:
These two things aren’t 100% at odds. Trump is mostly worried about the economy opening up, and that’s not going to happen with massive protests everywhere. He wants a return to normalcy but can’t understand he’s making that less likely.
lee
My daughter went to 2 different protests yesterday.
She started at the local one. While it was a big protest for a suburb of Dallas (a VERY red area) it was not as ‘protesty’ as she wanted. The protest actually marched 5 miles blocking traffic during rush hour on a major thoroughfare.
She then went to a close college town (Denton, Tx) and it had everything she wanted. She and all her friends wore facemasks.
I’m actually very impressed with my neighbors and the amount of people that turned out to march.
Baud
Wrong thread.
Tenar Arha
@oldster: Yeah. And all my representatives are Democrats. It’s not enough. Gonna give more $$ to the Massachusetts bail fund while I’m trying to figure out other ways I can help. (This 2 day old Twitter thread had multiple links to different states’ & cities’ funds)
ETA updated & vetted list HERE
Benw
@oldster: there’s lots of stuff you can do as an individual! Just be visible! There are more people waiting quietly in your area than you probably know, who feel equally alone.
Call your stupid congressman’s office anyway! Get a BLM tee shirt and wear it. Prop a black lives matter or antifascism sign in your yard and car window. When sports and events come back (it’s gonna be a loooong summer without baseball) take a knee during the anthem! Throw a rock at a cop car!
Okay, not that last one :)
Bill Arnold
@oldster:
One thing everyone intelligent can do is work reporter/journalist twitter. Most reporters with bylines are on twitter and pay attention to it. Some are vain, some are unwilling to admit fault, but if you can get a new idea to them or a change of mind, any of them can amplify it using their media presence.
Newspaper comment sections are mostly cesspools and useless.
Also push back where possible against any propaganda that you see, with solid references and links and arguments, and decent spelling and grammar.
Bill Arnold
@Served:
Good. At this point it’s reasonably safe to say that enforcing mask discipline, even when tear gassed, is probably the most important SARS-CoV-2 harm reduction measure.
When police use tear gas, they are probably (depending on crowd size and infected rate in the area) causing SARS-CoV-2 droplet sprays through coughing; face coverings and dilution due to protests being outside will help though. Frankly, unnecessary use of tear gas to break up a peaceable assembly like at Lafayette Park last night during an active respiratory virus pandemic should be prosecuted. (Reckless endangerment at the least. Also a violation of first amendment rights.)