I didn’t attend my first protest (that I remember, at least) until I was in my late teens or early twenties. It wasn’t that my family wasn’t political, but growing up on the rural prairies rarely allowed for such an opportunity. My first protest was an anti-war protest in Winnipeg. I was excited to participate in demanding peace. A year later I attended a march against police brutality. I remember being surprised by how the police vehicles pushed into our crowd, finding subtle ways to antagonize. A year later I would be in Palestine protesting the occupation and running from Israeli-fired tear gas. 

Protests can be powerful community events where we gather together to demand a change from the oppressive status quo. They can also be places of community grief. For the last three years, I often found comfort at Palestine protests. As the world around me seemingly went on – business as usual – while genocide was livestreamed on our phones, I needed places to publicly grieve, demand a stop to the genocide, and shake up the status quo. 

Yet if you haven’t been to a protest, they can be anxiety inducing to join. When images of police violence inundate our screens, protests can give the appearance of chaos. In 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd, CPT was contacted by many folks in our constituency wanting guidance and support in how to show up to a protest in a good way. From this experience, we gathered information from our teams to put together a workshop for people who were new to protests but wanted to join. This work has guided us over the last six years as authoritarianism continues to rise. 

We want to be a support to all peacemakers, no matter their experience. So we have put together a public online training to prepare people to hit the streets. On November 14th, at 12PM join us in a 2-hour online training called “Let’s Hit the Streets!”. This workshop will cover the anatomy of a protest, what to wear, and also provide a module to do a deep dive on our values of nonviolence. Feel free to share this invitation with your family and friends who may be wrestling with ways to show up at a protest. 

There are limited spots so register today! The suggested donation is $50, but pay what you can. If you can’t pay, drop us an email and come anyway. All are welcome. We look forward to seeing you.