The Art of Protest

Lucio: What are you willing to fight for? What are you willing to risk? When I sit down and see on the news how people protest for what is close to them, I wonder what would make me risk everything for what I believe in. The young Marjane in the book Persepolis decided to go to a protest/demonstration while disregarding the dangers; the protest was soon known as the "Black Friday" because so many were killed. We can say because of Marjane's young age at the time, she did not know what she was getting herself into, but the question is: if one is not willing to risk their life in protest, then does that mean they do not truly believe in their cause? Protests can be violent, they can be peaceful but there is always a risk, so Malcolm what would  you say is a good motivator other than the cause for one to protest?

Malcolm X: I am glad you asked, the fear of protesting is very normal; even if you decided to go to a protest, you wouldn't want to have your children to follow behind you. However a protest does not always have to go to the extremes, that's why there are different forms of protests for different causes. Now to your question of the motivator for a protest, well whether you like it or not, one's conviction to a cause should be biggest motivator to protest. We protest for different reasons; it can be to increase the visibility of a cause, to inspire others to stand up for the cause or just to demonstrate power.Even though we are willing to take risks, the safety of the protesters(or any at the protest) can depend on how heated the opposition becomes; however no matter the severity of the cause, one should always be cautious and not end up doing something dangerously unnecessary like on this video, where protesters set on fire a symbol of there government but end up burning themselves:

In all seriousness, protests have been something very important in human history; the gathering of people to stand for what they believe in is a powerful symbol on its own. I'll leave you with another of my quotes " If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."