Details for Minnesota State Capitol Rally — 7.20.24 @ 1230pm
DATE AND TIME
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Arrive after 1230pm
The heart of the event will be at 130pm
Event finished before 330pm
LOCATION
On the front steps of the Minnesota State Capital.
PARKING
Free parking provided by State of Minnesota at the following ramps near the Capitol:
> RAMP F (Google Maps)
> Centennial Parking Ramp ORANGE LOT (Google Maps)
WHAT TO BRING
Energy! — we’re doing a good and useful thing.
Picnic blankets if you want to sit.
Any handmade signs.
Flags!
Your words — if you have something to say to our community, you will get a chance.
Wear green and red. We will have shirts and bandanas in case you need them.
Water for yourself
Musical instruments. We will sing together.
Messaging
For maximum success, it is important to stay on the same page in outward messaging. Here are some suggestions and guidelines to this end:
This is a good versus evil conflict.
The actions of the corrupt political class in Bangladesh are outright cruel, violent, and unjustifiable. The students and civilians under attack are the heroes of this story, and they must be successful.
This is an attack on all Bangladeshis, not only university students.
The students are the ones who are suffering most, but it does an injustice to them (and weakens our bonds) if we claim that this is a government versus students crisis. The government wants to portray them as rowdy youngsters who crossed the line, when we really know that these students only happened to be the bravest among us, and they won’t take this form of oppression any more. Remember: this is good versus evil. They are the evil ones, because of their actions and absolute lack of remorse. We are the good. The “we” has the students at heart, but includes you and me as well.
This is not as simple as a “quota protest” anymore.
Using this framing plays right into the hands of the political class, as it makes this about policy. This stopped being about policy when they unleashed bullets and tanks on civilians. The quota is still a problem, but no change to the quota system can wash away this brutal attack on the Bangladeshi people.
Try to avoid calling the attackers “the government.”
This legitimizes them. They are the political class. They are the corrupt rulers. They are the regime in Dhaka. They are child killers and murderers of innocent civilians. They simply happen to be the government, but they have not earned the term.
Debatable: Don’t hyperfocus on Hasina or the Awami League.
Those who know what either of those things are don’t need to be reminded. Those who don’t know what they are will only be confused. The concept of the corrupt political class is self-evident, no matter what they call themselves, or who they are. Remember: it’s not necessary to know the history of Bangladesh and the dynamics of our political parties and rulers to know that butchering students and civilians in the streets is abhorrent, and that any ruling party or Prime Minister that is capable of this act is not capable to rule in a free country. I label this debatable because an intentional naming of these culprits could result in good outcomes, but that requires intention.
Do not use fatality numbers.
This may seem illogical, but it is an extremely weak messaging move to narrow the scale of this attack on Bangladeshi democracy down to a number of dead bodies, as heartbreaking and inhumane as those murders are. Using a number of dead has several problems:
• the numbers are extremely unreliable and inconsistent and will almost certainly be used by the ruling party’s propaganda;
• the number, whatever it may be, challenges the audience to determine whether that number is severe enough to merit action or attention. For example, 52 might be a lot to someone, and meaningless to another person. People aren’t motivated by numbers, they’re moved by stories. Images of a single injured or deceased person outweigh this (likely inaccurate) body count;
• the number of dead does not do justice to the number of people who have been brutally injured and maimed, who will likely suffer lifelong physical damages and require constant medical treatment. It doesn’t take into account rapes, imprisonments, and the psychological scars that will be left in the aftermath. Using a (likely inaccurate) body count minimizes and unnecessarily focuses the damage to only one type of damage.
