A couple weeks ago, a woman from Virginia was arrested because her child drew a picture in a public park with sidewalk chalk. “[She] was charged with damaging public property” and sentenced to community service. Sounds a bit silly, right? Of course it does. Sidewalk chalk just washes away with the rain – no damage done. But there is a damage done by this arrest: it may set a precedent, however silly it may be.
A local park in the greater Philadelphia area, Linwood Park, understood the ridiculousness of this arrest. The Friends of Linwood Park facebook-page posted the article along with a light-hearted comment:
“Everyone should go to the park and draw or write something with chalk, we love it!”
That would be so much fun! Adults and kids all drawing their favorite animals and super heroes … But, on a deeper level, there’s more going on than a fun trip to the park. Intentional or not, Linwood Park’s suggestion is really a message of resistance to a potentially unjust – albeit silly – policy. And here’s the best part:
It’s nonviolent resistance.
It’s proactive resistance.
It’s creative resistance.
It’s proactive resistance.
It’s creative resistance.
Even though this case of sidewalk “property damage” is somewhat laughable, Linwood Park’s response is a great example of how to resist the immoral/unjust actions of authority. It can easily be applied to less laughable cases; imagine the gross injustices around the world. When an article of legislation from those in power oppresses anyone, that policy must be resisted.
We know that violence only breeds violence. So the resistance of injustice must find another way. Resistance must be nonviolent. We know that injustice – when ignored, swept under the rug, or left alone by the indecisive and noncommittal – is allowed, yes allowed, to fester and grow. Resistance must be proactive. Finally, as with violence, simply clashing head-on with authority is rarely effective. Really, it just doesn’t work. It doesn’t work because that’s the easiest tactic an authority knows. Head-on resistance only plays into their game. Resistance must be creative. Creativity is effective because it’s unexpected. Our natural instinct says run away or hit back: fight or flight. However, if we meet hate with love, insult with kindness, condemnation with redemption, the instigator is thrown off guard. Try it. Bullies, both micro and macro, aren’t ready to respond when you act creatively instead of instinctually.
When I asked to write on their quip, Linwood Park noted, “We place a big emphasis on inclusiveness in public spaces and forming a more tolerant community using Linwood as a conduit.”
Which brings home a vital fact: Resistance must be communal. The effects of injustice are universal; an oppression against you is an oppression against me. Resistance must be equally universal, bringing together those of all backgrounds.
These four principles of resistance show, if anything, that effective resistance is a weighty task. It takes effort. To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr.:
Those who love justice must plan as effectively as those who profit from injustice.