As I continue to watch the uprising in Morocco unfold, I have come to notice four essential elements which make an uprising successful that are missing, while others are being lost. Each one of these elements is intermeshed with the other.
1. Attitudes and Aesthetic Failure
Since the uprising started on February 20th, every weekend seems to bring a slight shift in attitudes. The source of these shifts is a combination of actions taken by the state and the reactions by the people. Recently, the state upped it's efforts to block the people from protesting by utilizing violence. Consequently, the people themselves have begun to take a different, less coherent and sometimes more belligerent approach. This change in attitudes is perceptible: the aesthetic appeal of the protests has been significantly compromised. We no longer see the poetry circles and freeze flash mobs, we no longer see a significant number of women, we barely even see any banners or flags! A protest without something to visually designate it's message is a failed protest. The aesthetic appeal of a protest is what makes it attractive to the media. The revolution in Egypt, for example, provided the cameras of the world with spectacular images of diversity in the crowd, creative banners and innumerable flags. It had an appeal. Our movement needs that. Another part of the aesthetic which our movement lacks has to do with the arts. Our movement lacks a complimentary artistic movement. Without art, the movement is colorless and boring, and this makes it weak.
How do we bring these elements into the movement?
1. Women must be encouraged to join.
2. Carry a banner or a flag.
3. Create an art piece; sing, dance, write, film or paint for the movement.
4. Hold an independent film screening.
5. Hold an art show.
2. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's)
Where are the NGO's? I'm not talking about the branches that are outside of Morocco, fighting viciously to bring change; I am talking about the branches within Morocco who fail to support the movement and call attention to the issues it deals with. Where are Amnesty International or Transparency Morocco? From their websites, it seems as if they would rather deal with human rights abuses that occur in China or less taboo issues like women's rights in Morocco. They are not willing to take advantage of the momentum of the uprisings to establish their visions. Of course, the reasons for this are clear: the element of fear prevails even within the sectors of our society that are most concerned with it. But the element of fear has been broken, so what's the point of being silent?
How do we bring this element into the movement?
1. March on the headquarters of local NGO's to call for more action on their part.
2. Create your own branch and be more active. Visit http://amnesty.org to learn more about how you can start a local Amnesty International chapter.
3. Write to an NGO leader.
3. Mainstream Media
The uprising in Morocco is very effectively covered by social media, their is no doubt of that. However, when it comes to mainstream media, the coverage is weak. International media will only respond if the uprising becomes more spectacular. Moroccan media, on the other hand, is controlled by the state-- whether it's through indirect (censorship, corruption and laws) or direct control. Needless to say, this means that mainstream media will either refuse to cover the protests or will bend the information to the state's advantage. Without the necessary and proper media coverage, the uprising will find difficulty garnering massive support from the population. So, where's the media?
How do we bring this element into the movement?
1. March on the headquarters of media outlets.
2. March on the headquarters of the National Society of Radio and Television Broadcasting.
3. Journalists, write for us and create a journalists' movement. Non-journalists, appeal to journalists.
4. Employees of TV and radio stations, newspapers and magazines: hold a strike or a sit-in.
4. The Nature of the Movement
Our nation is plagued by a large misconception: that political change comes from large gatherings of individuals. Yet, crowds and large protests alone are not enough. They are certainly central to attracting attention of political institutions and the media, but they fail to catalyze interactions within smaller units of society: neighborhoods, mosques, farming communities, factories or offices. Without these micro-societal interactions, the growth of the movement is impeded. It just can not grow. Just look at a video of a crowd and you will understand. They are all the same type of people: young men. You see no unions walking together holding their banner, you see no "Moroccan Mothers for Democracy," you see no "Moroccan Filmmakers for Human Rights." The crowd is uniform and monotonous. How can a movement that calls for democracy expect credibility if the demographic diversity of our country is not represented?
How do we bring this element into the movement?
1. Hold after mosque community meetings.
2. Create neighborhood committees.
3. Mothers, organize a mothers' movement. Non-mothers, appeal to mothers.
4. Unionists, create a unionists' movement. Non-unionists, appeal to unionists.
5. Farmers, create a farmers' movement. Non-farmers, appeal to farmers.
6. Teachers, ignore the state-issues textbooks, teach our children the truth.
...the list goes on.
