4 Signs the American Spring May Be Coming to Chicago

[JDPriestly]

3. How do the protestors plan to maintain nonviolence in what they do?

The minute that crowds become angry and violent, they lose the support and trust of ordinary people. That is true regardless of how evil the actions the crowd is demonstrating against or how righteous the views of the protestors.

Occupy LA achieved what I see as the most important goal of the Occupy movement -- obtaining support from the LA City Council for an amendment to bar unlimited corporate campaign funding.

The secret of the success of Occupy LA in my view was its emphasis on nonviolence.

I was there only rarely, but each time I was there, I heard serious discussion about training in non-violence. And I believe that they actually held practice enactments on how to remain non-violent during an arrest.

There was some police abuse of those being arrested, but because the protestors remained non-violent, they earned the respect of many of us who were not present during most of the activities.

People organizing demonstrations took take a page from Dr. King's book and demand that all participating in the demonstrations be trained in nonviolence and dedicated to practicing it.