Honk For Peace
or for whatever
by Eric Schechter; version of 10/27/2011; your feedback is welcome.

This is an action for groups of any size. Information specific to Nashville is at the bottom of the page.


The main purpose of protest demonstrations is not to directly change the minds of government officials. Rather, it is to get the attention of the general public, and get them to look at our message, so that our movement for change will grow. When it grows large enough, we can change the minds of the government officials, or we can replace them.

But methods of protest have changed in the last few decades, because the news media have changed. Increasingly, the news media are owned and operated by a few large corporations, whose boards of directors overlap with the boards of directors of the military-industrial complex. And so the corporate news media gives little attention to our protest demonstrations. If we gather thousands of people together, including some costumes and giant puppets, or if a few of us chain ourselves to the White House fence to get arrested, most of America will never hear about it.

Our objective is to convey our message to the general public, but we cannot rely on the mainstream news media for that purpose. And so it seems to me that we must take our message wherever it will be seen directly by a large number of people.

And I would exclude certain locations. For instance, if you hold up your sign near the entrance to a parking lot for a big rock concert or a big football game, it will be seen by many people, but they are people who came there mainly for entertainment, i.e. to get their minds off serious matters. They may actually feel that it is inappropriate for you to hold up your sign in such a place, and so they may feel resentful, and be prejudiced against your message. At least, that is my guess. I could be wrong about that. (Let me know if you think otherwise.)

I like to hold up a big sign, visible to passing motorists, beside a main street, during afternoon rush hour -- ideally, from 4:00 to 5:15 pm. I think there will be no resentment against such a sign just for its location, because motorists are used to driving past all sorts of advertisements. Still, my sign will be more noticeable because it is held up by a live human being, unlike all the signs that are posted on billboards or storefronts. If the weather is wet, I may use a much smaller sign and my biggest umbrella.

Of course, this tactic is not effective if you live in a rural area, and it may be hazardous if you do it in an area where there is strong and violent sentiment against your message. Here in Nashville, it seems to be quite safe, and the police here have no objection as long as I stay out of the street, stay on public property (e.g., most sidewalks), and don't block traffic on the sidewalk. Be cautioned that the police in other cities may have a different attitude. As I've already mentioned, I don't think getting arrested is particularly helpful.

This action can be carried out by a group of any size, from one to a few dozen. You needn't wait for a large organization to form -- you can start doing your part today. If you're doing it with friends, you can talk while holding up the signs; it's almost like an outdoor party. If you're doing it alone (usually I am), bring along a portable radio or CD player or other audio entertainment device. I used to think that it looked bad to have fewer than 4 people, because a tiny group might look like crackpots. But later I decided that a group of any size looks good; people may admire the bravery of a lone soul. I think I'd rather have several small groups, in different locations in the city, than have one big group. Professor Richard Wolff said, in a recent lecture,
Never underestimate the impact of even a small number of people doing something. It means thousands of others who see it, who hear about it, now have a more realistic feeling about such a thing. It may take them several more months or years before they ever go. But the possibility of their going just got a little more real when they see you standing there doing it. It's not as strange, it's not as hopeless, it's not as impossible, because it's been realized by another person who's not so different from them.
I believe this sign-holding tactic is effective, though I cannot prove it. Here is my reasoning:
  1. People's political positions are more nuanced than simply "I'm in favor of the war" or "I'm opposed to the war." For instance, opposition to the war may vary greatly, through many gradations of intensity, from "I hope they will end that war soon" to "what can I do today to help end that war?" I don't expect Honk For Peace to instantly move anyone from one end of the spectrum to the other -- but each time I hear a honk, I believe I may have moved one person up one notch, one gradation, closer to helping out. This is a slow process -- it's not going to change the whole world overnight -- but I believe it is making small, gradual change, which contributes to the larger change that may eventually get us where we want to go. Also

  2. Whether a person supports or opposes a war may depend on logical reasons (or, then again, it may not). But the intensity of a person's involvement -- i.e., whether they want to be spectators or want to help out -- depends largely on how much inspiration they've had, and how much they've been made to feel part of a movement. I'm trying to give them that feeling.
I recommend holding this vigil at least once a week, preferably at the same time and place each week. That way, you'll be seen over and over by many of the same people. If they aren't affected by your sign the first time, perhaps they'll be affected the 100th time. One group has been protesting in New York every Wednesday since January 2004. I'm trying to make myself do it more often, because I believe it's the most important and useful thing I'm presently doing in my life. (I'm not so good at phone-banking, door-knocking, etc.)

I chose this tactic because it does not rely on press coverage by the corporate media. But it doesn't preclude coverage, either. I was pleasantly surprised to get an article in the local newspaper on Christmas day, 2010. If that page is still up, and if the video is still up, I'm in the second segment of the video. Of course, I wasn't the first person come up with the honk for peace idea; some of my online friends have told me they've been carrying out similar vigils in their own cities.

Location: Choose a place where you'll have not only good visibility, but also an easy time parking your own car. Some store proprietors might object to your using their parking lot for this purpose. My own favorite location (here in Nashville) is beside Centennial Park, where there is lots of free public parking. Choose a location where the drivers can afford a little attention for you -- i.e., a straight strip of road, where few people are turning, is better than a place where people are merging into traffic.

Choosing the slogan for your sign: Ideally, your slogan should be one that people can support at a glance, but that still stretches their attitudes. I recommend choosing slogans with very few words, so that you can write them in very large print. Passing motorists will only have a second to glance at your sign, so you don't have time to convey a complex message; you won't be able to give a sophisticated debate point. You may want to choose a slogan that people will readily agree with, and will not dispute. And this is another reason why I'd prefer many small groups to one large group: The passing motorists won't have time to read more than one or two signs anyway. (Still, if they read even one sign, and they see a large number of people, they'll assume the whole group of people are in agreement with some message similar to the sign they've read.)

I particularly recommend signs that begin with "HONK for ... ," followed by just one or two (or perhaps at most three) more words. That's short and simple. It not only calls for people to support your cause, in their thoughts and in their action, but it also reminds people that the problem still exists, even if it's no longer in the news. Moreoever, honking is such an easy action that many people will DO it, and perhaps that breaks their inertia -- it may get them over the threshold, from doing nothing, to doing at least a little of something and feeling like they are part of a movement; so that perhaps they'll do more than honk at some point in the future. Moreover, other motorists can hear the honk, and so that adds to the message they're receiving: they're being told that someone like them agrees with your sign. And it gives you some positive feedback too: you'll feel good about each honk that you hear. And if you look quickly, you may figure out which car the honk came from, and you'll probably see a smiling face, perhaps a hand waving with a "V" sign. I generally wave back. All of this might not sound like much, but I'm hoping to change many minds, each very slightly; I think that's how mass movements start.

What slogan I use depends on my audience. For instance, when I go to a labor rally, I bring a sign that says "No war but class war"; I think that that slogan has been more understandable -- at least, in the context of labor rallies -- ever since Governor Walker openly declared war on the labor unions of Wisconsin. And the two issues are connected in my mind -- I think that our bloody occupation of countries in the middle east continues because the plutocracy profits from it. But that's just in the context of a labor rally. At my weekly roadside vigil, it's a different audience, and they may not be ready for a message about plutocracy. I think that "Honk For Peace" will be more readily understood. But I think that, after people become involved with peace efforts, they will begin to see the role played by the plutocracy. I don't have to put that in their introductory message.

Designing the sign. I have designed a sign that I can re-use many times. And I printed it using my computer, so that it would look better than a handwritten sign. (I taped together a large number of 8.5 x 11 sheets.) Use a bold font, such as "Impact."

I recommend using the largest sign that you can conveniently manage. I have a large sign, but a small car, so I have designed my sign so that it can be readily assembled and disassembled. Assembly steps:
  1. Take the paper sign out of its cardboard carrier tube, and unroll it.
  2. Unfold the posterboard. (The folds are along lines that will be horizontal when the sign is held upright; the pole will keep the poster properly unfolded and straight.)
  3. Connect together the two halves of the pole.
  4. Slide the pole through the open sleeve at the bottom of the posterboard, and into the closed-at-one-end sleeve at the top of the posterboard. The pole keep the poster properly unfolded and straight,. It also serves to carry the weight; most of the time the bottom of the pole will be resting on the sidewalk, and my hands are only needed for keeping the sign upright. (But once in a while I'll lift the whole construction up in the air, to make it more visible to distant cars.)
  5. Lay the poster down flat, with the non-pole side facing up.
  6. Attach the paper sign to the cardboard with binder clips.
  7. You're ready to go.

Specific to Nashville:

I've been doing "Honk For Peace," on and off, for a couple of years. For one year I was doing it regularly, about once a week. My location has been in front of Centennial Park, at 2600 West End Avenue, on the sidewalk at the left end of this photo (link to map and photo).

If you join me at this location, here is a recommendation for parking: From Elliston Place, go straight ahead; or from 25th Avenue North, turn right. In either of those ways, you get onto the driveway or street that goes in front of the Marshall Donnelly Combs Funeral Home -- see the map at this link. Once you're a couple of feet past the funeral home, that curved street is part of the park, so feel free to take any available space. If all the spaces are taken, continue into the park on 26th Avenue, turn left at the stop sign, and you'll probably see some parking spaces.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. Eric Schechter LeftyMathProf@Yahoo.com (615) 414-4572 http://www.facebook.com/LeftyMathProf.