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Rally Checklist

Here’s an overview of the main steps involved in organizing a rally.

1  Remarks

A checklist is not necessarily a do-list; it’s just a list of things to think about. You don’t have to do everything on the list, and you don’t have to do them in a particular order.

You don’t have to do everything single-handedly. A lot of this can be delegated.

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Figure 1: A spellout, at a rally in front of a senator’s office

2  Pick a topic or issue

Sometimes this is forced upon us by the news of the day.

3  Coordinate with other activists

If some other group wants to take the lead, and is competent, it’s probably best to let them. Offer to be a cosponsor or supporting actor.

Otherwise we take the lead, and ask others to sign on as cosponsors, or at least send publicity via their channels.

4  Pick a date, time, and venue

  1. When choosing a date and time, check local event calendars, to see if there are any avoidable conflicts.
  2. In general, we want to “break out of the bubble” i.e. get our message out to people who don’t already agree with us. When choosing a venue, considerations include:
  3. One favorite site is the federal courthouse. The mailing address of the courthouse is 405 W Congress, but google handles that address poorly, so it may be better to announce the rally site as 401 W Congress. It has the advantage of a fair amount of room, and some shade. It is directly across the street from the state office building at 400 W Congress, and diagonally across the intersection from the IRS and other federal offices at 300 W Congress.

    If there is a large turnout, we can expand to all four corners of the Congress/Grenada intersection.

    Parking is available at 498 W Congress, and (perhaps better) at the convention center.

  4. McSally’s Tucson office is in the building just west of the courthouse: 407 W. Congress St. / Suite 103.
  5. Kirkpatrick’s Tucson office is at 1636 N Swan Rd / Suite 200.
  6. Sinema still (!) doesn’t have a Tucson office. (Only DC and Phoenix.)
  7. The county courthouse is at 110 W Congress, at the corner of Congress and Church Ave.
  8. The county administration building, including the Board of Supervisors meeting room, is at 130 W Congress. There is parking about a block north of there, but it’s tricky to get to, on account of one-way streets.
  9. There is a pedestrian bridge at approximately 138 W Congress. Signs held here are highly visible to drivers ... but you have to be super-careful not to drop the signs.
  10. The rattlesnake bridge is at approximately 698 E Broadway, 1.0 miles east of the federal courthouse. Signs held inside the snake are visible outside, and there is no danger of dropping them. A significant drawback is the parking situation. A few cars could perhaps park at nearby businesses, but we don’t want to abuse the privilege.

5  Check the weather forecast

Extreme temperatures are obviously an issue. High winds make it hard to hold signs. Rain damages signs and PA systems.

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=32.2172lon=-110.9706
https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=32.2172lon=-110.9706unit=0lg=englishFcstType=graphical

6  Arrange program, arrange supplies

7  Compose general announcement and press release

8  Publicize beforehand

Then, depending on the issue, it might be good to notify some subset of the following groups:

  1. MoveOn https://www.facebook.com/Tucson-MoveOnorg-243861295645269/
    This is an important publicity channel. Significant numbers of people can be reached via this channel and not otherwise.
  2. Indivisible Tohono https://www.facebook.com/indivisibletohono/
  3. Indivisible Oro Valley https://www.facebook.com/groups/410961919245440/
  4. ITAA: Indivisible Tucson Action Alliance https://www.facebook.com/groups/1808798399372630/about/
  5. Mi Familia Vota https://www.facebook.com/MiFamiliaVota/
    Do they have a Tucson chapter? Or is there just one statewide operation?
  6. Coalición de Derechos Humanos https://www.facebook.com/DerechosHumanosAZ/
  7. LUCHA https://www.facebook.com/lucha.arizona/
  8. Pima County Democratic Party https://www.facebook.com/pimadems/
  9. Green Party of Pima County https://www.facebook.com/Green-Party-of-Pima-County-196477293722264/
  10. DSA: Democratic Socialists of America https://www.facebook.com/dsatucson/
  11. PALF: Pima Area Labor Federation https://www.azaflcio.org/pimaalf <palfchair@gmail.com>
  12. PDoSA: Progressive Democrats of Southern Arizona https://www.facebook.com/PDOSAZ/
  13. PDA: Progressive Democrats of America https://www.facebook.com/PDAArizona/
  14. PDI: People’s Defense Initiative Tucson https://www.facebook.com/PDITucson/
  15. Represent Me AZ https://www.facebook.com/RepresentMeAZ/
  16. NOW: National Organization for Women https://www.facebook.com/TucsonNationalOrganizationforWomen/
  17. Handmaids’ Resistance Phoenix https://www.facebook.com/HandmaidsResistancePHX/
  18. AZ Resist https://www.facebook.com/AZRESIST/
  19. Chukson Water Protectors https://www.facebook.com/tucsonwaterprotectors/
  20. ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union https://www.facebook.com/ACLUofArizona/
    Do they have a Tucson chapter? Or is there just one statewide operation?
  21. Tucson Samaritans https://www.facebook.com/Tucsonsams/
  22. Planned Parenthood Tucson Rapid Response Team https://www.facebook.com/groups/PPtucsonrapidresponseteam/
  23. No Mas Muertes http://www.nomoredeaths.org/
  24. Need to Impeach https://www.needtoimpeach.com/contact-us/

And the media:

Also:

9  Safety and Security Coordination

10  Follow up

Publicize afterward. Offer video, images, and descriptions to the press. Share via all the channels itemized in section 8.

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Copyright © 2019 jsd