November 15-18 Close the SOA! Converge Fort Benning, Georgia
soaw.org
November: binational no border action camp
near Calexico and Mexicali, between Tucson and San Diego
deletetheborder.org
November: No Border Conference Tucson
deletetheborder.org
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Naomi Klein mentioned from years of experience: don't march! Sit, occupy, patiently persevere until things change. Marching was never successful.
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I'm not a lawyer, but here are some basic things to avoid when carrying out a protest:
DON'T BE VIOLENT OR OVERLY AGGRESSIVE. Unless the riot police roll in, in which I recommend getting the hell out of there, any hint of violence done by protesters is an excuse for the police to shut the protest down and arrest everyone. This includes something as inoffensive as shoving someone or throwing a cigarette at someone's shoes. Be peaceful, be firm, and don't try and start a fight. If you provoke a cop enough to start a fight, it doesn't matter if he hits you first; you're still going to jail for assaulting an officer.
Don't have any drugs on your person or in your body. Obviously caffeine and cigarettes are not that big of a deal, but if you are arrested drugs will be a major impediment to being released or not being charged. This falls under the "don't make this easy for the cops" category; if you're drunk or high or carrying drugs, you can be labeled disorderly or under the influence or many other things to excuse hauling your ass off to jail. Go sober; you may need your wits with you.
Don't break any laws which the protest hasn't planned on breaking. This includes very insignificant things like jaywalking, crossing against a light, littering, trespassing, or anything at all that could be interpreted as breaking a law. Some protests are based on breaking the law in some manner, this is called [WWW]Civil Disobedience. This type of protest can be very effective, but you should limit the number of laws you are breaking before hand. This will reduce the sentence you and the other protesters receive if arrested, and prevent the appearance of anarchy.
Remember, once someone in a protest breaks the law, the police will try and end the protest there and then. hmmmm.
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Humble advice: smile at cops, film them, but avoid talking to them — it is best to stay as anonymous as possible. Many modern police departments compile dossiers of information on people they identify, using practices created to monitor and control young minority gang members, but likely to be used against protesters as well.
