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Next Steps
Author: TriSec
Date: 10/19/2025 11:51:00
So, yesterday millions of us blocked some streets, stood out in public parks, held up signs, and listened to some speeches.
A great show of solidarity against a growing dictatorship. But did anything really change yesterday?
NO, unless feeling good about ourselves counts for something. No politicians changed sides, no federal officials were tarred or feathered, no government buildings were set alight.
I know the point was peaceful protest, and indeed, there are reports of not even ONE arrest anywhere in the country during the course of the events.
Does that win wars, though? Does that change regimes?
While we all hope to gain inspiration and power from the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s policy of non-violence, I say we are following the wrong lead.
We should be marching in locktep along the path pioneered by the EDSA revolution under Corazon Aquino.
Big protests look great on TV, but we've only had two "No Kings" days in ten months. This won't change anything. Ferdinand Marcos didn't flee until there were protests every day on the main thouroughfare in Manila.
Daily millions on the Ellipse, or City Hall Plaza in Boston (JFK Federal Building), or Federal Plaza in New York (Javits Federal Building) or literally anywhere else in the United States might start to turn the tide.
In the end, there was a coup attempt against Ferdinand Marcos that failed, and he had the military leaders arrested. Two days later, he ordered the military to disperse a protest camp with artillery fire - THEY REFUSED - and within 48 hours he had fled the country.
What is the future path of our degrading democracy?
A great show of solidarity against a growing dictatorship. But did anything really change yesterday?
NO, unless feeling good about ourselves counts for something. No politicians changed sides, no federal officials were tarred or feathered, no government buildings were set alight.
I know the point was peaceful protest, and indeed, there are reports of not even ONE arrest anywhere in the country during the course of the events.
Does that win wars, though? Does that change regimes?
While we all hope to gain inspiration and power from the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s policy of non-violence, I say we are following the wrong lead.
We should be marching in locktep along the path pioneered by the EDSA revolution under Corazon Aquino.
The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, were a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. The nonviolent revolution led to the departure of Ferdinand Marcos, the end of his 20-year dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines.
It is also referred to as the Yellow Revolution due to the presence of yellow ribbons during demonstrations (in reference to the Tony Orlando and Dawn song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree") as a symbol of protest following the assassination of Filipino senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. in August 1983 upon his return to the Philippines from exile. It was widely seen as a victory of the people against two decades of presidential rule by President Marcos, and made news headlines as "the revolution that surprised the world".
The majority of the demonstrations took place on a long stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, more commonly known by its acronym EDSA, in Metro Manila from February 22 to 25, 1986. They involved over two million Filipino civilians, as well as several political and military groups, and religious groups led by Cardinal Jaime Sin, the Archbishop of Manila, along with Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines President Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, the Archbishop of Cebu. It is remembered as a "Rosary miracle" in the peaceful victory.
The protests, fueled by the resistance and opposition after years of governance by President Marcos and his cronies, ended with the ruler, his family, and some of their supporters fleeing to exile in Hawaii; and Ninoy Aquino's widow, Corazon Aquino, inaugurated as the eleventh President of the Philippines.
Big protests look great on TV, but we've only had two "No Kings" days in ten months. This won't change anything. Ferdinand Marcos didn't flee until there were protests every day on the main thouroughfare in Manila.
Daily millions on the Ellipse, or City Hall Plaza in Boston (JFK Federal Building), or Federal Plaza in New York (Javits Federal Building) or literally anywhere else in the United States might start to turn the tide.
In the end, there was a coup attempt against Ferdinand Marcos that failed, and he had the military leaders arrested. Two days later, he ordered the military to disperse a protest camp with artillery fire - THEY REFUSED - and within 48 hours he had fled the country.
What is the future path of our degrading democracy?
