Reclaiming the Word Protest

The word protest can be defined as making a solemn, public declaration. Over time, it came to mean speaking out against something.

This is confusing because pro usually means to be for something (e.g. I am pro-nature). The fact that we have come to interpret this pro word as meaning against is evidence of how we have trained ourselves to move in opposition to something to try to understand it (e.g. scientific method). Doing this might help us break down the problem, but the limitation is we stay problem-oriented.

To be for something allows us to be solution-oriented. When we declare what we are for, we move to stand with it. If we are for it, it is what we want. Therefore, when we declare we are for something, we move toward what we want.

An Example

I am against ocean pollution. This statement pulls me away from the ocean. I stand apart observing the polluted ocean and saying, while looking at the problem, I don’t want that. I have identified pollution as the problem with the ocean. Now what?

To solve the problem I have to say what I am for. I am for clean oceans. This statement puts me standing with the ocean. When I speak I am with the ocean looking outward to the world. I proclaim what I want this ocean to be. It is solution-oriented.

Reclaiming the Word Protest

I am reclaiming the word protest to mean: making a solemn, public declaration of what I am for. I protest to you that I am for nature. To be for nature means I stand with her. This my first step in reclaiming our natural health. We must first stand together and then move together in the direction we want to go.