Dissent Poem

On January 20, 2017, over 200 protesters were arrested and charged with multiple felonies for expressing opposition to the election of Donald Trump. In “Dissent Poem”, an anonymous young protester, The Narrator, recounts the protest and trials of what became known as J20, reflecting on how the trial set a precedent for government surveillance and control, anarchism as a practice of freedom, and how people from diverse ideological perspectives can learn valuable lessons from the arrests and aftermath.

            
A collage of footage drawn from various sources documenting the protest as well as animated visuals illustrate The Narrator’s interview, engaging viewers to question the criminalization of dissent in the face of a growing fascist threat. The in-situ footage functions as an emotionally visceral visual testament to the truth of The Narrator’s story, which they tell from the perspective of a protester and J20 defendant.

       
The Narrator is a compelling subject who presents complex ideas in an engaging way, including questions about what is called violence in a time of increasingly excessive state violence. As The Narrator says, “violence is a term that is relative to who gets to use power and who has power used against them.” Other ideas examined in the film include the rise of racism, fascism, and xenophobia, anti-capitalism, anti fascist protests and the practices of anarchy.

The Narrator’s reflections on the arrest, detainment, and lawsuit demonstrate why these charges should be important to everyone. In The Narrator’s words “Regardless of what you think of what happened on January 20th, there is something beautiful about
believing in something enough to risk your freedom.” This film is a call to question the
criminalization of dissent in the face of a growing fascist threat, and an invitation to
imagine new creative forms of resistance.