Marshals for DC rally

Not only is a well trained group of Marshals necessary for a safe and enjoyable action, we are required to have them for this event.

The concept of marshals really started with Ghandi's grassroots organizing but was refined for use in the USA by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). These early activists faced extremely hostile opposition and their basic job was to get people through the march or rally with minimum injury. Since then the Marshal's role has expanded but the basic task remains the same. We help people get to the action, we help them do the action, we get everyone home safely and we insure that our interface with the community is pleasant.

The four main tools Marshal has to do this are:

Effective planning.
A Marshal will know the entire action plan. They will be familiar with the location and the main methods to get to and from the location. The know the location of the various resources we have at our disposal such as medical, security, lost & found, water, bathrooms and the march coordinators. They will know how to respond to various types of problems or emergencies.
An effective communications presence throughout the entire field of action.
Marshals will have a walkie-talkie network with march coordination but we often won't have enough of them. We'll be looking at distributed communications like text and cell but Marshals use their voices, eyes and ears as part of maintaining march cohesion. We don't want anyone left behind, no kids lost, no elderlies collapsing from exhaustion. We don't want the march becoming separated, we don't want parts of it becoming lost.
Positive community interaction.
We want to leave a good impression where we gather. Marshals are trained to handle counter-protesters or infliltrators who might do acts of vandalism to discredit us or otherwise rile us. Marshals keep marchers in orderly ranks to minimize disruption to traffic or dangerous traffic situations. Marshals hand out garbage bags and encourage people to clean up the location near it's end and they collect these for proper disposal.
Our personal skills.
A good Marshal has a loud voice but a gentle touch with people. A very large smile is indispensable. People with any degree of first-aid or medical training are always desired. Dealing with lost children skills come in handy. Leading people in chants and keeping everyone's energy upbeat, some people truly shine at this. At the same time, we want people who can deal with a crisis calmly.

How do I get to be a Marshal?

You can sign up for traininig now! This training begins online (reading this stuff), then you do a conference call or two. This gets you used to thinking about the whole scope of action logistical support.
You arrive a day early in DC to do in-person, live training. This is more fun and involves various role-playing scenarios. We also do a final revue of the location and action plan. At this time you'll get a copy of the event plan and location maps to help orient you. If we have time, we walk the march route and point out items of interest to us.
You arrive early the day of the event, sign in, get your identification (either a t-shirt or an arm-band), any communications equipment, you get your specific assignment and you are off and marshaling.
You report to march coordination at the end of the day, sign out, return equipment, etc. You get to keep the t-shirt or arm band.

What happens from there?

You are now part of a national network of action logistical support specialists. We may call on you for future actions. We also hope you use these methods in your own state, and pass them on to others.

Further information.

We'll be posting further information on march logistics and training periodically. Here's the outline we've deloped for Marshal training.