Emily

=__Punishments for Protesters __=

=
 Michael Collins =====  Michael Collins is the hero of the Irish struggle for independence, best remembered for his daring strategies in the Anglo-Irish War (1919-1921). He was a well-known protestor and fought in many protest battles over his time. In 1916 he was arrested and held detention for protesting in the Easter Rising, but was released that same year. In 1918, his protest group the ‘Dail Eireann’ found that their president and vice president were both jailed, so much responsibility fell on Collins. As chief planner and coordinator of the revolutionary movement, Collins organized many attacks on police and the assassination of many of Britain’s leading intelligence agents in Ireland. He headed the list of men wanted by the British police and had a ₤10,000 price on his head.  In 1921 Collins was sent to London’s peace coordinators, in the hope that he would sign a peace treaty. He did sign the treaty but refused to take action against the other members of the Dail Eireann. About 5 weeks later, while on tour of a military inspection, Collins was shot dead by anti-treaty rebels in an ambush. He protested to fight for his country and to get the Irish independence. His punishment was death. Is it a fair price to pay?  Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela is a South African black nationalist who joined the black-liberation group African National Congress (ANC) and later became one of their leaders. He strongly opposed the apartheid policies of the ruling National Party and he fought for black civil rights. In 1960, ANC was banned and their was a massacre of unarmed Africans, so Mandela abandoned his ‘No Violence’ policy, and began organizing acts of sabotage against the South African regime. In 1962, he was jailed and sentenced to 5 years in prison. In 1963, the imprisoned Mandela and several other men went on trial for sabotage, treason and violent conspiracy. Mandela admitted some of the charges and in 1964, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He stayed in jail for 27 years before he was finally released in 1990. He protested for his “colour”. His punishment was spending 27 years, of his precious life, in prison. Is that a fair price to pay?

  Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little) was a protestor famous for being a leading figure in “Nation of Islam” and starting his own religious group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity. In 1946 he was convicted of burglary and sentenced to ten years in jail. While he was in prison he converted to the Black Muslim faith. He was released in 1952, and joined the Nation of Islam. It soon became clear that he didn’t believe in racial integrigation or equality, but supported ‘Black Power’ instead. Eventually, Malcolm decided to leave the group when he was suspended after he made a series of bold speeches that included bad comments about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In 1964, Malcolm made his own group called the Organization of Afro-American Unity and changed his beliefs to support world brotherhood and the unity of blacks and whites. He began to blame racism on Western Culture and made speeches urging African Americans to join with whites, to bring an end to the conflicts. In 1965, three Black Muslims shot Malcolm X dead, at one of the Organization of Afro-American Unity group meetings. Malcolm X was protesting for harmony between blacks and whites. His punishment was death. Is that really a fair price to pay?

 Conclusion.. It isn’t worth it. In my opinion, protesting isn’t really worth it. The 3 people I have talked about, have ended up either dead or spending a third of their life in prison and probably haven’t achieved what they wanted to. It’s a very high price to pay for fighting for what you believe in and I think it would be a whole lot easier if they just didn’t do it. A lot protests don’t work, people get treated badly and then there’s more protest about how they were treated. It’s a never-ending cycle really. There is always going to be bad things in this world, and things we don’t like but nothings perfect and we just have to accept the fact that it never will be. Most of the time, protestors don’t get what they want and things end badly, sometimes people die. Is it really worth risking your life?