#StandingRock is an example of a protest movement which knows what it is protecting, its tactic of protection, and how it would not be externally policed in its tone.

Standing Rock is an example of a small, manageable protest target becoming a flash point for news media.

It’s not a grand, terrifying arch-target like police brutality, mass incarceration or income inequality. The protection is centered around a piece of land, and the goal is to stop something from happening to that land.

And it is not a frustrated reaction against a grievous incident, but a proactive protection against grievous plans.

And until the directive from the Army Corps of Engineers is made flesh before President Obama leaves office, those plans remain prone to reversal.

But Standing Rock is possible and proactive. As violent and scandalous as the suppression has been (and as scandalous and glib as the denial of Standing Rock’s claims have been), Standing Rock has been small enough to attain and big enough to attract citizens and logistical support from all walks of life. Nothing more, nothing less than this specific goal.

If the Standing Rock movement survives the winter and DAPL is permanently rerouted after Trump takes office, this will be a hard-fought victory for nonviolent protest akin to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This victory will be studied for years to come.

This is where #Occupy failed, and why it didn’t survive the winter of 2011. This is what many in the #BlackLivesMatter movement can learn about, so that we can stop people from becoming hashtags.

Goals matter. Name the future that you wish to protect, what you will do to protect it, and the outcome which you will go through hell and high water to prevent.

#NoDAPL