public that only nonviolent protests can bring sustained social change. allow me to disagree. take the nonviolent direct action of african-american civil rights protesters. their actions, like the march from selma to montgomery were potent ingredients for policy change, but most of the change was still a result of violence. it was the violence done against their unascended bodies that pricked the conscience of the nation. because a key aspect of so-called nonviolent protest is provokeing violence. if you think that actions of protesters themselves can never bring about meaningful change look at the events of 1969 the night stonewall erupted. in the 1960s the new york police department enforced anti-sodomy laws so aggressively they were arrested 100 men a week. they would burst into space,