Editing Attendee Should I Attend In Person (section)

=== Organizations History ===
What's the history or track record of the organization. If they've held protests before now then how'd they go? If they're a new group looking at post history of organizers can help you know how the tone will be. If they've never even been to a protest before they likely won't know the logistics necessary to ensure a good and productive protest that stays within the message goal.

Many organizations are also decentralized or chaptered. Meaning that they may stand as part of a movement but they aren't organized directly by a main group. If a group is decentralized then the history of the movement as a whole may not be reflected in the protest that you are attending. Looking at the local chapter of the organization will give you a better idea of how the protest you attend will go and what the goals are.

Although looking at news articles can give you some idea how protests by the group have gone in the past they may not be a fully accurate reflection of the protest you will attend. "If It Bleeds It Leads" is an old ethos in media that is reflected often in social media and any bad news about a protest will get reported while good news is overlooked. Organizations can also grow and learn over time. With that growth you will often be able to see their statements countering any bad news you have seen published and see their actual perspective on their goals for protest. 

If their was an story covering violence or destruction that may have been committed by an attendee at the protest was the organizations response 

* "Yeah we f***** s*** up! If things don't change just wait till next time."
* "We are protesting because of deaths and cruelty occurring that are ignoring peoples basic humanity and rights. You can replace a broken window but you can't replace a life. We stand have always stood for peace and did not encourage those, but we stand for fighting for peoples lives first and that's our priority"
* "We do not condone violence at our protests. We welcome everyone to join in our protests as long as they support our causes while maintaining our stated goals and stance on non-violent protest"

Our stance is in favor of protests planned as peaceful as the often best option to generate change through getting the public on your side and increasing your numbers for effective change. However, which type of protest you attend is up to you. Organizations responses to past incidents can give you a heads up as to whether their planned goals match the type of protest that you want to attend

None of these considerations on history are an automatic reason not to attend a protest that aligns with your values. But if there's 10 protests and you can only go to 1 then they can help you pick which one you want to attend for the maximum effect of your expressing your voice. 

If you know protest organization another thing you can do instead of shirking off a new groups is to offer to help them out and find their footing. In offering to help out it will also give you answers to the protest tone and ensure that the protest you attend is the protest that you would want to attend.