There have been several responding to photos of protests in solidarity with the Rohingya & with Kashmiris by saying the protests don’t change anything, they don’t end the genocide or the occupation. That’s for damn sure–not if they’re just moments in time when a bunch of people blow off steam. But if they are part of a sustained & international movement to support political power for Rohingya, Kashmiris, & others, if they don’t just peter out after a few rallies, they have the potential to change the relationship of forces between the Rohingya & Kashmiris & their respective military oppressors. How do we know this? Are we just whistling into the wind? We saw it in protests around the world against the Vietnam War & once you see it you cannot go back to skepticism or cynicism about the power of mass mobilizations against tyranny.