In the 1830s, abolitionists like Maria Stewart accrued collective power with their words - and petitions.
The onslaught of anti-slavery petitions made congressmen so uncomfortable with resistance that, in 1836, a committee decided all abolition-related petitions would be automatically tabled.
This was the Gag Rule, which was renewed in 1837, and lasted until 1844.
Abolition could no longer be discussed in the House of Representatives. No discussion meant no legislation. Still, the people continued to petition. Twenty-three petitions in December 1835 came to a coordinated roar of 300,000 by May 1836.
In 1842, a representative brought up resolutions to free enslaved people who had effectively revolted and sailed a slave ship to the Bahamas. He became the second person ever to be censured by the House.
A censure is effectively a majority-vote punishment to humiliate a member in front of all their colleagues. But perhaps what’s more humiliating for the House is that abolition was inevitable and eventually happened.
Today’s censure of Rep. Rashida Tlaib and ridicule of Rep. Cori Bush for calling for a ceasefire in Palestine indicates the same idea.
Gags and censures evoke shame, but there’s nothing shameful about pushing back against colonization. Colonization is shameful. Around the world, millions will continue to successfully resist for our inevitable freedom in the face of undemocratic governments who refuse to listen. Keep speaking up.