Protests looking ugly

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As vegans we may be convinced of our own non-violence, but have to doubt it when we find ourselves ‘doing’ an angry protest. To people who see us getting angry it’s off-putting. When we set out on a high moral platform it might give us confidence, since we are so obviously right … and yet we don’t see how, drip by drip, our protest can come to seem too harsh, even violent.
To be non-violent, I think, we activists (so-called!) do need to consider developing a level of control, where words are strong but not frightening and where voices are loud but not screaming. Collectively we can seem too big for our boots, over confident or even brash. The vegan public face is sometimes off-putting. We don’t recognise it in ourselves because at home we aren’t like that at all. At home, where everyone knows us too well, we’re not trying to impress anyone. Lifestyle-wise, vegans are pretty much fine examples of non-violence. It seems a shame to wear our dark side in public just to look as though we are serious and dedicated.
Privately of course, a more wonderful ‘at-peace’ spirit you’ll never find, and that’s because vegans have low levels of ‘spending-violence’ They don’t buy animal-stuff or guns or do violent crime. At home vegans are cool and it’s only when we’re trying to be effective outside the home that we hit trouble, like when we want to be ‘hot’ (passionate) ... and then it’s our appearance that lets us down.
Vegans should of course feel utterly safe when we go up against the ‘big-bad-world’ to advocate for the animals. So, when we have to face some opposition, face some curly questions, how do we handle it? How do we come across? “Bring it on” sounds brave, and it is brave, but we still don’t have to sound aggro to prove that we are fearless.