Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead, US anthropologist (1901 – 1978)
This week, a neighbor returning from a local protest told me how great it was – how many people attended – how different signs got the points across (including dogs wearing them) – how great she felt for taking part. When I asked why she did it, she looked blank. Finally she said it was to feel like she was doing something.I interpreted that to mean she didn’t want to feel powerless.
Margaret Mead’s quote, often found on posters, T-shirts, mugs and writing about social change, is considered the foundation for grass roots activism – showing the power of the people.
Activism: action to effect social change, led by individuals or collectively through social movements. In his book, Blessed Unrest, Paul Hawken’s estimates there are currently over one million groups working toward social justice and ecological sustainability. Considered the “great underground”, this lineage is traced back to healers, priestesses, philosophers, monks, rabbis, poets and artists throughout the ages.
Protest: people coming together to seek their truth and create change. The earliest recorded protest was in Egypt in 1179 – by under-nourished pyramid builders for Rameses III. They refused to work until they got grain, and they were successful.
REFLECT:
Have you participated in a protest / sit in / march, letter writing…?
Been part of a movement?
What was the outcome?
So are all protests successful? NOT! There have been three local demonstrations in two-weeks near me – to protest administrative policies. Some policies are being revised, but not the ones that were the subject of the demonstrations! In a discussion of recent demonstrations, one newscaster announced research showed it only took 3% of the population protesting to create a change.
If you read the Researcher Mind blog, you are already questioning this statement. Where / when was this research done? On what issues? What type of governance was involved in the issue? What type of people protested? What type of organization monitored / oversaw it? When did they work and when didn’t they? What other factors were involved? (If you haven’t read it, peruse Outliers and Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell).
Historically, protests were through books, music, theater… Uncle Tom’s Cabin (about slavery) and The Silent Spring (about pesticides) educated the public to inequities. Singers like Billie Holliday (Strange Fruit about lynching) and composer / singers like Bob Dylan (about war) sent social injustice messages.
Marginalized groups protesting oppressive regimes do not experience success, however – from the current Kashmir situation to the 1890’s killing of 300 men, women, and children dancing at Wounded Knee Creek for a land of love and peace.
REFLECT:
Think of social movements that succeeded.
Why did they succeed?
Activism is only limited to activists’ creativity and imagination and include innovative methods:
School Strikes: Greta Thurnberg skipping school every Monday to sit In front of the to Swedish Parliament with a sign – School Strike for Climate – to protest global warming
Humor: the mayor of Bogota having police officers mime bad drivers to correct their behavior rather than ticket them.
Noise: women in Chile banging cooking pots with wooden spoons in the streets to protest political prisoner abuses.
Camping: Julia Hill camping in a redwood tree for 2 years to protest cutting the forests.
Music: Syrian protesters playing protest songs from hidden speakers in garbage cans and piles of manure all over Damascus to protest the oppressive regime.
Digital Disturbance: Italian Strano Network using virtual sit-ins to shut down offensive websites
Farming: Maori farmers continuing to farm the land they had been evicted from, showing their land-rights.
Puppetry: Russians prohibited from protesting placing dolls holding placards along the streets.
Of course, social media most often rules now – with global messages of real time images flashing across all boundaries. And youth activists outnumber others, with an estimated 70% of Gen Z’ers being active (see the next blogs on youth activists and rules for activists).
APPLY
List 10 things that are important to you – that have heart and meaning for you.
Choose the top 2-3 and identify who is active in those areas.
Reach out to volunteer / get involved.
Consider joining with youth to freshen your perspective:
For instance, when I reached a “milestone” birthday, I requested all my family and friends STOP giving me gifts. I invited them to make a donation in my name to one of their favorite organizations or to one of my designated
organizations. In turn, I would do the same for them.
It was great FUN to choose the “gifts” for family and friends that matched them in some way.
And I felt blessed to receive my “gifts” each year: a donation for breast cancer research from a friend who had survived it: a goat for SEVA to give to a farmer in recognition of my astrological sign as a goat: a box of nails for Habitat for Humanity in recognition of my handy-woman house repairs, having a tree planted to reflect my love of wilderness experiences, and on and on….
While being an activist is a serious endeavor, find ways to do it with joy!!!!
