[sacw] 13 Lucky Tips for Activists [FWD]

[Harsh Kapoor]

13 Lucky Tips for Activists

Have a sense of humor.

The world is not going to change overnight, no matter how
hard you work. Take time out to laugh at how messed up
things really are. Take time out to laugh at yourself and
the incremental changes that you and others are striving so
hard for. A good chuckle now and then keeps things in
perspective and may actually make you feel better about the
work you have accomplished. Making fun of yourself and other
activists may be a form of critique, and we all know that...

II

Critique is necessary and vital for activism.

Analyzing what went wrong and what went right about an
action or a campaign may help you to not repeat the same
mistakes twice. Listen to what others outside your group
have to say, especially the opposition, which may be the
perfect foil for your cause. Many great activists and
revolutionaries engaged in rigorous self-criticism to
realize what they did right or wrong. Luckily, unlike Che or
Durruti, we don't have to do it under a hail of bullets (at
least not yet).

III

Treat everyone as individuals.

It irks me when Marxists and anarchists refer to "the
masses" or when anti-corporate activists refer to their
peers as "MTV kids." By lumping people into faceless
categories we forget that we are dealing with people who
have reasons for believing the things they do, whether it is
family upbringing, the influence of religion or state
propaganda, or just growing up in this damn culture. When
you approach people as individuals, you remember that once
upon a time you, too may not have had the beliefs you do now
and may have been alienated by how some activists can come
off when trying to spread their message. And so, the most
important aspect of reaching out to people may not be what
you have to say but actually to...

IV

Listen to what others have to say and know your audience.

Sometimes people's responses to what you have to say may be
the best guide for learning what you shouldn't do next time.
When you know who you are speaking to, you can craft your
message it appeals to them. This is something the Christian
Right learned long ago in their direct mail campaigns. For
example:

By knowing your audience you can personalize the issue so
that is not some abstract cause that they cannot relate to
their everyday experience. If you are talking about
immigrants' rights to some middle class white people, you
can preface your point by mentioning "Imagine if this had
happened to your grandparents when they were trying to
escape the (famines, wars, genocide, intolerance) that
brought them here." If you are talking to some kids on the
street about how McDonalds is fucked up, don't just dwell on
the facts that they kill millions of animals every year and
use beef grown on former rainforest land. Many of the kids
in my neighborhood can relate to the fact that McD's pays
bad wages and makes you work long, grueling hours.

4a. And oh yeah... ditch the highfalutin lingo! If you
insist on "subsuming the other" and "deconstructing the
privileged hegemonies of socioeconomic systems" then don't
expect much of a response. If you know your audience then
you can talk to them at their level, not Foucault's.
Besides, those big words are a privilege of those lucky
enough to have been college educated and can set up an
uncomfortable power dynamic. What's the use of promoting
social change when you convey it in an elitist fashion?

V

And stop screaming all the time!

Yeah, we're pissed off but if we are always screaming AT
people instead of talking to them, then they won't listen.
So before you go to a protest, go work out or jog or
something. You'd be surprised how people respond when you
talk politely to them. There IS a time for anger, and then
there is a time for discussion. So think before you scream.

VI

Single-issue activism can be problematic.

While we all have certain issues that are closest to our
hearts, we shouldn't close our minds to the possible
interconnections between these issues or stop from examining
how they may have similar historic roots. Sometimes
single-issue activism can be very detrimental, such as how
some environmentalists echo right-wing propaganda about
immigration or how some anti-racist activists are just as
homophobic as the KKK.

VII

Having progressive politics does not exempt you from being an asshole.

There are more than a few "progressive" people who are
sexist pigs or hold some pretty questionable ideas about
race and class. And activists can be just as cliquey and
backstabbing as frat-people. The redeeming thing is that at
least by getting involved the door is open for talking about
these issues, right???

VIII

You can't save the world via e-mail.

Your computer is a product of the techno-capitalist system
and whatever good you do with it does not equal the power it
has given Corporate America. No matter how efficient,
technology can never replace the power and intimacy of human
communication and contact. The internet itself was designed
by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
as a way to decentralize communications in the advent of
nuclear war. And over 98% of the internet's usefulness has
been in speeding up commerce for speculative investment by
very wealthy people all over the world. Admittedly, the
internet has increased our communications and has helped to
make progressive movements more globally linked; the
Zapatistas may have been crushed if not for the e-mail
updates they sent out during their uprising. But we can't
rely on techno-activism all the time. And one other thing: Y2K.

IX

Leave the "ism's" at home.

"So that's nice. You are a (insert typical social change
label here)." To most people who don't share these beliefs,
these labels are loaded with media stereotypes and corporate
propaganda that demean the positive aspects that these
labels carry for you and me. For example, after saying to
someone "I am a multiculturalist," he responded with "So you
hate white people?" Instead, I should have said, "I believe
in seeing race as a historical construct; it is not real in
any physical or biological sense, but people are manipulated
into believing that it is and treating it so." And maybe
that would have spurred some lively discussion.

So before you announce yourself as some left-wing "ism-ist",
consider what may be going on in someone else's head about
what you label yourself. Just think of what you considered a
"communist" or "anarchist" before you became so enlightened;
what do most people hear about these terms from the media?
Let your actions define you, not your "ism's"

X

Lifestyle fascism sucks.

A major problem with many activists is instead of
personalizing the political, they politicize the personal.
Finding flaws in other people's lifestyles becomes something
of a hobby for many progressive-types, instead of
identifying and deconstructing the institutions that are the
source of violence against humans, animals and the
environment. It is an easy way out of making real change
happen by just attacking this or that consumption pattern.

What we need to remember is that by identifying certain
aspects of Western lifestyle, such as meat-eating, smoking,
or not boycotting the latest trendy issue, we are forgetting
that it is the whole damn system that is wrong. Our power is
more than our pocketbooks alone. To make real change we need
to organize and find things that more of us have in common,
not alienate others because they don't conform to some
lifestyle guidelines. Why recapitulate the authoritarian
tactics of the Christian Right or corporate America? Let
people decide for themselves what they can or cannot boycott
and get off the moral soapbox.

XI

Ha! Ha! Ha! You're gonna burnout!

Few things hurt our causes as much as exhaustion and the
implosion of those who have just "had enough." You make bad
decisions, you alienate friends and family, your personal
hygiene takes a nosedive. You know what? You need a break!
Take a nap, paint a picture, do something to relax your mind
and body. Let your energy and zeal come back. Activism is
tough and victories can be few and far between, so learn and
take it easy. Even Assata Shakur says that the most
important thing is to grow personally, to maintain
relationships and hobbies. The revolution doesn't need
zombies or robots. It needs people.

XII

Stop the sectarianism!

Of course, this is like asking for tropical weather in
Binghamton, but hey, might as well. From petty internecine
squabbles at the local Food Coop to writers of "The Nation"
insisting there are two (or more) "Left's", the movement has
fractured and fragmented into so many little cliques and
ideologies that you wonder what we have in common anymore
other than our dislike for each other. While some of the
bitterness is left over from past counterinsurgency
operations, such as the FBI's Cointelpro and the CIA's MH
Chaos, a good deal of it is just because of activists who
have split due to personal disagreements and arguments over
ideology and strategy. Wherever I have been, it always seems
like this one doesn't like that one, that group betrayed the
cause, this one is a sellout, that one is too extreme, etc.
As dismaying as this is, there are still so many people
working for change that I must ask: can't we agree on
certain vital things? Do we have at least a common enemy?
Can we forget our differences and actually work towards some
sort of consensus so that we stop shooting ourselves in the
feet? If you are new to activism, stay above the pettiness
and concentrate on the issues at hand. If you are from the
old school, then us young folks need your experience, not
your gripes and grudges.

XIII

Redefine activism.

Activism is an accepted cultural niche in our society.
C'mon, we all know the stereotypes: bad dresser,
self-righteous about this or that issue, screaming and
chanting, holding up signs, getting dragged away by cops,
etc. But by becoming part of this "activist" culture we
alienate many whose side we are supposedly on. How many
people can relate when they see media-bites of these
"wackos?" How often do we feed these stereotypes?

But look what is happening. More and more people fighting
for social change are just "regular" people: a one-day
general strike by NYC cabbies in May virtually shut down the
city; thousands gathered to demonstrate against anti-gay
violence in NY this October; recent general strikes in
Puerto Rico and Colombia had hundreds of thousands of
participants; 40,000 construction workers in NYC protesting
non-union contracts, etc. And then there are the selfless
acts we will never hear about: people forming support groups
and discussion groups; people identifying who they are and
where they fit into this society; people choosing to boycott
some product or lifestyle, when and if they can. These are
just people responding to the basic stimulus that their
lives are being fucked with and they are not going to sit
back and take it. These are activists as well. This is how
revolutions come about. People who consider themselves
"activists" have to break out the preconceived molds and
listen to what people are really talking about. Anarchism,
multiculturalism, feminism, communism, veganism are all just
words until our actions give them real meaning and we define
for ourselves what our activism really is. Until then,
activism is going to be this small, accepted, ineffectual
cultural niche that alienates the people who it is supposed
to be reaching out to.
Peace and Unity,

Leif Brecke <brecke@h...>

"Through unity, solidarity, and love, we will heal the wounds of our Mother
(earth) and each other."- Julia 'Butterfly' Hill (Who has been sitting in
Luna, an
ancient redwood tree since Dec. 1997)

"Don't hate the media, become the media."- Jello Biafra

-------------------

Inevitable Disclaimer:

This column is not meant to offend hard-working activists who are
devoting much of their time and energy to social and environmental
issues. It is meant as a critique of those qualities that may keep us
from building an actual Movement. I know of many activists that are
guilty of the things listed below, including myself. So please don't feel
offended (which brings us to our first point...)

by Errol Schweitzer 10/98 reproduce at will

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