It’s been two months now—since the inauguration, that is—but really it’s been nearly two years—since the June 2015 candidacy announcement—that Donald J. Trump has occupied a huge amount of our attention.
Many
of us have been deeply distressed throughout this entire period over the perils
of our country adopting the profoundly misguided agenda he ran on. Equally
disturbing was the prospect of ensconcing in positions of significant power
people who so thoroughly embrace the interests of the top 1 percent, and have
no qualms walking all over the rest of us and the only livable planet we have,
to enrich themselves.
When
we woke up on November 9, it was to the notion that we would need to ramp up “resistance”
and do all we could to challenge the tremendously misguided directions Trump
and Company would be aiming to take this country. The message sank in, for some
of us immediately, for others, over a matter of weeks.
Ultimately,
concern was so great that all across the nation millions join the Women’s March
or other, similar demonstrations. Even in CoMo, where demonstrations are
considered large if 100 people turn out, more than 3,600 marched in a Jan. 21
Solidarity March, a sister march to the DC Women’s March, co-sponsored by
Peaceworks and 23 other groups.
 |
| A small portion of the crowd gathered at Courthouse Square for the Solidarity March on Jan. 21, 2017. |
Over
the next few weeks numerous additional demonstrations, town hall meetings and
other gatherings drew from dozens to hundreds of participants. Many were
engaged in activism for the first time ever. Others, who’d put their activism
on the shelf years ago, returned to the picket lines. And many, who were
currently engaged, elected to redouble their efforts in this critical period.
All this is truly heartening.
Of
course, while we all recognize the imperative of not allowing Trump’s
presidency to be normalized, we can only operate in crisis mode for a limited
period of time. While each person’s ability to devote their time and talents to
activism varies significantly, most of us can push the boundaries of what’s
workable for a while, but ultimately, if we’re to stay active, we need to find
a level of engagement that can work on an ongoing basis; in two words,
“sustainable activism.”
Given
the urgency of many of the issues we face today, we in no way wish to
discourage folks getting as involved as you feel works for you. But it’s also
important for everyone to recognize that there is no shame in not going to
every demo, or every meeting. In fact, attending to one’s own personal balance
is key to avoiding burnout, which, of course, leads to dropping out of the
struggle entirely.
Here are a few Suggestions for Making Activism Sustainable
1) Engage
Consistently: Doing something
every day is good, even if it’s just spending 5-10 minutes making key phone
calls. If you can’t do this daily, keep at it, doing what you can as many days
each week as you can.
2) Choose
Your Tasks: Spend some time
evaluating what’s the best use of your activist energies. Perhaps you have a
particular skill or talent you can contribute. If nothing immediately stands
out, consider what you enjoy doing that can carry over into the activist realm
(e.g. making phone calls, doing door-knocking, petitioning, letter-writing, doing
issue research, fundraising, building websites, demonstrating, etc.). You will
do more if you’re doing things you like. Of course, you can, and probably
should, mix it up and do at least some of a variety of things.
3) Choose
Your Battles: There are so many
critical issues that need to be addressed that none of us can do significant
work on all of them. You likely agree with many progressive issue stands, but
perhaps some issue(s) really move you viscerally in ways that others don’t.
Whether it’s climate change, war and peace, healthcare, economic, racial,
gender or other categories of justice, reproductive rights, civil liberties,
the death penalty or what have you, you will likely be more effective if you
hone in on one or a handful of key concerns and concentrate your efforts, while
remaining supportive of other efforts. It is also really important to take the
time to become knowledgeable about the primary issues you decide to focus on.
Of
course, aside from considering what you’re most passionate about, it’s also
important to consider what is timely. For example, when Trump instituted the
Muslim Travel Ban, Peaceworks dropped some other work to focus attention there.
And if the bombs and bullets start flying next week in some unexpected hotspot,
we may need to refocus there.
4) Choose
Your Organizations: While a few
of us operate best as lone-wolf
activists, most of us find synergy comes through working with a group,
and there are many wonderful progressive groups that would love to have your
active participation. Some things you might consider in picking which groups to
work with include: Are the issues they’re focused on among the ones that I’m
most drawn to? Is the group positive, supportive and welcoming? Are the tactics
and strategies they embrace ones I feel comfortable with? Does it seem like I
can contribute significantly to their efforts?
5) Get
to Know Your Fellow Activists—Build Community: The work of social
change is, in some real ways, also a process of creating structures that align
our means with our ends. By this we mean that within our organizations we build
structures that reflect the sort of world we seek to co-create; one that
involves a paradigm shift. Hopefully we build bonds of friendship and mutual
support as we create organizational structures that are cooperative, rather
than competitive, inclusive and inviting of participation and embracing of
diversity.
6) Recognize
that You Are Not Alone—Reach Out, Seek and Give Support: When we look
at the crazy world we’ve inherited and we think of what we’re leaving to our
collective progeny it can feel completely overwhelming. We can’t afford,
however, to crawl under the nearest rock and pretend all is OK. Rather, we need
to give and receive mutual support; we need to find hope in the vision, courage
and persistence of our comrades in struggle. And we need to share our positive,
hopeful visions of another world that is possible with others.
7) Recognize
that There is Not One Right Way: There are many approaches to social change
activism. The left has a well-deserved reputation for setting up circular
firing squads; wasting more effort fighting those who should be allies over
differences in tactics, strategies, etc. Our efforts will be much more
effective if we focus on making our own projects as successful as we can, while
appreciating and supporting those who are going about things differently.
The
list above, like everything else we create, is a work in progress. As we move
forward through uncharted waters we will likely learn many lessons. Your
comments and feedback are most welcome.
These
times are unprecedented and call for us to rise to the challenge. Many have
been working to do this and we applaud all of you. Peaceworks, of course, would
love to collaborate with as many of you reading this as possible. We also
recognize that we are one of a number of good and worthwhile area organizations
and we support your decisions to work with others as well, or instead.
We
have a big tent approach and aim to collaborate with as many of those other
groups as we can. There is strength in numbers. But all the various groups are
ultimately made up of individuals—the people who are the backbone of our
movements—that’s why you are the most
essential ingredient in our resistance work, as well as our long-haul efforts
to create a peaceful, just and sustainable future. And that’s why we see it as
essential to make our activism sustainable.
Stay
hopeful. Stay strong. Stay involved. Stay loving and kind. Know, if you are
active, you are needed, appreciated and you are making a difference.
