Problems with the Activist Archetype

The "Activist" archetype acts to raise the bar for folks to try harder and do more rad stuff by insisting on a high level of involvement and a high ideal standard of ethics.  This makes awesome stuff happen sometimes, but this idealized notion of an activist has created some negative side effects.

When you hear folks policing the default level of involvement/participation in an action ("you're not an activist unless you're doing as much as me about the causes that are important to me") - I get it, you want to raise the bar of action till some change will come of it - but a broad social movement won't be made by excluding most people because they aren't doing as much as you think they are able to do.

My name is Penny

Other forms of policing we are seeing is on the amount of privilege that you can have before you're not welcome to join in solidarity with a cause.  Overuse of divisive labeling that is supposed to give voice and visibility to marginalized groups, but too often has the function of excluding allies who want to show solidarity by being a part of a movement.  These allies may not have any overlap with systematically oppressed groups, but are being told to prove their “ally” status in  prescribed respectful ways. Prescribed by popular/loud internet voices, that not everyone is willing/able to read, on how to be the right/correct type of ally.  Now we're not coming together, friends are backing off because they're afraid of offending those marginalized people that they want to show solidarity with.  Taking a hard line always cuts out the most people.  I believe that this is a byproduct of this excessive subdivision/labeling.

Please remember, recent events have sparked new people to be interested in new ideas and ways of speaking out.  What I keep seeing is well-meaning folks alienating people who want to help but might not know how.  People who couldn’t tell you the difference between an act of charity vs. solidarity.  Many of these terms and ideas are unknown to these newly angry Americans.  Not everyone is in a place where they are willing/able to do as much active work as others.

I am called Cheeto

What common flag can we all get behind?  That we're ANTI president-elect or that we're PRO those things that he's against?  Will we respond with anti-fascist vitriol or with varied, individualistic, and personal forms of activism whose only commonality is the fight against systemic patriarchal oppression?  We can bring attention to how you yourself are oppressed while casting a wider, more inclusive net for change and action.  There are millions of humans out there waiting to converge on a way to get together after recent events.  Specific politics might need to be kept at a distance if we want to get millions on board and keep this opportunity to organize inclusive for as long as we can.  (A friend told me yesterday that diverging ideals is part of what destroyed the Occupy Movement).  We're still the 99%, let's try to not fuck it up this time with the division game.

#RadicalPosturing #WokerThanThou