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Get Up, Stand Up
Author: Will in Chicago
Date: 2013-06-29 10:39:11
In the face of great difficulties, people eventually chose to stand up for their rights, no matter how powerful the forces -- governmental, societal, political, or corporate -- that are arrayed against them. We have seen many movements in U.S. and world history that begin simply and with the odds against them.
In our national history in the U.S., we have seen abolition, women's suffrage, civil rights and worker rights movements make great strides. Often the protests began with a few people who were outraged and took a stand. Many faced ridicule, billy clubs, bullets, bombs, dogs and firehouses. We have seen leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Dr. King, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and many others start with a few people and then see dozens become hundreds, hundreds become thousands and thousands becoming millions. They went from being ridiculed to becoming figures that had to be taken seriously by the public and the political establishment.
Right now, we are seeing many protests throughout the world. These protests remind me of many of previous protests. The Washington Post has a good article examining these current protests, taking place in many different countries:
One of the most important images from the protests in Turkey was that of the standing man (duran adam in Turkish), a single individual who stood still and stared -- and gathered others. One small act can be inspirational.
Petr David Josek/AP
In out own country, we have seen the Occupy Movement change the discussion on income inequality, an issue that was explored in the last presidential campaign. (Remember how damaging Romeny's 47 percent remarks were? His defense of them made matters worse.)
Protests can be an important way to start change, but they are not the end of the process of creating peaceful change. Sometimes, such changes are referred to as a revolution -- as in the Revolution of 1800 when voters peacefully changed the government from that of Federalist John Adams to that of Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson or how Franklin Delano Roosevelt initiated great change. Writer Sara Robinson looked at how social movements are able to create changes in different societies in the following article from Alternet a while back:
You may want to listen to a recent interview with Robinson on Democracy Interactive radio.
Even the largest social movements need allies in various places to help make change a reality. Robinson goes on to identify activists, intellectuals, artists, insiders, supportive elites and the masses. We have seen some success in this in the push for LGBT rights. Thus marriage equality in a decade's time went from an idea of activists to something that a President publicly supported, even as the masses became more accepting of the concept.
I would agree that one of the weaknesses of the Occupy movement was a reluctance to get involved with politics, It would have perhaps been wise to cultivate potential allies, such as civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis. Even the activist who asked that Lewis not speak at an Occupy Atlanta General Assembly agreed that he should speak later. Lewis was part of a movement that began at a time when many Americans could not vote, or even sit at the same lunch counter as their fellow citizens, but triumphed -- as there were artists, activists, intellectuals, the masses and political leaders who stood with the Civil Rights Movement.
Without a strategy, without allies, even the most well intentioned activists cannot succeed. We must remember that in our desire for social change and social justice, we are not alone and cannot do everything alone. This is the lesson that we can learn from those who were told change was impossible and worked to make it a reality. If we can see the end of slavery in the U.S., the end of British rule in India, the end of apartheid in South Africa and an expansion of labor and civil rights in many places, we can address the issues of our time from poverty to climate change.
I believe that we should rather than see ourselves as environmentalists, as voting rights advocates, as LGBT activists, or activists for other causes, we should try to build a mass movement. The conservatives in the U.S. combined many movements together and have achieved much. Between 1964 and 1980, conservative Republicans organized and took over their party. Progressives also can do so in the Democratic Party and other groups. I believe that if those wanting positive change in their society can organize politically and make lasting change -- here and abroad. Change is possible, but we need an inside and outside strategy to make lasting change. My hope is that we will see this happen in the protests abroad and in the activism here.
For your viewing and listening pleasure, here are some videos of protest songs related to the theme of today's blog. The journey ahead of us to a more equitable society and a just world is wrong, but it is a journey well worth starting.
In our national history in the U.S., we have seen abolition, women's suffrage, civil rights and worker rights movements make great strides. Often the protests began with a few people who were outraged and took a stand. Many faced ridicule, billy clubs, bullets, bombs, dogs and firehouses. We have seen leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Dr. King, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and many others start with a few people and then see dozens become hundreds, hundreds become thousands and thousands becoming millions. They went from being ridiculed to becoming figures that had to be taken seriously by the public and the political establishment.
Right now, we are seeing many protests throughout the world. These protests remind me of many of previous protests. The Washington Post has a good article examining these current protests, taking place in many different countries:
Middle-class rage sparks protest movements in Turkey, Brazil, Bulgaria and beyond
By Anthony Faiola and Paula Moura, Friday, June 28, 3:51 PM
Around the globe, this is the summer of middle-class discontent, particularly in the developing world. From Istanbul to Rio de Janeiro, from Bulgaria to Bosnia, the pent-up frustrations of an engaged citizenry are being triggered by a series of seemingly disparate events.
Government development of a park in Turkey has erupted into broad unrest over freedom of expression in a society that, under a devout and increasingly authoritarian leader, is witnessing the encroaching power of Islam. A hike in bus fares in Brazil, meanwhile, has touched off an uproar over official waste, corruption and police brutality. But what do they have in common? One small incident has ignited the fuse in societies that, linked by social media and years of improved living standards across the developing world, are now demanding more from their democracies and governments.
In the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, thousands of furious residents across ethnic lines united on the streets this month, at one point blockading lawmakers inside parliament for 14 hours to protest government ineptitude in clearing a massive backlog of unregistered newborns. Public anger erupted after a Facebook posting — about a 3-month-old baby whose trip to Germany for a lifesaving transplant had been delayed by the backlog — went viral.
Thousands of protesters, including an outpouring of middle-class citizens, are expected Sunday in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. They return to the touchstone plaza of the Arab Spring in a nation that exchanged a dictator for what many Egyptians now see as a new government unwilling or unable to fix a corrupt bureaucracy and inefficient economy.
One of the most important images from the protests in Turkey was that of the standing man (duran adam in Turkish), a single individual who stood still and stared -- and gathered others. One small act can be inspirational.
Petr David Josek/AP
In out own country, we have seen the Occupy Movement change the discussion on income inequality, an issue that was explored in the last presidential campaign. (Remember how damaging Romeny's 47 percent remarks were? His defense of them made matters worse.)
Protests can be an important way to start change, but they are not the end of the process of creating peaceful change. Sometimes, such changes are referred to as a revolution -- as in the Revolution of 1800 when voters peacefully changed the government from that of Federalist John Adams to that of Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson or how Franklin Delano Roosevelt initiated great change. Writer Sara Robinson looked at how social movements are able to create changes in different societies in the following article from Alternet a while back:
6 People You Need to Start a Revolution
Successful change movements run on diversity. Here are the essential skill sets no revolution can win without
There's not enough that can be said about the genius of Occupy at raising America's awareness of the corporatization of our culture, and defining and framing the predations of the 1 percent against the 99 percent as the defining conflict of our age. But now it's time to take the message out of the parks and streets and into the American mainstream. If the goal is to build a truly diverse nationwide movement that will change the foundations of the American economy, getting more established groups like MoveOn.org, Rebuild the Dream and the labor unions involved can only be a good thing.
For the revolution to spread, the Occupy protestors need to be joined by other people — very specific kinds of other people, in fact. Centuries of social change theorists going back to Marx and before have figured out that successful revolutions require certain recurring character types and skill sets. History tells us that the relationships between these very different groups are more often than not fractious and prickly -- and, in fact, revolutions (like the French Revolution) can very easily fail when they're seized and overwhelmed by vicious infighting between people who are nominally on the same side.
(A sober reminder: The Terror was, at its core, a purge against "co-optation": Robespierre was determined to preserve the purity of the revolution at all costs. A majority of the people who went to the guillotine, including, ultimately, Robespierre himself, were on the side of the revolution.)
At some point, we have to decide we're going to trust each other, or this new revolution simply isn't going to work. Based on the patterns of history, there are six categories of people without whom no modern revolution has ever succeeded. And that success only happened when members of all six groups were able to put their personal misgivings aside, honor and value the irreplaceable knowledge each one brought to the table, and consciously built up enough mutual trust to bring about the future vision all the parties shared.
You may want to listen to a recent interview with Robinson on Democracy Interactive radio.
Even the largest social movements need allies in various places to help make change a reality. Robinson goes on to identify activists, intellectuals, artists, insiders, supportive elites and the masses. We have seen some success in this in the push for LGBT rights. Thus marriage equality in a decade's time went from an idea of activists to something that a President publicly supported, even as the masses became more accepting of the concept.
I would agree that one of the weaknesses of the Occupy movement was a reluctance to get involved with politics, It would have perhaps been wise to cultivate potential allies, such as civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis. Even the activist who asked that Lewis not speak at an Occupy Atlanta General Assembly agreed that he should speak later. Lewis was part of a movement that began at a time when many Americans could not vote, or even sit at the same lunch counter as their fellow citizens, but triumphed -- as there were artists, activists, intellectuals, the masses and political leaders who stood with the Civil Rights Movement.
Without a strategy, without allies, even the most well intentioned activists cannot succeed. We must remember that in our desire for social change and social justice, we are not alone and cannot do everything alone. This is the lesson that we can learn from those who were told change was impossible and worked to make it a reality. If we can see the end of slavery in the U.S., the end of British rule in India, the end of apartheid in South Africa and an expansion of labor and civil rights in many places, we can address the issues of our time from poverty to climate change.
I believe that we should rather than see ourselves as environmentalists, as voting rights advocates, as LGBT activists, or activists for other causes, we should try to build a mass movement. The conservatives in the U.S. combined many movements together and have achieved much. Between 1964 and 1980, conservative Republicans organized and took over their party. Progressives also can do so in the Democratic Party and other groups. I believe that if those wanting positive change in their society can organize politically and make lasting change -- here and abroad. Change is possible, but we need an inside and outside strategy to make lasting change. My hope is that we will see this happen in the protests abroad and in the activism here.
For your viewing and listening pleasure, here are some videos of protest songs related to the theme of today's blog. The journey ahead of us to a more equitable society and a just world is wrong, but it is a journey well worth starting.
