Woah full circle much?
The Coalition for Social Justice: brought together members and activists from all progressive groups to discuss various social issues that affect the lives of Hamilton students
Birth (circa) fall 2003.
Death (circa) Spring 2005.
The Action Forum: brings together members from all progressive groups to discuss various social issues and ways in which our student population can address them.
Birth spring 2007.
Death-xxx
Creepy, right?
I got a phone call today from one of the people who I feel is going to take over the activism scene at Hamilton once I'm gone. The scene as it is right now is kind of my baby, and I'm sad to see it go. But there I sat, on the phone, listening to a past version of myself asking me to send out an all campus email about a protest that the action forum organized. A protest against the war. I got chills. And then I hesitated.
I wanted to tell her that protests like that don't work here. Trust me, I remember when I was an underclassman, and all I wanted to do was have some crazy protest like they do at Wesleyan. I organized rallies, marches, sit ins, even a die-in once. But it never worked out. We'd get 20 people, max. And looking around, the only people that were paying attention were the ones who already agreed with me. That wasn't the point, was it? I didn't want to soapbox, I wanted to *reach* people. I wanted discussion, not discourse, not even debate. I wanted a solution. It's like that Taylor Mali quote:
I'm for evolution more than revolution
unless they're offering some kind of solution
isn't that how we got the constitution?
I wanted to tell her that the way to reach people wasn't by alienating them. It wasn't by scaring them, or by playing into this "radical liberal partisan" bullshit stereotype that all progressive groups have automatically at this school. No, the best way to reach people is to ENGAGE people. Get them personally involved. People freak out when they hear that a lot of my friends and family are in the armed forces. But it also gives us something to connect on- even though I'm anti-war, I support my friends and my family. Therefore, I cannot be this radical liberal communist or whatever.
It's just funny. I hear these kids talking about revolution, about radical activism. Part of me wants to warn them. Hamilton is not the place for activism like that. It just doesn't fly here. That sort of thing has never worked here, even in the 60s. For whatever reason, the activist community isn't renegade in your face style like that of say, Wesleyan.
And then it hit me: this is why activism here is so backwards. It is because no one learns from the generation before them. Now that my college career is ending, I KNOW exactly what to do to get people's attention. I KNOW exactly how to create a buzzword (Check out all the Darfur benefits/lectures/projects on campus this semester!) I KNOW how to get people involved. I know how to write press releases, I know how to call the local news paper, I know who to talk to in the C&D office about getting publicity on the website. There is no more guesswork, I've got it down to a formula. But I'm graduating. And they're starting from scratch.
I think I will write a book. The activist's handbook: a guide to social evolution.
Birth (circa) fall 2003.
Death (circa) Spring 2005.
The Action Forum: brings together members from all progressive groups to discuss various social issues and ways in which our student population can address them.
Birth spring 2007.
Death-xxx
Creepy, right?
I got a phone call today from one of the people who I feel is going to take over the activism scene at Hamilton once I'm gone. The scene as it is right now is kind of my baby, and I'm sad to see it go. But there I sat, on the phone, listening to a past version of myself asking me to send out an all campus email about a protest that the action forum organized. A protest against the war. I got chills. And then I hesitated.
I wanted to tell her that protests like that don't work here. Trust me, I remember when I was an underclassman, and all I wanted to do was have some crazy protest like they do at Wesleyan. I organized rallies, marches, sit ins, even a die-in once. But it never worked out. We'd get 20 people, max. And looking around, the only people that were paying attention were the ones who already agreed with me. That wasn't the point, was it? I didn't want to soapbox, I wanted to *reach* people. I wanted discussion, not discourse, not even debate. I wanted a solution. It's like that Taylor Mali quote:
I'm for evolution more than revolution
unless they're offering some kind of solution
isn't that how we got the constitution?
I wanted to tell her that the way to reach people wasn't by alienating them. It wasn't by scaring them, or by playing into this "radical liberal partisan" bullshit stereotype that all progressive groups have automatically at this school. No, the best way to reach people is to ENGAGE people. Get them personally involved. People freak out when they hear that a lot of my friends and family are in the armed forces. But it also gives us something to connect on- even though I'm anti-war, I support my friends and my family. Therefore, I cannot be this radical liberal communist or whatever.
It's just funny. I hear these kids talking about revolution, about radical activism. Part of me wants to warn them. Hamilton is not the place for activism like that. It just doesn't fly here. That sort of thing has never worked here, even in the 60s. For whatever reason, the activist community isn't renegade in your face style like that of say, Wesleyan.
And then it hit me: this is why activism here is so backwards. It is because no one learns from the generation before them. Now that my college career is ending, I KNOW exactly what to do to get people's attention. I KNOW exactly how to create a buzzword (Check out all the Darfur benefits/lectures/projects on campus this semester!) I KNOW how to get people involved. I know how to write press releases, I know how to call the local news paper, I know who to talk to in the C&D office about getting publicity on the website. There is no more guesswork, I've got it down to a formula. But I'm graduating. And they're starting from scratch.
I think I will write a book. The activist's handbook: a guide to social evolution.
posted by Jessica @ 5:28 PM
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