As much as I want to not think about what is going on in the world, it’s pretty fucking hard when it’s happening in your city. Again!
I’ve been skimming things as best I can, and trying to engage but in ways that are sustainable (because the reason things are so bad is because they have been building up for DECADES! And they will take DECADES to heal).
There are loads of protests going on, some peaceful and some not. There is a curfew in DTLA with no one allowed out after 8pm. Protestors are being arrested. But more importantly – innocent people are being kidnapped and sent to countries where they will most likely die. This is what we are protesting. This is the issue that we are trying to stop, to resolve.
What is my role in resolving this conflict? Is it by going to protests? Will it help? Is it by being arrested? What needs to be done and who is going to do it, and am I the person who can help?
I think answering these questions is super important before going to the protest, as well as at the protest, and after the protest. Continually, an ever ongoing process of problem solving and reflection.
I was on Instagram and I saw this post:
I have rewritten the questions below and am working on answering them. They are complex and layered and will take time to truly process and think through.
I would like to share my answer with you guys in hopes that you will answer these questions and share them with me.
Idea! Organize an event where everyone writes and shares the answers to these questions. Are you interested?
Your Role
- What do you think your role is in this moment?
- What do you think your role should be?
- Why?
- What steps or actions do you need to tangibly take to embody that role?
- What have you done to embody that role?
- What do you need to do?
Relationship to Authority
- Are you uncomfortable with the following – the idea that law enforcement isn’t always right; the word fascism; mentally tying any part of your identity with protesting/protestors; advocating for yourself; advocating for others; inconveniencing yourself and others; talking to others about what is happening; identifying where you are uncomfortable and figuring out why is how you take your activism to the next level. Some people ahve mental blocks they haven’t worked through or accepted. This is an active process and challenge. Not something that happens passively.
- What are you willing to do?
- Has it set in that we are watching what people in uniform are willing to do even if they say they are uncomfortable doing it?
Comfort Level
- Have you considered that maybe subconsciously you think that people only do what they are comfortable with? And if that’s your logic than your discomfort absolves you of the responsibility to engage?
- Did you read that last question and assume that that means you have to jump in the deep end and put yourself in harms way?
- Have you looked for ways to get involved in resistance that do feel more plausible to you? If no- why?
- If you have and you haven’t done any of them, when do you plan on starting?
Bravery & Managing Your Fear and Anxiety
- How do you define bravery?
- Do you think bravery is doing something with no fear or doing something despite it feeling scary?
- Do you think that the people who stand up and do the right thing aren’t scared while they are doing it?
- Knowing that we are in for scary times and that bravely will be needed- do you think that you might need to figure out how to regulate yourself or hype yourself up if you don’t already know how?
- Do you think that people do something have something that you don’t? What is it?
The Right Thing To Do
- Do you think that this is the only way to engage in this moment? Why?
- If there were other things you could do that weren’t on the front lines, would you do them?
- If they are endangering themselves by physically being there and being on the front lines, how can you inconvenience yourself to support from behind?
- Do you think all action has to be either endangering or annoying or inconvenient or sacrifical?
- If you think so, have you thought about who benefits from you believing that? Why benefits from people tapping themselves out and not standing up for what is right?
- Do you internally struggle with the notion of “if people protested in the ‘right way’?”
- What is the ‘right way’?
Getting Involved
- Are you leading by example?
- Are you teaching people how to be more effective in their protesting or are you a comment section critic?
- If you have ideas on how to protest the right way, are you willing to test them out?
- Have you identified the ways you aren’t able to participate?
- Have you researched or brainstormed alternatives to push back against fascism?
What do you need to get involved?
- Do you need ideas? Do you need time? Do you need people to do things with?
- Do you need to follow pages and people that share calls to action?
- Do you need to be under direct and immediate threat?
- Do you need to find ways to make it fun?
- Do you need to block off a chunk of time this week to really sit and brainstorm and plan?
- Do you think sharing things on social media is where it starts and ends?
What does it mean to be a “good person”
- How do you define your own morality?
- “I’m not actively doing bad things/”
- “I disagree with what’s going on but I’m not going to do anything about it.”
- “I need to figure out what I can do to speak up.”
- Are you generally a passive person or an intentional person?
- How do you think that impacts how you will respond to this moment?
Your Answers Vs Societal Expectations
- Sit with these questions. Figure out the answers for yourself. You might have thought about the answers you felt you were “supposed to give”. Why did you feel you were “supposed to” give those answers? And why weren’t they the answer you felt was true to how you felt?
- How does who you are now and the things you do need to work on as a person for yourself intersect with how you’ll respond or not respond in this moment?
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