An activist is someone who cares about changing anything and speaks about it.
That's it. Nothing more or less, and considering how fucked up the world is, I'd hope that most people soon realise the power of their privilege in society and speak up for those who need their voices heard.
ACTIVISM AND EFFECTIVENESS IN A BROADER SENSE
For me this consciously started in 2016. I started off with animal liberation activism and absolutely loved it. Then continued to attend and be active in all social justice movements I believed in: climate activism, women rights, LGBT rights, Indigenous rights, black rights, human rights, etc.
I loved the incredible diversity of people I met, the information and communication skills I learnt and the feeling of creating a tiny shift in society through each intentional action I put forward.
However, over the years, I’ve also noticed some downfalls within the activist community.
This post is for anyone interested, or already involved in the growing activism platforms. Most of what I say will be based on my experiences with animal rights activism, but regardless of the cause, the patterns I see amongst activists are consistent. I've seen ego and emotions overtake good intentions and ultimately cloud and block the positive impact of people's actions. So I'm writing this to hopefully broaden your perspective and perhaps help current and future activists avoid making the same mistakes.
Instead, let’s aim to be better people and more effective long-term advocates for all that we choose to stand for.
AM I DOING ENOUGH?
Short answer: If you're starting important, insightful conversations, then yes you are.
We can always do more at everything in life. But I feel that activism should be a lifelong intention for everyone. It's not always about dedicating your entire life to it, but it's about speaking up when necessary and making activism consistent, sustainable and appealing for you.
There are some incredible full-time activists out there, but you don’t need to be one that’s for sure. I've noticed when people dedicate the majority of their life towards a movement, most of their following, and often also their close social networks, will already be vegan/have the same ideas and values that they do. These pioneers play an important role within a movement in inspiring other activists like you and me to be better, more effective advocates. But I feel this is often their main role - essential to keep the movement inspired and progressive, but not who most of us need to be.
It’s important for most of us to be open to relationships with everyone, particularly those who are less-educated or think differently. It's so much easier to surround ourselves with like-minded people, but when you cut people off because they haven't experienced or don’t view life in the same way you do, you are essentially narrowing the scope of people you can influence. Social media is an amazing tool, but the relationships and interactions we have with people in real life is a reflection of our compassion towards all beings. We need more 'ordinary' people like you and me to meaningfully influence the mindsets of the people around us through open conversations. We need people who work in 'regular jobs', to create the necessary shifts within political and social systems. You cannot change the system if you refuse play a part of the system.
If you want to be a good activist, just show up. To the march you clicked interested in, the rally you scrolled past, the vigil, the demonstrations and all other events…go to everything you feel comfortable partaking in. You see, leading in the activism community has no real meaning to it, but your presence in the crowd is significant. As an activist, I know that there is power in numbers. Your support is priceless, and showing up to show solidarity for the movement is important and so valued.
We can also be activists just in the way we live our life. In the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and in the choices we make when spending money on products and services. Understanding that the dollars we spend are our votes for what we believe in. So sometimes paying a few extra dollars for a more ethical product/service is worth it, because we are no longer funding child labour, animal exploitation, sweatshops, environmental destruction, etc.
When people ask questions (and they will), always aim to respond in an effective, non-judgemental way, giving room for the other person’s thoughts and an open conversation. This part requires self-education, practise, compassion and understanding, but this part will come and it is oh so important. There will be people who agree with you but don't change their ways, and that’s okay. There's nothing more for you to do other than lead by example - and when they're ready they will also choose and do better.
AVOIDING ACTIVIST BURN OUT
I see this so often amongst activists in every movement. When people fully immerse themselves in activism, they sometimes get consumed by everything that is wrong with the world. And there's a lot that’s wrong with the world, but there's a lot of good too. When people forget this and start separating themselves from the real world, often they neglect their self-care and their relationships. Instead they focus on feelings of anger, sadness and despair from all the suffering present in the world, which in turn leads to less effective activism. I've seen people leave the movement and revert back to their old habits because facing reality became too much for them. I've also seen people cut off friends and family who do not see the world in the way that they do, instead narrowing their social circle down to only like-minded people.
Ultimately these activists become harder to relate to for the general population, and their input may no longer be taken as seriously. Self-care, gratitude and perspective is crucial for sustainable activism. We are no better than someone who is less educated of a cause – I have no doubt that nearly every person could teach me something, regardless of their stance on ethics. Yet when we are happier by taking care of ourselves, we naturally become more reputable to others. People are attracted towards good energy, and by showing our authentic and best self through our presence and communication, people are more likely to listen what we have to say.
FAILURES WITHIN THE ACTIVIST MOVEMENT
You see it all the time on social media. People calling one another out on
the type of action they choose to run or participate in. Yet if you consider how different all people are, you might agree that there can't be a right or incorrect form of activism - what's wrong and what absolutely
baffles me is seeing activists with the same goal wasting time and energy to bring each other down.
Every action has it's place. People are different and prefer to advocate in different ways. And because we are so diverse, we respond differently to all types of activism. So when I see the audacity that some people have to tell others they're wasting their time, that they're being too passive or too aggressive within the movement…it helps me understand why activism is often seen in such a negative light - when it should be a powerful, supportive movement that brings like-minded people together to embrace and create needed change. You might be better at starting conversations with friends and family. I might be better talking to strangers, and someone else might be better at creating (passive or confronting) art/photography, to capture people’s attention. And there's a place for it all. If people or organisations ultimately have the same end goal, then bringing one another down is literally a waste of energy and quite frankly a backwards step for the movement.
SHUT UP AND LISTEN - IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU
Activism is about the cause and doing what you can to make a difference. It’s not about you, or your feelings, or your opinions (unless you directly are the cause).
I often see activists allow their emotions to drive their actions and in doing so they are making it about themselves, and not the animals or cause. Activists often bring each other down, particularly over social media. Yet this focus on making one another look bad is counterproductive and ego driven. If you disagree with the ways of a person or organisation, you should give feedback to them directly, in a constructive, polite way. This goes for anything. Making a video, post or comment and publicly shaming, when ultimately you both have the same goal, is ego driven - you are moving the focus from the cause to yourself and your own opinions. When you can’t see the purpose behind someone’s actions because you're so caught up in your point of view, it is contradictory to what you're trying to do.
So if you're new to activism, hold tight onto your values and integrity and do not succumb to peer pressure or blind social following. The activism community is a mostly positive and supportive environment, I promise! There may be people within a movement doing the wrong things for all the right reasons. And there’s no need for you to do the same. Just stick to the actions that align with your values and remain true to the activist that you would have respected before you were in the movement.
THE KEY: SUPPORT, EMBRACE AND SHOW UP
There will always be people out there who do and know, more or less than you.
No one lives the same life as you.
If you’re like me, you may have periods of being very active or less active and that’s okay! We all have our own realities to focus on. Activism isn’t your identity and for it be effective and remain sustainable - open mindedness, commitment and support for one another is key.
As times change, staying progressive through continuous learning and growing is so important in allowing social justice movements to become and remain strong. Show up, have open conversations, and try to understand where people are coming from when there are disagreements. At the end of the day, regardless of how someone is going about with activism, we are all trying to reach the same end goal, which is to help the world out.
Don’t be afraid change your ways or to start speaking up for what matters.
If you've made it this far, thank you ! Everything in this post is what I have personally observed from being a consistently present, but relatively quiet member of the activist community over the years. You may not agree with everything I have discussed - and that’s totally expected! We all have a different story to tell. Feel free to (kindly) share your thoughts or personal experiences in the comments below.
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