Activism, and how it happens

for me, it was the growing and/or sudden awareness, like fits and spurts, that something was wrong. But it was not enough to recognize that an individual event was wrong, through organizing I came to see that there were underlying systemic problems that were greater than the one fuse point that touched off the whole controversy (or whatever it was.)

Now I tend to think big picture all the time - I can recognize the similarities between previous battles that I've fought or marshaled, what tactics to use, the winning strategy. There are numerous instances in which the issue is entirely different, but the actions of people and how they gather, where they gather, who or what they gravitate around, are all replays of previous battles.

So early to love, life, and liberty comes the crashing revelation of patterns. Those borne out of the swirl of childhood games, popularity contests, story plots. We see and recognize you, embrace you as part of the whole fabric, and start again. A new tapestry, a new chance to bear the glorious banner and lead like Joan of Arc.

Activism is the spark that sets the whole forest aflame.