First I want to say to thank you, of course. Thank you for everything, for your devotion to freedom and justice and change. You helped make the life I live possible and I only hope our generation will prove that your fight was worth it. A million thank you letters would not be enough, but this is not a thank you letter. Reading about all of your thoughtful and impassioned work within the student movement for civil rights and justice was impressive and inspiring. When learning about organizations like SNCC I never realized how much labor went into just the creation of the group, before it could even begin taking action. I appreciate the care you took in fostering and mentoring activism in the student community. You gave students agency instead of just using them as bodies for the movement. When studying various protest movements in the 50s-70s I am struck by how much impact students had. And now that I am a college student myself I really feel just how much power we have. I can see my generation coming to the forefront of the national conversation, I see our ideas and values being represented and taken seriously. But things now are a lot different than your work with student groups in the 50s and 60s. Information is shared differently. Just as television helped to bring the violence of protests into people's homes in the 60s, the internet can make a single event known throughout the country in just a few hours. However, we have become bombarded by news and media in our lives- we are never far removed from it and have become desensitized in some ways. People will share social justice articles they have not read, call that activism, and feel they have done their part. With Trump in office "activism" has become popular, teen magazines are offering advice on how to "dismantle the patriarchy." On the one hand this is great, but it also seems to be leading to a more soft or passive activism. If we engage in political dissent within the confines of the system, we are still feeding into that system. We cannot stop at Huffington Post articles shared amongst each other and self congratulatory pats on the back. We need to use the internet and social media to harness our power, particularly the power of young people. But how? The mobilization and effectiveness of student organizations during your time was so successful in part because it was so unprecedented, there was nothing like it before. But now our government, the media and corporations have caught up, they understand activism and how to keep it safe, ineffectual, and in our homes. I think the struggle of our generation will be finding new and innovative ways to subvert the power structure and challenge authority while not buying into the tactics they have learned to appease us. It is our time now, but if you have any suggestions they would be most welcome.
With love and in solidarity,
Gianna
This is super interesting and thought-provoking, Gianna! I have also been wondering about a lot of the questions you pose here. I'm blown away reading about the activism of the Civil Rights era, and particularly impressed by the direct action taken by people like Ella Baker -- how she went out and talked to people and fed people and actively desegregated places and DID things, rather than working in the abstract. It feels sort of weird being a college student right now, because it feels like we're learning a lot about activism and oppression and whatnot, but it's all feels very abstract and theoretical. Like you, I wonder what it means to truly fight for justice right now. I agree that we have a lot to learn from people like Ella Baker. Thanks for such an interesting post!
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