Activism

Hello again! In my introduction post, I mentioned that I would tell you about activism and how to get involved in your community. I'm going to start with a list of items, then go into detail on each one:

• Protest Marches
• Rallies
• Letters to the Editor/Blogs
• Letters to Congressmen
  
• Internet Advertising (Myspace/Facebook)
• Statements with Clothing and Dress
• Expression (Art, music, poetry, etc.)
  

Protest marches are simply awesome, especially when you can organize many thousands of people. I went to an Iraq War protest yesterday with about 6,000 people marching. The effect of those people chanting and walking through the streets of Boston was incredible. I think that one of the main pluses of marches is that they are so obvious. With hundreds of people marching in the streets, one can hardly help but notice that there is something wrong in the world. Marches were a main part of the protest movement that stopped the Vietnam War, so it's been proven that they work.

Rallies usually are held in large parks with speakers on the topic upon which the event is centered. Their main purpose is to inform and to inspire the attenders to go out and do something else. They are especially useful when combined with something else, like a march or letter-writing campaign. The Iraq War protest that I went to yesterday began with a rally then moved on to a massive march. I must say that I thought it was quite effective.

Letters to the editor and blogs are a great way to get the public to hear what you are thinking. Newspapers and blogs can be read by anyone, so these types of messages can have massive audiences. That's the main reason that I've made this blog: to get a message across to a large audience. The more people that see a story, the more people are likely to act upon it.

Letters to Congressmen or letters to the people in charge are effective in a different way. Many congressmen are highly concerned with getting elected for another term, so if they think that you are not satisfied with their work, they may change their ways to ensure your vote. The more people that write similarly themed letters, the more likely they are to affect change. Getting a large group of people to write letters to a Congressmen or other elected official can be enormously effective.

Advertising on Myspace and/or Facebook for a certain charity, action, or blog is a great way to let people in on what you're doing. Millions of people visit these sites every day, and a good many of those people are likely to see your message if you put it in the right place.

Clothing and dress is another way to get a message out there. Personally, I wear a pin with a message on it every day. These pins are really cheap and can be picked up at the headquarters of various charities, as well as at some stores. Also, shirts with activist messages are a good way to get a point across. This site has some great t-shirts, if you're interested. Generally, the more unique the style of conveying the message, the more likely it is to be remembered. A few days ago, a friend of mine put tape over her mouth with the word "life" on it for an entire day in protest of the abortion policies. The tape was to signify the fact that the unborn children can't talk for themselves, and thus that we should give them that chance, not killing them before they enter the world. There are plenty of other creative ideas out there, so pick your own and go for it!

Finally, we've got your culture arts. Painting, sculpting, music, poetry, and such are another way of making a point. Countless albums and artists have devoted themselves to activist music, as well as several visual artists and writers. By both listening to/reading/observing these works and making them yourself for others to see/hear/read, you're making a step towards your cause.


There are almost certainly ideas that I've forgotten, but this is a good list to start from. Hopefully, I've given you some ideas and you're now inspired to go out and do something!



Attention: Most of these ideas were taken from Peterson Toscano at his workshop on activism, so credit to him is due.

Introduction/Zimbabwe

Hello there! I see you've found your way to my blog. In the coming weeks and months, I hope to inform the public as to my thoughts on current issues as well as give advice to that same public, telling them how they can get involved and affecting change on this wonderful planet of ours. I was inspired to make this blog by my good friend, Peterson Toscano. Peterson is an activist playwright and one-man show. He has his own blog, viewable here. He held a discussion group over the weekend on the subject of activism and how to get involved in your community. One of the mentioned methods was blogging, so here I am, making a blog.

Before I go on, I feel obliged to warn you that I have no expertise with blogging, so the quality won't be up there with the writings of Dickens. You have been warned!

Very well, with the introduction finished, we can progress to the next topic of interest. An issue that has been pressing on my mind lately has been the abysmal condition of many African countries. Of course, the crisis in Darfur has been well publicized, but there are other countries at risk. Prominent among them is Zimbabwe.

Several years ago, Zimbabwe was the bread basket of sub-Saharan Africa. As a result of climate change, it now has only 8.24% arable land and has to rely on other countries for food, not being able to grow much itself. This has resulted in one of the most severe economic turmoils in the world. As of 2006, the official inflation rate was 1000%, and has skyrocketed since then. That figure was almost certainly underestimated, too, because it was done by the Zimbabwean government. Private estimators have put the figure much higher. The Zimbabwean dollar is significantly overvalued within the country in an attempt to make more of a profit on what little tourism still exists there.

This has had a terrible effect on the people of Zimbabwe. An astounding 80% of the population is unemployed and below the poverty line. Store shelves are empty because store managers cannot afford the exorbitant prices on food.

President Robert Mugabe has not improved matters, spending most of his time resorting to questionable methods to keep himself in power rather than dealing with the dire problems facing his country. Not only that, but he has worsened them. He has restricted or ignored many civil rights during his reign, and faces international criticism as a result. It has been theorized that his 2005 attempt to rid the country of slums was focused on areas in which people opposing the government were housed. Even if this wasn't the case, his project left 700,000 homeless.



Despite the terrifying conditions of life within Zimbabwe, there is hope. The independent band "Dispatch" held a series of three reunion shows at Madison Square Garden over the summer, with all proceeds going to aid in Zimbabwe. This is a YouTube video outlining the story of Zimbabwe and why they did the show. They managed to raise over a million dollars in ticket and merchandise sales alone. More money is sure to be made when a DVD of the show is released in the coming months. While this show really helped Zimbabwe financially, it also brought its dire situation into the light on a national level. I myself had not heard of this crisis before the show was announced. Hopefully, this will lead to more attention being paid to Zimbabwe and possibly political action.

If you are looking to personally get involved with helping Zimbabwe, The Elias Fund is a great way to help. They are accepting monetary donations, and are eagerly searching for volunteers.


Phew! First blog post over. Feel free to post with any comments about the situation in Zimbabwe or anything else.