Planting A Seed In The Revolution
"They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds." Dinos Christianopoulos
It’s Election Day 2017. While today isn’t as fraught as Election Day 2016, it’s a reminder that we’re another year older and possibly wiser. We’re definitely more tired now, a thought that was impossible then after a long, hotly contested, and quite frankly ridiculous presidential election cycle.
This morning a friend posited a question, asking how revolutionaries like Che, Malcolm, Nelson et al. continued to fight even after they’d given up so much of themselves to the revolutionary struggle. Being imprisoned or forced to go into hiding for survival are potentially de-energizing events to a movement, and the appeal of throwing up one’s hands and saying, “No more. I’m done!” is undeniable.
There’s a story I heard from someone about visiting the place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and being guided around by a former political prisoner, who had been imprisoned with Mandela there. The visitor asked the former prisoner how he and Mandela sustained themselves emotionally while away from the movement. The answer was "Knowing that people on the outside were moving the revolution forward; that the work wasn't forgotten" (paraphrased, but that's the gist). I look at it as gardening. We plant seeds. Some of those seeds will grow into plants that can feed us for a season: corn, tomatoes, wheat, beans etc. Some of those seeds get planted and we will be dead before we see the fully-grown plant: oaks, elms, sequoias etc. But we still plant the seed and nurture the ground around it. And when harvest comes, we teach others how to plant their own seeds.
Since 1776, there have been multiple revolutions of note. Every one has advanced human society significantly, but none of them have been wholly successful. Yet we see that Dr. King’s words about the long arc of history bending toward justice are accurate. We have a long way to go. We can’t rest of our laurels. We must be involved daily in our communities and also be willing to push ourselves into uncomfortable spaces. We must continue the grinding daily work and hold hope for the victories as they come, large or small.
On a side-note: Today is Election Day. What I’m NOT going to tell you to do is to vote. Why? Because if all you do is vote then you’ve made yourself complacent to a flawed and unjust system. If you aren’t actively working on your own and in partnership with others to make positive changes in your world, your vote is meaningless. Mass action is crucial to making changes. Every major change has occurred because of mass action by the people, which made those in power discomforted enough to throw a political bone in appeasement.
However, I will also say that I do vote. No, that doesn’t make me a bad anarchist, and it doesn’t make me a hypocrite. I have solid reasons for voting: If voting didn’t matter, the powers that be wouldn’t constantly try to disenfranchise those voters they dislike. All that money spent on all those campaign advertisements would be meaningless, if voting served no purpose. Finally, while there are no politicians who are perfect, I’d rather take my case to one, who might be willing to hear me.
I would strongly argue that you hold zero faith in political parties, though. The Democrats aren’t going to save us. The Republicans are actively trying to kill us. Every elected official is just one campaign cycle from being unemployed, and it’s not in their personal best interest to speak truth to power. In terms of effort, 1% of your activities should be geared toward voting. 99% of your activities should be geared toward building up your community, engaging in mass action, holding elected officials accountable, and creating paradigm shifts to further the revolution. Period.
Go plant those seeds: Talk to people. Discomfort yourself. Change your perspective. Be intersectional in everything you do. Be willing to teach, to listen, and to learn.
Most importantly, hold the revolutionaries of the past in your hearts and appreciate the sacrifices they made. Then look around, realize this is a brand new day and you have a garden to tend.
*Photo credit to NASPA/Henrietta Pinchon: https://www.naspa.org/constituent-groups/posts/planting-a-seed-becoming-the-students-inner-voice