#actvisim

[dreamin-vegan]

SIMPLE VEGAN ACTIVISIM

So, I’m sure you read that title and you’re thinking “how can you do simple vegan activisim?” well, let me explain how. First you may have old shirts in your closet, and some shirt paint, you could write with the fabric paint, or if you hvae them fabric markers, a simple message like ‘go vegan’ on your shirt, or you could buy vegan activisim shirts online (I’ve personally bought some on amazon but I understand you may not want to use them) and you can wear those out in public, or when posing for photos for your social media, this way you can get the message out there to people to go vegan.

Another example is using stickers with vegan messages on them on your reusable water bottle, and bring that with you everywhere you go, so you have a drink of water and people can get the message of veganism in their sight.

One other way I’ve done is getting activisim posts off sites like pinterest and posting them on instagram or tiktok with hashtags like “#veganactivim” as an example, and those posts tend to get seen a lot, or you could make an actual video talking about veganism and why people should go vegan, yes some people may meet these posts with hostility it happens, it’s your choice how you handle them, I know going vegan is a huge step, and starting to activisim can be nerve wracking and scary considering how people may react to your message, but these are just a few simple ways to do actvisim without going out and protesting or preaching to people about veganism, remember you can win more people over with sweetness than you can with anger and bitterness attached are a few pictures I have personally taken showing examples of the shirt and the stickers

[pointfoundation]

Point Scholars are socially active leaders who are working every day to achieve greater levels of acceptance and respect for all members of the LGBTQ community. Join their fight against injustice on May 23 for our Day of Scholarly Action! http://pointfoundation.org/scholarlyaction/  

[chronicallyillthings]

Invisible Disability Project

Even if you don’t consider your illness a disability, the Invisible Disability Project is worth checking out. It’s an intersectional nonprofit that, according to their website, “envisions a world where people with unseen disabilities no longer encounter barriers to personal relationships, health care, community, education, employment, technology, media representation, laws and policy.” Their main projects are “This is Me” videos, where people talk about the stigmas they face, and “Unseen Zines.”

[digitalspheres-blog]

3. activism in the digital world

The online world has certainly changed the game for activists - whether it's for the better or worse is up to you.

The use of social media has made spreading a message and getting a voice heard much easier for activist organisations, especially in a global sense. With the ability to create petitions, events and articles and then share them on social media platforms to millions across the globe, activists are now able to create more momentum and gain more supporters than ever before. The flip side to this is the rise of ‘clicktvisim’ - the act of supporting a cause from a simple click of the mouse. Clicktivism has led to people signing an online petition, boosting their ‘good person’ status as they feel they've helped create change, but never actually going out to actively contribute.

source: https://tenor.com/view/im-trying-to-be-good-trying-good-better-person-kristen-bell-gif-11002922

#BlackLivesMatter is said to have been one of the first notable examples of online activism after being created in 2013, following the release of George Zimmerman - an American man who fatally shot 17-year-old African-American Trayvon Martin. The hashtag was created by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi to fight against the unjust violence experienced by the “Black communities by the state and vigilantes” as stated on their website. The hashtag gained global momentum quickly which has resulted in almost 3,000 protests occurring since 2014 and in 2018 it was estimated by Pew Research Center that #BlackLivesMatter featured in over 17,000 tweets per day. Without this support that has stemmed from their social media presence, the movement may not have been able to (or at least it would’ve taken a lot more time and effort) make the political changes they have - the charging of police officers for their crimes, the banning of police departments from obtaining military equipment, and the increased wear of body cameras by the police, enabling the correct accountability to be held in such instances. 

source: https://giphy.com/gifs/black-lives-matter-7iL3tke98yuA

Other successful online activism campaigns include #MeToo, #HeForShe, the #ALSIceBucketChallenge and #MarchForOurLives. Whilst all of these have used social media to their advantage and fought for their courses both on and offline, I think it is important to note the vital role social media played for #MarchForOurLives. This hashtag was created to fight for tighter gun laws in the United States by student survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018. The hashtag allowed these students to reach an audience so large that more than 450 marches took place across the US on the weekend of March 24-25 2018. The entire event was organised online and picked up an enormous amount of press and recognition from high profile celebrities and influencers, resulting in the march becoming the largest youth-led protest since the Vietnam War era.

These examples all rely on, or stem from, the use of the hashtag that I’ve discussed before as an affordance that has given a whole new meaning to Twitter and made social media all the more connected, across platforms. Of course, online activism comes in all different forms just as anything does. Adbsuters does an incredible job at breaking down the advertising we constantly are exposed to and challenging consumerism. They protest serious topics in a way that manages to be taken seriously despite its light-hearted nature, often using culture jamming. Culture jamming focuses on interrupting advertisements and revealing the underlying ideologies, exposing the propaganda that often lurks below. 

source: https://www.adbusters.org/spoof-ads

I do personally believe that social media has changed activism for the better and that those who simply click ‘sign petition’ but never make effort to act on it are still doing more than they once would've without the online petition - when was the last time you signed a hard copy petition someone shoved in your face outside of the supermarket? Also, whilst they might not act on it, there are still plenty of eager and passionate activists out there fighting for their cause and still plenty of organisations out there finding new recruits and volunteers - most of whom have found about the other online.

[veganbeane]

No animals need to die in order for me to live. And that makes me feel good.

Howard Lyman

[alinahdee]

NATIVE ACTVISIM PREDATES THE SJW by Ali Nahdee (Sep. 1, 2016)

[bisluthq]

I just asked because I read people saying that tayloe got the honorary degree because of her Activisim and songwriting and got confused about the actvisim part

I think it’s just contributions to culture dude - songwriting and all she’s done in the music business.

[naliya]

Sometimes, I do wonder to what extent the current social justice landscape is what it is today, with this "either/or" attitude and "with or against us" brand of actvisim, is a result of people who grew up in a post 9/11 world with no memory of "before" finally coming of age AND being able to engage with politics quickly and in a easy to digest way within the internet.

I feel like those two things combined created the monsters we're currently dealing with.

Before, you needed to work far more to be an activist and might join long standing movements with older people within them which could probably metigate and tame some more outlandish claims brought in by an inexperienced yet full of ideas (good and bad) youth... And you probably had more of a balance of ideas and more of a conversation as a result, which is always good, one way or another.

But now? Now...

[ablednt]

I'm not saying that I necessarily think a violent revolution is the answer to America's problems perse because, truly, I don't know shit about how to solve this shit and I've never claimed to be any kind of leading mind when it comes to actvisim

But it's also really odd how people dismiss violence as the answer when it's sure done a hell of a lot more than pacifism has for effecting change. The US government is governed entirely by violence, it uses violence to enforce its laws and it uses violence to spread its empire and to mantain its power.

Why is it that many liberals are so opposed to using that against them? Is it all the media that conditions us into mindsets of "good guys can't stoop to the villians level to overcome them"? Is it the way we're taught fabricated histories?

Or do the people opposed to violence as a concept in combating injustice not want anything to actually change in the first place? Do they somehow believe that if they just try hard enough they'll be one of the select few whom truly benefit from the current systems in place?

[fluxphage]

one of my friends: i dont follow you AND i have you muted bc you post politics me, looking @ my timeline thats just. queer rights actvisim and a smatter of jewish rights activism, reconsidering how close i wanna be w this person: haha yea

[app-ara-tus]

Joan Jonas: New York Performances | Art21 "Extended Play"

[lgbtq-active-activist-qs364]

Hi Everyone!

It’s me your friendly activist/blogger, Jess. I identify as nonbinary (They/Them) and live in Oregon. I started this blog because I want to create a safe space to post activist content pertaining to the LGBTQ community, in particular, trans rights, and also have a space to be myself while supporting others who don’t have a voice. If there’s anything I can do to help you or make this blog better, please inbox me! 

Have a lovely day,

Jess

[spiritoftheelephant]

It is our duty to speak as loud as we can while people are listening for the ones that no one is listening to. #vegan #DXE #activist #actvisim #neverbesilent #alwaysfightforwhatsright

[ratboy]

hi everyone im here to make a post that says:

if you believe misandry and especially transmisandry doesn't exist, get the fuck off my blog

if youre a terf/radfem, get the FUCK off my blog!

youre a fucking moron and a "radfem" whos cloaking their "feminism" under the guise of hating men and especially trans men and transmasculine people. men/masc presenting people Can face misandry!! just bc broader Western culture doesn't broadly oppress men/masc presenting people doesn't mean it doesn't fucking happen!

you cannot support trans women and transfeminine people without also including trans men and transmasculine people in your trans activism bc literally 99% of trans women and transfeminine people don't want their brothers and siblings excluded in your shitty actvisim!!

[academicchaos]

Call to Action Speech

How many of you are irritated that the electoral and popular votes don’t match up this year?

The American voting system as it has been created has stripped the American citizen of their actual voice. The electoral college decides the President of the United States, not the popular vote, a rule that has been present in the Constitution since the inception of this government. As a result, many people feel disenfranchised from the system and grow apathetic instead of finding ways to take other action. The issue is that government has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, including our bedrooms and bathrooms, and so it feels that in order to accomplish any task, one must act within the system in place.

However, the system in place does not always work for all members of society. The vast majority of those in control are straight, white, men. This American culture is born of genocide, rape, and slavery. More than that, as detailed by Toni Morrison for the New Yorker, American cultural identity is rooted in skin color and how one carries the ideology of whiteness. As fear of loss of control sets in, those in power act without fear of punishment as they persecute those who are different.

Government, laws, and legislation exist to criminalize the “other”.

Anarchy offers another solution. 

What exactly is Anarchy? Many people simply think of it as absolute chaos due to the lack of government. In actuality, Anarchy is a socio-political philosophy that, according to the Salem Press Encyclopedia, advocates for the abolition of coercive and controlling forms of government that put emphasis on private property in favor of a form of willful participation in society with a preservation of individual freedoms. Now, the issue often appears when people ask how Anarchy could possibly come into effect.

Change comes when direct action is taken.

Look to the failure of the legal system when four white police officers were acquitted of the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1992. According to All Things Considered on NPR, this verdict was met with 5 days of a city on fire, over 50 people dead, and $1 billion in property damage.

Property damage usually catches the attention of those in power; in a capitalist government, money always talks. In the years following the riots, police chiefs were fired and the administration revamped. While LAPD brutality has decreased in the 20 years since these riots, there is still a failure of the system in that police brutality across the country is still rampant. 

The point here, is that rioting did enact change, but because it was still within the framework of organized government, the change was not able to penetrate the entirety of American culture.

And how could we expect it to? In response to the protests of Trump’s election, a journalist from Al-Jazeera News Network asks what it is the protesters hope to accomplish. “Do they imagine that any arm of government has the authority to quash the results and start over?” The general tone of her article is overwhelmingly condescending and I respond that, no, there is no functional limb of this flailing creature that we call our government, that can fix what it has birthed. And neither the right nor left arm is willing to relinquish power to the masses.

Too often has the left, in terms of our binary political spectrum, been in favor of non-violence as a method of resistance. Turning the other cheek does not work when the enemy stands with assault rifles, tear gas, and police batons. We’ve seen the current images of Ferguson and Baltimore bearing a disturbing resemblance to the Palestinian border. 

Historically, look to the Stonewall Riots of 1969, during which violence was an effective method of resistance for those far outside of the conservative value spectrum. For people who fall under the queer umbrella, Stonewall shifted the way in which gay men, lesbians, and trans people fought for the right to exist and be acknowledged as human beings. According to eyewitnesses who were in New York during the riots, including renowned feminist author Rita Mae Brown, the Stonewall Inn, a queer bar that allowed same-sex couples to dance together and didn’t count the number of “gender-appropriate” garments, was raided under the guise of busting the Mob. This ruse was revealed when police officers began to abuse lesbian patrons outside of the bar. The crowd turned on the police officers, who cowardly barricaded themselves within the bar. Back and forth, the fighting began to see who would win the fight for the bar, for the upper hand. This battle continued in the streets for 6 more days.

The beauty of the Stonewall Inn Riots is that they sparked action. That night in 1969 gave birth to coalitions such as the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activist Alliance. Today gay marriage has been legalized and trans people are able to come out of the shadows. As stated in the Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, the roots of LGBTQ actvisim and rights can be traced back to that fateful night which sparked civil and violent unrest.

This snapshot of history, is a prime example of how actions outside those sanctioned by the state, can shift public opinion, policy, and the general well-being of those who had formerly been deemed ill.

With the course of history seeming doomed to repeat itself, wolves in the hen house no longer disguising themselves, the question comes, what action can you take, will you take, when the time comes to defend yr right to live, to walk down to street without the state imposing its will upon yr very body?

A useful framework for how to take violent action and still remain ethically responsible can be found in the Harry Potter Series. Are most of y’all familiar with the premise that Voldemort and the Death-Eaters believe that pure-bloods are the only valid wizards and that everyone else must be eliminated and bow down to their demands? The Dark Lord and his followers share the attributes of Nazis and Fascists. When met with this challenge, Harry and his friends joined forces with the persecuted, the minorities, met in secret, spoke truth to power, and most importantly, as illustrated in the final battle, learned to protect themselves from deadly force. In the fashion of Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix, we must also ready ourselves for the battle that is not such a stretch of the imagination as white supremacists are now considered to be alt-right.

Looking again to Harry Potter, a wizard or witch would be caught literally dead without a wand. Harry and his allies never used the worst of the Dark Arts, but they learned how to repel those spells which would have killed them in an instant. Back in our dismal reality, those who rail against imaginary enemies trying to take their guns away, are willing to unload bullets, then cry that they were afraid for their lives from an unarmed Black teenager. The time has come for those who refuse to be oppressed, to take up arms in self-defense. If guns aren’t yr weapon of choice, look towards archery, sword work, and knife work. 

The very first step any of us can take is to get in shape. That can be as easy as working out in yr home. My favorite method: going hard with free weights to blasting music. If you do nothing else to understand the necessity of violent action as demonstrated in LA, in New York, re-read books 5 through 7 of JK Rowling’s harrowing series. Or watch the films. 

I ask you to prepare yrselves and to be willing to destroy what must be dusted away and remade in an image as motley as the crew of the world. 

Works Cited

Anonymous. "Haymarket Massacre." Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, Gale, 2006, pp. 9-11. Global Issues in Context, <cmclibraries.coloradomtn.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3456600018/GIC?u=colo90289&xid=58ce8c11.>  Accessed 6 Dec. 2016.

Bauer, Edgar. "Edgar Bauer Promotes Anarchy." Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, Gale, 2006, pp. 4-7. Global Issues in Context, <cmclibraries.coloradomtn.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3456600016/GIC?u=colo90289&xid=f56a2a8a.>  Accessed 7 Dec. 2016.

"Colleagues Recall L.A. Riots Unfolding Like 'A Movie'" NPR. Morning Edition, 13 Apr. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2016. http://www.npr.org/2012/04/13/150509967/colleagues-recall-l-a-riots-unfolding-like-a-movie.

Kahn, Carrie. "After Riots, Scandal Sparked Reform in LAPD." NPR. All Things Considered, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2016. <www.npr.org/2012/04/25/151354376/after-riots-scandal-sparked-reform>.

Lasky, Jack. "Anarchy." Salem Press Encyclopedia (2016): Research Starters. Web. 6 Dec. 2016.

Picano, Felice. "The Remains Of The Night: Six Observers: Felice Picano Talks With Eyewitnesses To The Stonewall Riots." The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide 4 (2015): 29. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

"Riots rock America's democratic foundations." Gulf News [United Arab Emirates], 14 Nov. 2016. Global Issues in Context, <cmclibraries.coloradomtn.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A470637235/GIC?u=colo90289&xid=90aa5ebd.> Accessed 7 Dec. 2016.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter Series. Vancouver: Raincoast, 1999. Print

TKEW // written 12.12.2016 // edited 08.14.2017

[matterconcern-blog]

New Post has been published on Matter Concern

New Post has been published on https://matterconcern.com/2017/02/14/new-platform-promotes-images-of-black-people-engaging-in-acts-of-affection/

New Platform Promotes Images Of Black People Engaging In Acts Of Affection

“Black Love Power” aims to reimagine and reflect the many ways black love can be experienced and perceived.