And It's 1,2,3, What Am I Writing For?

Plus: It's FFA Friday the 13th with the Factory Witches of Lowell

Country Joe McDonald organizing against the Vietnam War at Woodstock, August 1969, singing 1-2-3 What’re We Fighting For?

I’m sharing this photo and clip—for fun, and because I wanted to play with the title for today’s piece, and especially to remember this pictured moment of musical mobilizing (watch it here). We need much more of that today!

I have been publishing Activist Explorer every Friday for two months. Yay! I focus chiefly on two areas:

1. Sharing reflections from the activist-anthropologist-writer-teacher-parent work I’ve done over the past decades, focusing particularly on activist culture, the activist emotional landscape, and more.

My aim is to delve into the experience and meanings of being part of the world-wide community of people, organizations and movements striving for justice, peace and planetary survival, and contribute to better understanding ourselves and our communities, which is vital to facing the tremendous challenges we’ve taken on.

2. Sharing thoughts on representation of activists in fiction:

• Locating and lifting up stories that humanize and make accessible the lives, relationships, dramas, victories, defeats, joys, and adventures of activists.

• Writing such stories myself, and encouraging others to do so.

• Shining light on the stereotyping of activists that permeates the dominant narrative and creeps into our consciousness.

But what’s it for?

I want to encourage folks to:

• Notice how activists are represented,

• See (and be bothered by) dismissive portrayals showing activists as either not there or as fringe, dangerous weirdos, and

• Seek out and lift up—as well as share and create—portrayals showing us as fully human, multidimensional folk of all kinds engaging in the vital, joyful, empowering, necessary and infinitely varied work of activism.

I’ll say more about the sharing and creating part soon.

We have questions!

• What works of fiction centering activists, organizers, social movements, etc. do you like?

• What are some ways you see activists stereotyped in movies, novels, TV, etc.?

Looking forward to your comments!

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Check out this Friday’s Fiction Featuring Activists post: The Factory Witches of Lowell