Direct Action is About Dramatizing an Issue So that it Can No Longer be Ignored
From All-Creatures.org Animal Rights Activism Articles Archive

FROM

Rob Bujold
August 2018

Direct action is intended to put a spotlight on an issue and "foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored." (Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963, Letter from Birmingham Jail)

A Safeway “cage-free” chicken farm - February 2017

Direct action is not intended to create vegans, at least not directly or in the moment. There are obviously better ways to do that, like having deep, (mostly) friendly conversations with individuals and small groups.

Direct action is directed more broadly at society, and institutions that have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo and keeping us from having those meaningful conversations. Direct action is intended to put a spotlight on an issue and "foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored." (Letter from Birmingham Jail, MLK, 1963).

As such, direct action is one important way of creating spaces for those conversations to take place, even if those conversations begin with "did you hear what those 'crazy vegans' did?" It doesn't matter. The point is, now we have our "in". Now we can talk about why some vegans feel so passionately about animals that they would take to the streets. Now we can talk about the plight of animals and the unnecessary violence we inflict on them in unfathomable numbers.

Direct action creates opportunities for conversations with people who might not otherwise have opened the door to a discussion about animal rights. As such, direct action and personal outreach are really two sides of the same coin. They are simply different tactics for different targets used on different occasions. When we're not involved in direct action, we're engaged in personal outreach. Your advocacy need not be either/ or. Rather, it can (and, I would say, should) be both.

Remember, too, that direct action connects and empowers us. We come together as a community, and find personal strength in the power of our collective action. We leave these events inspired to speak out with increased confidence in our personal spheres of influence.

Please learn more at DIRECT ACTION EVERYWHERE! 

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