Animal Rights/Vegan Activists' Strategies Articles


Share


We Can All Be Activists

From Ray Robbins, AfroVeganSociety.org
August 2022

The next time you feel helpless or doubt your contributions alone are enough to effect change, remember the first domino to the toppling tower; the single drop of water to the rippling ocean; the tiny spark that set things ablaze.


afro vegan

In today’s world, we’re routinely faced with formidable threats to both our sanity and well-being. News of political turmoil, social inequalities, food insecurity, economic slumps, climate crisis, and more, haunt our ears, eyes, minds, and media feeds daily! There used to be a time where turning off your TV or radio allowed a temporary escape from the world, and you could just pick up where you left off whenever you were ready with a refreshed and recharged state of mind.

Now, it seems any breaks taken from the outside world require you to catch up on what was missed because, chances are, you’re bound to be negatively affected by something that occurred during your timeout from the matrix. All things considered, it’s easy to feel like you’re being held captive on a non-stop moving train with no input on the route you’re being taken nor the final destination.

We can all feel like powerless passengers on a train moving towards total destruction!

The constant installments of racially charged infractions, blatant abuses of political power, increasing wealth gaps, deteriorating health conditions, rapid climate changes, and the like leave many of us saying out loud or in our heads “It’s not right, but what can I do? It’s out of my control!” The current state of affairs can lead even the most confident and secure to feel defenseless and vulnerable. So, we all travel, together, on this midnight train to despair.

But, if you can imagine that…

For a second, you had the ability to see a train was headed off a cliff or towards a brick wall:

  • Would you find the driver of the train and try to convince them to stop? What if you couldn’t reach them because they can’t hear you or refuse to stop the train?
  • Would you alert the other passengers of the dangers that lie ahead so they could also try to reach the conductor? What if not all of them want to help yell or what if the conductor still won’t stop the train?
  • Would you publicly search for a way to get off the train on your own knowing it will either show others a way to save themselves or demonstrate how you refuse to continue on a path leading to your own endangerment and/or destruction?

If ANY of the above actions are measures you would take... YOU can be an activist

Activism is identifying a problem (whether an injustice, infraction, violation of rights, abuse, misuse, or any combination of these) and doing what you can to stand against it in an attempt to effect change. Your action(s) could be as large as holding a widespread campaign to as small as you, personally, deciding not to patronize a business because their professional affiliations aren’t in alignment with your morals/causes/beliefs.

Sound simple enough?

then guess what?

It doesn’t have to stop there! Even in situations where the “train conductor” isn’t a specific individual or company but a perceived threat to a population’s existence or well-being, there are many choices and actions that allow you to easily make your mark as an activist! Simple things like discontinuing visiting certain media channels so their algorithms and visibility decrease or encouraging people to boycott a business you’ve discovered has ties to a corrupt individual or company, or even educating a friend or family member about the threats to their health posed by the foods on their plate!

The next time you feel helpless or doubt your contributions alone are enough to effect change, remember the first domino to the toppling tower; the single drop of water to the rippling ocean; the tiny spark that set things ablaze. YOU have the power AND by showing your family, friends, and colleagues that they, too, have that same power…

WE CAN ALL BE ACTIVISTS!

See you on the battlefield, friend.

Return to Animal Rights/Vegan Activist Strategies