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Category Archives: uprisings
Never Again Gun Control Movement: Summary of “Glimmer of Hope” tactics and goals
In their anthology titled Glimmer of Hope: How Tragedy Sparked a Movement by the Founders of March for Our Lives (2018), 16 leaders of the Never Again movement for gun control described their tactics and goals. All but one are present or recent graduates from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed in a school shooting on Valentine’s Day in 2018. Their main focus is on getting young people to register to vote and to actually vote as they think voting is the key to making political change. They toured 22 states in the summer to get out the vote and then concentrated on college campuses. They don’t have faith in existing legislators who they believe are corrupt and in bondage to their large contributors of campaign funding such as the National Rifle Association. They warned “all the politicians out there, if you take money from the NRA, you have chosen death.”[1] They judged the legislators they lobbied in Florida and in Congress to be uninformed, not interested in listening to young people without a lot of money, “almost untouchable,” dismissive, concerned only about getting photo ops to help their next campaign.[2] They tend to view adults in general as failures who created a broken system. They require any adult who assists them to have a youth point person to make sure their message isn’t diluted.
The students are confident that their generation is uniquely positioned to lead revolutionary change because of the information they gain from the Internet plus their skills using social media, which they believe is the key to outreach. Some of them, like Charlie Mirsky, Cameron Kasky, and David Hogg grew up interested in politics, sparked by listen to TV comedians who discuss the news such as Stephen Colbert and John Oliver. Kasky said, “I grew up consuming political media like it was candy,” formerly a “rebel without a cause.” [3] Growing up with superheroes and Harry Potter, Delaney Tarr said they find themselves “wanting to be these powerhouse, these superheroes who come in and just save the day.”[4] Cameron Kasky greeting the millions of people in the march on Washington with “Welcome to the revolution.” He said, “Don’t worry, we’ve got this.” They have “an incredibly powerful tool: an outlet to millions of people all over the world at our fingertips.”[5] Matt Deitsch promised, “The youth will fix this great nation and truly lead us to a more compassionate future. We can only do this together and with love.”[6] They also acknowledge previous youth activists such as the civil rights era Freedom Riders.
Their worldview emphasizes intersectionality, the importance of including diversity, as in their outreach to African American youth activists in Chicago, Washington, DC, etc. They don’t have to go through a third party but can communicate directly with their networks. Jammal Lemy designed “merch” such as T-shirts and hats with a QR (quick response code) barcode to scan to register to vote. He believes that “art is the most effective media to convey messages.”[7] They’re also unique in the youth of activists such as Naomi Wadlin, an eighth grader who led a school walk-out in Alexandria, Virginia, on March 14 or Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. who spoke at the Washington, DC march when she was age nine.
Specific tactics they articulated are individuals need a specific task or they won’t do anything and it’s vital to move beyond anger (and fear generated by frequent threats and harassment) to find joy and love in organizing. They think of their core group of 25 activists as a supportive family that helped them build on their grief at the loss of their friends to build a social movement. (Therapy dogs provided at school also helped them cope.) Emotion is important as “This is a movement relying on the persistence and passion of its people.”[8] They often quote Matt Deitch who urges that “leaders create leaders,” typical of recent organizing that is wary of dominant leaders. They emphasize being nonpartisan to shape an inclusive message as negative forces “will try to separate us by demographics…by religion, race, congressional district and class. They will fail. We will come together.”[9]
[1] The founders. Glimmer of Hope. Penguin, 2018, p.. 175
[2] P. 99
[3] P. 6
[4] P. 97
[5] P. 39
[6] P. 208
[7] P. 198
[8] P. 163
[9] P. 152
Activist Resources
Brave: Young Women’s Global Revolution is available in affordable paper and ebook.
Reviewed By Edith Wairimu for Readers’ Favorite 5 stars
Brave: Young Women’s Global Revolution, Volume 1 by Gayle Kimball provides a platform for thousands of youths, from 88 countries spanning various continents. More than 4000 surveys and hundreds of interviews were conducted. Its focus is on global issues, mostly those pertaining to women on a global scale. We read the real points of view of women on gender equality and how they envisage the future. Gayle Kimball presents the issues that affect young women among different cultures. She also records young people’s take on material wealth, and the positive and negative roles that global media has played in defining the status of women. Statistics which give weight to the material are included in every chapter and topic. Direct quotations of the interviewees’ opinions are also incorporated as well as thought-provoking questions.
It was great to read a book that focuses on a group that has been overlooked by many researchers in the past. Even though the youth are the future and although they make up a vast component of the world’s population today, their voice is yet to be sufficiently recognized. Another great aspect of Brave: Young Women’s Global Revolution, Volume 1 was that Gayle Kimball captured the true voices of women across the world. It was fascinating to read the opinions of these women. Interestingly, most of their statements shared similar sentiments. They believe that it is time: time for the inclusion of women and time for equality. Uniquely designed and expertly presented, Brave: Young Women’s Global Revolution, Volume 1 inspires and champions women forward.
A book for first-year students: Your Mindful Guide to Academic Success: Prevent Burnout. Also a $10 ebook.
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If you’re interested in women’s culture, two older anthologies I edited are
Ed. Women’s Culture (Scarecrow Press)
Ed. Women’s Culture Revisited. (Scarecrow Press)
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Resist! Goals and Tactics for Changemakers, 400 pages, will be available as a $10 ebook later this month.
Introduction
Part 1: Issues and Goals
Chapter 1: Globalization Issues
Chapter 2: Democracy vs. Autocracy
Chapter 3: Equal Opportunity vs. Poverty
Chapter 4: Change Work
Chapter 5: The Bottom Line: Environmentalism
Chapter 6: Who are the Changemakers?
Part 2: Tactics and Theories
Chapter 7: Activist Tactics
Chapter 8: How to Make a Revolution
Chapter 9: Theories about Social Movements and Power
Chapter 10: Communication Techniques to Gain Support
Brave: Young Women’s Global Revolution Book Review
22
International Journal for Intersectional Feminist Studies, Volume 4, Issue 1 & 2, September 2018, ISSN
2463-2945
Gayle Kimball. Brave: Young Women’s Global Revolution (in two volumes, Vol. 1: Global Themes & Vol. 2: Regional Activism). [Equality Press], 2017. With introduction, b/w photographs and notes. x, 373 pp & xiv, 643 pp.
Morgan Brynnan
Finally, we hear the authentic voices of girls and young women from around the globe, from the traditional to the radical. Encompassing interviews and fieldwork from 88 countries, sociologist Gayle Kimball brings together over a decade of original research on female youth. Such research is sorely lacking, as most other works of this kind are regional and/or discuss youth without including their voices. Kimball goes beyond standardized internet surveys of middle-class youth, with in-depth video interviews available on the companion blog, https://globalyouthbook.wordpress.com, of young women from the favelas of Brazil to the upper-class in Saudi Arabia. Some of the interviews and contacts went on for over a decade as the young women moved into adulthood, and Kimball traveled for much of the research.
A monumental piece of research and analysis from Feminist Standpoint Theory, Kimball includes and compares other notable surveys of youth and women’s issues in the two volumes. Don’t expect to hear only feminist voices—traditional young women speak clearly in these pages as well. A good history of feminism and what it means today to young women is part of the essential reading in Brave. Both volumes discuss the impact of neo-liberal policies, war, non-violent resistance, and upheavals.
Consumerism and media are addressed in depth, as well as organizing in the Internet Age. Discussion questions are included following each chapter and the endnotes are a rich source of further information.
While there is heavy coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings, the two works go far beyond the Middle East to report on women making change in other countries (Volume 2, Regional Activism, covers The West, Latin America, Africa, MENA, Russia, China, and India).
This work includes many references to important figures in various movements, related source materials, and films. It could be improved with the addition of an index, bibliography, and filmography for easier access and further research. A link to the core survey questions and most frequent answers is included.
23
International Journal for Intersectional Feminist Studies, Volume 4, Issue 1 & 2, September 2018, ISSN
2463-2945
Great reading for anyone interested in what girls and young women really think politically. Especially useful for courses in Women’s Studies, Youth Studies, Girl Studies, Political Science, and Global Studies, this is a record of the otherwise unnamed young women who have changed our century.
NOTE: This work is part of a series of books based on the longitudinal international survey work of Dr. Kimball. Other books in the series include Ageism in Youth Studies: Generation Maligned (Cambridge Scholars, 2017); How Global Youth Values Will Transform Our Future (Cambridge Scholars, 2018); Resist! Goals and Tactics for Changemakers (forthcoming, 2018); and Democracy Uprisings Led by Global Youth (forthcoming).
Dr. Kimball welcomes you to critique upcoming drafts. Contact the author at GKimball@csuchico.edu
Morgan Brynnan is a mother, librarian, and unabashed feminist living in the United States. With activist roots going back to the Women’s Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice at The Seneca Army Depot and ACT-UP, she writes from a life lived fully. Currently, she reads and writes on women and youth issues while raising her eleven year old daughter in a small Northern California farming town. She holds degrees in Librarianship, Spanish, and in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. You can reach her via email at mbrynnan@gmail.com.
Morgan Brynnan, 2018
2018, by Morgan Brynnan. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
How to be a Successful Progressive Changemaker: Resist! is available as a $10 ebook, 800 pages
Resist! Goals and Tactics for Changemakers offers an encyclopedic guide for how you can be a changemaker. Critics fault recent democracy uprisings for not having a positive plan for change, so this comprehensive guide includes international models of democratic local and national examples. The extensive book outlines major economic, environmental and political problems with examples of tactics currently used to solve them. It includes theories about power and social movements, communication techniques, and the story of the changemakers. The author traveled around the world to talk with changemakers, as well as doing extensive research, and is a feminist activist.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Issues and Goals
Chapter 1: Globalization Issues
Globalization and Neoliberalism, Hybrid Cultures, Global Media, Global Discrimination, Global Power Shifts, War and Peace, Global Organizing
Chapter 2: Democracy vs. Autocracy
Desire for Real Democracy; Rise of Authoritarianism and Corruption; The Construction of Democracy; National Horizontal Models; Alternatives to Traditional Political Parties; Municipalist City Models—Past, Present and Future; Education Needs Democratic Reform
Chapter 3: Equal Opportunity vs. Poverty
Anti-Neoliberal Capitalism, Protests Against Inequality, Educated Middle-Class Changemakers, Solutions to Poverty and Inequality
Chapter 4: Change Work
Revolutionary Technological Changes, Young Adults Change the Work Culture, Worker Control, Gender Equity in the Workplace, Urban Economy Models, Solving Unemployment Locally, the New Economics
Chapter 5: The Bottom Line: Environmentalism
Climate Change Disasters; Case Study: Environmental Change is Difficult; Environmental Degradation; Powerful Climate Change Deniers; Tactics and Strategies; Replace Capitalism with Socialism; Change Government; Use the Courts; Attack Finance: Divestment and Boycotts; Develop Renewable Energy and Recycle, and Use Organic Agriculture; Lobby UN Climate Conferences; Our Future: Youth
Chapter 6: Who are the Changemakers?
Women Rising; No More Passive Princesses: Why Are Girls so Brave? Activists of Color: Black Activists, Latinx Dreamers, First Nation Youth Protest Pipelines
Part 2: Tactics and Theories
Chapter 7: Activist Tactics A Case Study: Generation Z Tactics in the Never Again Movement; Individual Tactics; Alternatives to Traditional Political Parties; Movement of Movements to Replace Parties and Silos; New Tactics: Tend to Emotions in Long Occupations; Nonviolent Tactics; The Tyranny of Structurelessness; New Emphasis on the Grassroots; Successful Strategies for Organizing Groups
Chapter 8: How to Make a Revolution
Revolution Defined, What Triggers a Revolution? How to Lead a Revolution, Revolutionary History, Why the Global Uprisings Moved like Dominoes, Why were Tunisians the First Domino in the Revolutionary Wave? Cracks in the Economic System, Stages of Revolution, Did the Recent Uprisings Succeed?
Chapter 9: Theories about Social Movements and Power
Theories about Power; Social Movement Theories; The Legacy of Global Justice Movement
Tactics; semi-colon Marxism, Anarchism, Feminism
Chapter 10: Communication Techniques to Gain Support
Media Power; Branding, Humor, and Theater; Electronic Networking; Debate About Too Much Emphasis on Social Media; Misuse of the Internet; Mobile Phones for All; TV, Radio and Films; Art and Music
Resist! Goals and Tactics for Changemakers
Q: It seems like such an uphill battle to fight the billionaire 1% like the Koch brothers who pull so many political strings in the era of Trump. What makes for effective strategies for change?
A: I explore this in my new ebook Resist! Goals and Tactics for Changemakers. Here’s some of what I learned.
Approach your goal as if fighting a non-violent battle. This means not being nice, not waiting for someone else to act, building alliances rather than acting alone, analyzing the enemy’s weak points, and having a long-term strategy
Approach your goal like a well-organized general or CEO. Social movements are based on groups rather than individuals and an organization is needed to provide continuity and success over time.
Approach your goal as if you were selling a product by branding it with slogans, logos, colors, and use of social media.
Approach your goal as if you were a patient realist. Environmentalist Bill McKibben advised activists to keep up the pressure, be a pain in the neck, and to never give up just as 350.org did with their campaign against oil pipelines.
Approach your goal as if you were a therapist. Pay attention to relationships, power dynamics, emotion, and effective communication skills.
Approach your goal as if you were a teacher who aims to make learning enjoyable.
Approach your goal as if you were a religious leader, discussing shared values and morality. “Values” is a current buzzword for progressives. Post your observations and experiences on https://greenlocalsolutions.wordpress.comR
Recent Global Feminist Actions
What would you add to recent examples of women’s activism?
- Millions of Polish women go to the streets to protest attempts to roll back reproductive choice,
- French women who oppose sexual harassment,
- Chilean women students protesting campus sexism,
- Palestinian women fight the occupation[i]
- Armenian women demonstrated for their rights as well as changing prime ministers.
- Saudi women launched a campaign in 2016 for an end to the guardianship laws, which are explained in a report and short videos titled “Boxed In: Women and Saudi Arabia’s Male Guardianship System.”[ii] *Egyptian women protest online, as the President el-Sisi government punishes feminist heads of NGOs.
- A Swedish student named Elin Ersson blocked a plane from taking off from Gothenburg until an Afghan refugee was taken off the plane to prevent his deportation to what she felt was certain death.
- Journalist Ksenia Sobchak, 35, ran for president of Russia against Putin, drawing from her five million Twitter followers.
- Japanese girls tired of being assaulted while traveling on crowded trains to school wear metal pins/buttons stating, “I’m not going to take it! Groping is a crime!” A Japanese friend’s tactic is to pinch the harasser as hard as she can.
- Women in Mexico City are fighting street harassment with apps and posting stickers showing a girl walking confidently.[iii] The #niunamemos (not one woman less lost to gender violence) campaign spread throughout Latin America.
*Kenyan women protest the lack of female cabinet members that violates their constitution, which states that women should be one-third of legislators and appointed political positions.
*Women riding bicycle campaigns occur in Muslim countries like Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, and Egypt.
Iranian women take off their veils and post their videos on websites like My Stealthy Freedom organized by Masih Alinejad. She also organized a #whitewednesdays campaign to wear white to protest compulsory hijab. Alinejad posted, “Civil disobedience is the first step to gain our victory.” In exile in the US, she described her activism in her book The Wind in My Hair: My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran (2018). #Walking Unveiled was organized in 2018 after a viral video showed three Iranian police officers hitting a woman who they judged not to be properly covered. Alinejad also led a campaign of women posting photos riding bikes in defiance of a 2016 fatwa by Supreme Leader Khameini against cycling because it threatens their chastity.[iv]
In the US, women are rising up in response to President Donald Trump’s sexism, women are prominent leaders in Black Lives Matter, the Dreamers fight for immigrant rights, Fight for $15 (to raise the minimum wage), the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault, and teacher wildcat strikes that began in West Virginia and spread to Oklahoma, Kentucky, North Carolina, Colorado, Arizona and other right-to-work states that don’t favor unions.
[i] Fadi Abu Shammalah and Jen Marlowe, “Palestinian Feminists are Fighting on Two Fronts,” TruthDig, June 17, 2018.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/why-palestines-feminists-are-fighting-on-two-fronts/
[ii] Zuhour Mahmoud, “Hundreds of Thousands Join Saudi Women-Led Campaign to End Male Guardianship in the Kingdom,” Global Voices, September 4, 2016.
[iii] https://www.girlsglobe.org/2018/05/08/women-are-claiming-back-the-streets-of-mexico/
[iv] “Women in Iran Post Photos and Videos,” Women in the World, September 21, 2016.
