Sometimes I forget how prevalent activism is in our daily lives
here at UCLA. The obvious manifestations come to mind quickly
““ student government rallying for diversity of community and
thought on campus, Zionists and anti-Zionists debating about
Israel, and the California Student Public Interest Research Group
collecting signatures to protect the environment. These types of
activities decorate our movements through campus and fill the pages
of the Daily Bruin every business day.
The reality of activism on this campus, however, runs much
deeper. Our activist community is one of the strongest in the
country, yet divisions and problems exist that prevent it from even
approaching its true potential.
As stated above, UCLA is one of the most politically aware and
active campuses in the country. Not only do we have countless
student groups organizing for political causes and community
service, we also have students educating students. Professors,
students and administrators hold events intended to educate and
give new understanding and dimensions to society’s biggest
and smallest concerns on a daily basis. We have speakers, art
exhibits, rallies, teach-ins and doctoral dissertations that are
intended to educate, create a forum for debate, and eventually
mobilize our local community to improve the world. The sheer
magnitude of the activist community at UCLA makes it one of the
most politically active and aware campuses.
Yet, with this impressive claim, I still feel that the limits of
our potential as an activist community have not even been
approached in the past four years. In both a community and moment
in history when such massive social change is needed, our activist
community could truly be a leader locally, nationally and
internationally to activists working toward this change.
My first experiences with activism at UCLA were with CALPIRG. I
spent two years working with the organization and activist students
on the local, state and national levels to protect the environment,
create awareness around hunger and homelessness issues and fight
for campaign finance reform. While spending 40 hours a week
volunteering with CALPIRG for those two years, I became very
familiar with the activist community on campus and made connections
and friendships that continue to this day, two years after leaving
the group. The experiences and the friendships have given me
insight and personal opinions regarding activism on campus.
Primarily, I am awed by the amount of activism and dedication
that we see daily. Yet, frustrations are also a fundamental part of
this perspective. With CALPIRG, other student activists and I would
often wonder why we could recruit over 100 capable and willing
students every quarter, and still not manage to retain and fully
mobilize them. While there were numerous factors that created this
problem, I have concluded that our largest failure was our neglect
of the education, open debate and inclusion of new ideas around our
campaigns.
Essentially, rather than opening our organization to new
activist involvement on campus, we created a structure of rigid
volunteer roles that had assigned tasks and beliefs. As a result,
we alienated the majority of our recruited activists and denied
them the ability to bring their experiences and tools to our corner
of the activist community.
I share this experience with you not because I think you care
about the internal challenges faced by CALPIRG two years ago, but
because my experiences have shown me that this sentiment of
alienation is common throughout our activist community at UCLA.
While it is true that we have a massive amount of activism on
campus, it is also true that an even larger community of capable,
willing, but otherwise alienated, activists is left inactive. In
addition, many student organizations and activists that are
currently pursuing social change lack cohesion as a community due
to mutual alienation.
As a result of these factors, the activist community not only
fails to fully utilize the potential numbers of activist hands,
minds and souls at UCLA, but they also fail to cooperate toward
mutual education, support and centralized organization.
There is a grassroots organizing mantra regarding recruitment
and education that colloquially states “organize ’em
where they’re at.” The idea is that effective
organizing begins by approaching new recruits and interested people
with an open system of first learning who they are and then
adapting the method of education to that individual’s
reality. The reasoning is simply that we each have our own
preconceived notions regarding various topics and political issues.
If education and recruitment efforts approach that individual as an
adversary because of these preconceptions, the individual is
eternally lost to the position of adversary.
On the other hand, if critically thinking individuals are the
desired route to stable social change, activists must approach both
allies and enemies with the intent of offering a new perspective
and then allow ideological transformations to occur. By convincing
our enemies to change their social ideologies to be more in tune
with our own, activists can organize for true social change rather
than a few victories in a still hostile system.
Finally, there is another aspect of this open system of
organizing. It not only helps new recruits and interested parties
to understand and adopt the activist’s ideology, but it also
allows the activist to better understand other perceptions of the
issue and find new ways of pursuing social change.
Without a doubt, the most important lesson that I have learned
as an activist is that I will never fully understand an issue nor
will I ever master the skill of grassroots organizing. The most
that I can ever hope to do is to continue to learn and improve my
skills.
While this article has been aimed at understanding and
addressing the activist on campus, its scope is intended to reach
much farther. As graduates, we are leaving campus and beginning new
pursuits. Many of us, through countless avenues, intend to change
the world. While activism will continue to play a key role in all
of our lives, it is of critical importance to recognize our
responsibilities to building an activist community if true and
effective change is to be achieved.
Activists must open themselves up to new ideas, understand those
of their adversaries, and pursue ideological shifts toward a
healthier society. Don’t make the mistake, however, of
placing all of the responsibility with activists.
Citizens, all of them, must make an effort to fully understand
the world and society, and to live consciously. That statement does
not require every individual to be an activist and devote every
waking hour to changing the world. Rather, it requires us to look
at ourselves, our actions and our privileges in society and
recognize their potential to both help and harm everyone and
everything around us. Only then can this campus reach its potential
as an activist community, and only then can we magnify our positive
impact on society.
Good luck to all of you. Pursue your dreams with the
understanding that we are all out there together as long as we take
a moment to look around and recognize the strength that unity can
give us.