As we begin 2017, we now have to grasp with the reality of Donald Trump being our president. This is a scary reality, but this reality will be met will vicious resistance, the stuff that you will see in the history books. As Martin Luther King Day just passed, we looked back to an individual who represented a massive movement in a quest for equality. His part in the Civil Rights movement is an essential blueprint for what we must do as citizen’s or non-citizens of the country today. Even though King was a great leader, we cannot go into what one of my favorite historians Ray Raphael calls, dissemination.
Dissemination in the activism world is letting people or the media let certain individuals take credit for large movements. If someone is a leader of a movement, then what are the others? Well they would be followers, right? That is not always the case when it comes to being a part of history. If you are against any movement what do you do? You try to pick out leaders in a movement and try to belittle their followers as weak. It's what liberals did during the 2016 campaign with Trump supporters, saying that many of Trump’s supporters did nothing but follow a strong man. We do this because we have done to our history as well, we give all the credit to the great leaders, but we belittle the acts of regular people. This is why the history of people is more important than the history of so-called “leaders.”
The one thing the media tries to do with the “Black Lives Matter” movement is say “where are the leaders?” In every movement, some people may do more than others, but it doesn’t mean they have not contributed to the cause with great passion. When this country was formed during the American Revolution, we all know the story of the Declaration of Independence being signed in 1776. What they don’t tell you is about the local and state declarations of independence making their own documents before the central Declaration was written and inspired Jefferson to create the document. But many people don’t know that because we like heroic history and by doing this we do not give credit to the first individuals who made the idea.
What I want is American’s to understand during this time of political activism is to treat everyone like they have a say because they do and for many to step up to start the building blocks for others to fill in. Making everyone have a purpose on why they are assigned to do. If people don’t have a purpose or are just listening to someone boss them around about what their job is to do in times of struggle, then we will not be successful in completing what King’s Dream is. Yes, emerged from these massive movements against Trump we will have “heroes” but the real heroes will be the people in the shadows not covered by the press. But especially the real heroes of this movement will be everyone who decide to come out and take a stand instead of being silent or the people who have been silent all of their lives and in the end, will know what the right path is to take just what the revolutionaries did in the 1700’s.
Pick a side. Game on.
