The devil is in the details, right?
This is what we’re told. It’s not wrong; how carefully you flesh out out the details of your plan can have a huge impact on the success of your endeavor. However, there’s something else which I find is equally as fatal to projects, especially within the world of activism: follow through.
I can’t count the number of times I have gone to a meeting, or gathered with a group of friends, and planned to do something impactful. We sit around and complain about the state of the world, and people voice their brilliant ideas of how we can do our part to fix it. Tons of ideas are thrown out there, and it’s so exciting and inspiring and rejuvenating! And then we go home, each one expecting the other to start the hard work of turning the idea into a reality. “Man, I wish someone had sent out a follow-up email for a second meeting,” we say, not realizing that we could have done exactly this.
I think this cycle is especially true of colleges and universities. Academic communities love to have meetings about meetings, discussions about discussions, and plans to plan, all the while calling their stagnant ego-stroking “action.” Of course, meetings and plans are important, but only if you follow through on them. Having circular dialogues which accomplish nothing but allowing people to complain does not make a difference in the long run.
There’s a point at which you have to get off your ass.
There is a phrase that’s been going around on social media: “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” I think this should be everyone’s mantra right now. Every time you find yourself talking or thinking about what “someone” should be doing, ask yourself – can I?
You may not be able to donate huge sums of money to important organizations, or take time off of work to organize (or participate in) giant protests, but are there any other skills you can offer? Can you get friends together at your place to call your representatives? Can you host a viewing party of an important documentary? Can you organize a bake sale, benefit concert, or walk-a-thon? Can you create a moving, pertinent piece of art? Is there a company you can boycott? Do you have students or children who you can teach about what is happening in the world, and the history that brought us here? Do you have the legal skills to help those being held at airports? Do you have a camera you can use to shine light on those most often dehumanized by the media? Do you have a company or platform from which you can raise your voice? Do you have a friend you can reach out to make sure they’re doing okay?
There is always something you can be doing, especially if you’re privileged. Taking small actions may not be glamorous or attention-grabbing, but makes a difference all the same.
Can you imagine what the world would like right now if we all had followed through on those plans we once made? If we had actually done that thing we thought or talked about? How many projects have each of us been a part of that never saw the light of day, simply because none of us trusted ourselves to be leaders?
The devil is in the follow through. It will either be the death of our movement, or the crux of our resistance. Only we get to choose which.
