Activists or Trendsetters?

Yesterday I was taking my garbage out when I noticed a water bottle on the ground underneath the steps that lead up to my room, which is outside the rest of the house. The water bottle had the logo of an US-based NGO working for an end to the genocide in Darfur, and somehow wound up just lying under my steps. I’m assuming someone at the party my neighbors held just before Spring Break left it out there after using it to discretely transport alcohol.

Is it me, or does something seem wrong with this picture?

Though well-intentioned, followers of this kind of activism have essentially transformed the tumultuous and delicate situation in Darfur into a simplified slogan that fits neatly on t-shirts, tote bags, wristbands, and, of course, water bottles. This simplification eliminates the need for subscribers to truly educate themselves beyond the notion that a region of a country far away needs ‘saving.’ This is a problem. Without education, independent of the views and biases of the activist group itself, followers become little more than a headless heart; and this widespread trend will never produce sustainable solutions to any problem.

Not to mention the fact that those methods produce exactly that: a trend. That is definitely not okay. One peoples’ unimaginable suffering should never become another’s trend. Now I know the intent is to raise ‘awareness’ of the crisis in the region, but the point is that what ends up happening is the creation of a culture of awareness, without knowledge.

So if you really want to make a difference in the world then I have two words for you: EDUCATE YOURSELF. I cannot stress enough the importance of being properly educated on all sides of any fragile situation before taking a stance and subsequent action. That doesn’t mean just reading from the activist group’s website either, as that information is indisputably biased. Learn the history, the politics, the religion(s), the people, the geography, the culture. Learn anything and everything. Then go tell people. Tell people who wouldn’t learn it otherwise and definitely tell people wearing the proverbial t-shirt. They’re the ones that, chances are, really need to know.

Activism is a pretty tough topic to write about without upsetting people, but it’s also something that should never be viewed as infallible, and as such must always be interrogated.

But that’s just what I think