More anger
Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard the term Performative Activist or Optical Ally, but I’ve long been intimately familiar with the concepts. It was almost a relief to point to the words and say, yes! This! This is the thing that has disgusted me for so long!
While this new kind of perverse selfie activism makes my analog brain hurt, I’ve come across so many people and organizations in both my personal and professional lives who don’t seem to want to do good as much as they want to be seen doing good. It’s always struck me as the height of hypocrisy and inauthenticity - better to do nothing than to do something simply because it’s self-serving, right?
Right?
Well…what about the idea that doing nothing is the worst form of complicity? In that case, maybe finding ways of tapping into peoples’ inherently self-serving nature is exactly where we should focus our energy - in this (hopefully) sea change moment in the U.S., but also in social justice work more broadly. That’s part of what makes business and human rights so compelling to me - the pragmatism of acknowledging that the bottom line does not have to be sacrificed for, and can in fact benefit from, a respect for rights and a genuine interest in social justice. The Queering of Corporate America is just a recent example reminding us how it’s possible to turn indifferent or even antagonistic actors (like corporate America) into allies in the fight for LGBTQ rights.
Why, then, does it feel so unsavory when it comes to individuals? And is that old-guard insistence on altruistic intentions part of the problem with our field? The focus on sacrificing financial stability and work-life balance for the good of the Cause, whatever that cause may be, has certainly dissuaded many talented people from beginning a career in development-type work in the first place. And it has definitely led to burnout, dissatisfaction, cynicism and ultimately abandonment for many who did chose this line of work.
I’m not talking about the now-infamous black squares or other forms of armchair activism. And I cannot speak to this as it relates to Black Lives Matter or other social movements, but maybe there is a way for those of us in the international humanitarian/development space to step down from our moral high ground and meet people where they’re at. Accept that they may not understand what we’re doing or why. And that perhaps part of the reason they don’t understand is that we’re bad at explaining ourselves, but part of it might also be that we ourselves sometimes don’t understand what we’re doing and why.
I’ve been so impressed with the chorus of voices trying to explain what’s happening in the U.S. Part of what’s so compelling about them is how raw they are, how unfiltered. Kimberly Jones’ incredible breakdown of the continued effects of slavery on Black Americans strikes me as precisely the kind of furious energy we need when describing what, why and how we do in international development, human rights, humanitarian work, etc. Maybe we’ve lost too much of our anger, its edges worn down by the administrative burden of an antiquated grants-based funding system and the need to be not just compliant, but measured and polite, in our career activism.
The best reminder of this came when I stumbled across this image of myself protesting post 9/11. I was 21 years old, studying for a semester at American University in DC. I can see the anger, but also the hope and optimism, in my own face. I remember how desperate that time felt, how crucial it was to be on the streets. I’m trying to recapture some of that energy, not just as I educate myself on anti-racism, but as I open my laptop to do the often unglamourous every day work. And even as I hit publish on this piece, which feels very rough, unfinished, scattered - and at the same time urgent.
On that last note, I know many lists are circulating right now, but I feel it’s important to share resources as widely and as often as possible, so here are a few I’ve come across and really appreciated:
Video: How to be Anti-Racist in Aid
A Reading List On Race For Allies Who Want To Do Better
