This past spring I organized an event at Kenyon College called Social Justice Week. The week ended with an event in which several campus activists answered the question, what is social justice? I didn’t have an answer then, and I don’t have an answer now. However, I heard that a maturing painter has to paint and paint, and then every once in a while, take some white paint, and cover his whole canvas to start over. Each time he figures out the artist that he isn’t, he gets closer to the artist he is.
I see these next few years of my life as crucial, I feel like my vision is slowly revealing itself, stroke by stroke.
A few years ago I came across a book called Everything Must Change. The contents of the book were mediocre, or at least, I feel that way because I can never remember anything from books, but the title has stuck with me. I believe in innovation, and being a radical, and that everything must change.
Martin Luther King Jr. said,
“After you lift so many people out of the ditch you start to ask, maybe the whole road to Jericho needs to be repaved.”I learned much through my work with social justice at Kenyon College. I did a lot of flag-waving and getting in people’s faces about poor people that needed our help. It was a lot of pointing out that people should care about something, without any real reason why. Kind of run of the mill social justice work.
This sort of guilt trip can work for the short-term. I was able to raise a ton of attention for Haiti and a lot of money to send down there. I learned that people will gladly pay to rid themselves of their guilt.
I know I’m stealing this idea from some book, but I can’t remember who I’m stealing it from. The problem with guilt is that when that bill is paid off, whether by a literal check or a couple nice gestures, people can clear their conscience and move on. I know this because after spending so much effort raising money for Haiti and being given a Humanitarian Award for my work, I couldn’t care less about the people of Haiti.
This protest method of achieving social justice has carried the tide of social justice to where it is today, and for that I praise it. However, I just don’t know that it is my answer. I see myself as the painter who finally built up the courage to pick up the white paintbrush.
With that white canvas, I want to find another way. A way from which I can’t just clear my conscience. A way that makes me care.
So what is my answer to, “What is social justice?”
I’ve heard this sort of lingo in activism culture, that the word “radical” and the word “radish” come from the same latin word meaning “root”. And so, a radical, like a radish, must always be concerned with its roots. To fight any issues of social justice, HIV epidemic in the Ukraine, gender inequality in the church, lack of strong education in predominantly non-white neighborhoods, I believe it always has to come back to the root causes of inequalities.
So what is the root of the problem, at the most basic microscaled level?
I’m not willing to think outside of myself. I’m not willing to sacrifice my own well-being for the community.
To change, like a radish, I want to operate from the underground. A subversive, much slower form of progress, but also hopefully, a real form of progress. I want to throw myself into a community, and learn its struggles, to really understand the human condition, and through that understanding figure out what I can do to help.
So, what do I envision as my painting of social justice? I guess I see it as trying my hardest to slowly let go of the luxuries in my life and making friends everywhere I go, but also being intentional about seeking out the right friendships.
I want to end with a Cesar Chavez quote that I love. It was taught to me by an activist I admire greatly, “It was never about the grapes or the lettuce, it was always about the people.” Any social justice movement always has to be rooted in the people, and I think right now I am trying to develop my roots.
from ken
Are you trying to change your life? I'd love to hear about it! ken.e.noguchi@gmail.com
photo by Wesley Oostvogels
Interesting post. I like the idea of a painter whitewashing his canvas and starting from scratch to eventually discover the painter that he is. Trial and error is definitely the way that I learn best about myself.
ReplyDeleteCertainly any quest for social justice needs to include grassroots work, small scale, real change, as you call it. But let's not dismiss the importance of other efforts towards equality. If the 'road to Jericho needs to be repaved' that means we need people working at the beginning, middle, and end of the road to reach our goal. In other words, whose actions were more 'noble' or more geared towards bringing about social justice, Jim Kim's or Paul Farmer's? Impossible to answer, because they each helped bring about change in the way that they were most capable of. If someone's skill is being a great fundraiser, and they raise lots of money for a good cause, then I think their contributions are just as important as the people at the grassroots level.
I guess what I'm trying to say, is that during our quest to bring about social justice, first we must be introspective and think about our own skills and where we can be most helpful. Then think about ways to apply them that bring about the most good.
Thoughts?
Totally agreed. I guess my point was that you can answer for yourself whether the Jim Kim or Paul Farmer route is more suitable, and this is the one I like more.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to take a stand for yourself, and at the same time not sound judgmental of other approaches. A hard balance to strike.
from ken
Thinking about it, that's definitely what I struggled with most in writing this post. I really didn't want to discount other approaches.
ReplyDeleteIn general, how do you think you ought to best strike that balance of writing your beliefs and not sounding judgmental of other beliefs?
Tough question. Perhaps it is impossible to truly make a strong argument about your belief and not sound like you're writing other ideas off. Or maybe it's as simple as saying, "Here's my opinion, these other ideas are valid too."
ReplyDeleteSorry if I misinterpreted your post, I guess I'm curious how you came to the realization that you belong on the ground, and not somewhere else? Sounds like you were very successful as a fundraiser and at raising awareness at Kenyon...
Let's chat soon, also.
It's interesting because I see myself in a Jim Kim role in the long term, but I think I want to ground myself in a a Paul Farmer-like knowledge of the issues, one gained from working on the ground. I don't want to be one of those non-profit leaders or academics who are so far removed from reality. I also think leadership/management are gifts I have, so I want to strike some sort of balance.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I guess after a while of "flag-waving" and nobody paying attention, I started to question why nobody was paying attention. I want to find a real solution to the question of why people don't care about Haiti or the poor black neighborhood.
"I learned that people will gladly pay to rid themselves of their guilt.
ReplyDeleteI know I’m stealing this idea from some book, but I can’t remember who I’m stealing it from."
I think you got that from Freakonomics; they talk about the daycare center in Israel where MORE parents came late to pick up their kids when a fine was enacted, because paying a fine made up for the guilt they felt in leaving the kids there longer. (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/books/chapters/0515-1st-levitt.html) It's sick, but true: we feel that as good people we should take the punishment when we've done something wrong (either through direct action or inaction), but the payment doesn't necessarily have to match or even help the crime. It only has to make us feel penalized.
I think that's the problem with the guilt phenomena. If people only pay until they can feel their guilt wash away, it will leave the guilt-driving event way underpaid because people far overassume their own contributions to anything and underassume other people.
ReplyDeleteI might have gotten the idea from Shane Claiborne's Irresistible Revolution, but I'm not really sure.
from ken