Saturday, September 11, 2010

Bridging the Divide

As stated by Meret Oppenheim, "Freedom is not something you are given - but something you have to take." In this vein, I concur. What most citizens of our society are given are rights issued by decree which are manufactured and reproduced to maintain the status quo of a classist society and pertain to specific class, social, ethnic and cultural groups.

My observations and direct experience in society is of an ongoing struggle and fight for rights specific to these groups. This keeps groups and individuals separated, creating barriers to the effective mobilization of forces; preventing effective utility of force by, for, and with the people (ie. those who are effectively marginalized, controlled, and discriminated against with the rights bestowed to them by the overwhelmingly corrupt power structures that are government and corporate institutions). Ultimately, these rights are distributed by those outside forces to keep the masses divided.

Advocacy in its many forms address these power relations. Social justice advocacy addresses existing unequal power relations, in social, economic, and political environments and seeks to change them through direct action. 

I think if real and perceived barriers between social groups and political factions can be trancended into a more comprehensive whole, then sheer force is made available through organized potency and thusly, social and political change. Facilitating advocacy with and for eachother as co-authors scribing with inherent sovereignty as the guiding principle.

In illustration, in the words of Robert Fulghum; "When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together." It's a simple image of a profound concept, when laid upon the current political climate. It's what I learned in kindergarten.

No comments:

Post a Comment