It’s taken me about an hour or two
since reading the prompt for this assignment, to articulate for myself how I
would like to be a social change agent. “Social change agent” is a broad term,
and I can’t say that I want to identify with all of the forms that it can take.
For me, it’s got to be about devoting myself to my ideals (though I know they
will not be realized in my lifetime, nor maybe ever) of a world that maximizes
happiness and understanding -- a world filled with loving, resilient,
free-thinking, beauty-generating, green anarcho-syndicalist communities. I
guess I see my responsibility as a social change agent everywhere, in
everything, all the time (although with the growing understanding that I can’t
be 100% ideologically pure). Trotsky talked about permanent revolution, and I
think about permanent revolution in every sense of the word; it’s all
political. Being a social change agent means embodying my ideals, manifesting
those ideals in my relationships with others, and engaging in work that realizes
-- or aims to realize -- those ideals.
I suppose there are a variety of
things I’ve done thus far to engage in such social change, and as explained
above, I believe that I have agency/power wherever I have choice. As an
individual, there is agency in my body. Shaved head and unshaved everything
else, I can use my body to challenge patriarchal beauty norms so that wherever
my body is, it signifies political dissent. I am lucky enough that I can run,
hike, and dance in my body. In doing so, I feel free, and so always, even if I
forget at times, I embody an understanding of what liberation can be like.
Furthermore, I can position my body among others, in a crowd on the street. I
have, and will continue to, show up to protests for causes that I believe in. I
use, and will continue to use, my body to comfort and protect my friends. I
move, and will continue to move, my body around in kitchens (such as my own and
Food Not Bombs) and gardens (such as PU), in ways that help feed people. I use
my mind to deconstruct; I can use thought to dismantle the parasitic systems of
oppression in my mind. In doing so, I am better able to take care of myself
(crucial in a system that relies on activists burning out, and relies on my
insecurities) and I might bring deep, caring, radical thought to all work and
other relationships I engage in. I can stick my head in books, and spend my
time thinking and engaging in conversation with others about the ways in which
our world came to be this way, and the ways in which it might be different. I
can write about it and share that writing with others. I suppose I teach now,
and maybe one day I can teach as a professor, to reach a broader audience. I
can find work that pays me and still addresses environmental and/or social
issues (most ideally, issues surrounding food sovereignty, zero
waste/ecological living, or water), as well as work on structural changes in my
workplace (as I have with WRRAP). I can engage in work (paid or not) that is
directly engaged with the political process, and/or creates a space for
community-building, and where radical ideals (such as free thought, free food,
creation of beauty, etc.) can be realized among a community (such as I did in
AS [lobbying, Meatless Mondays campaigning, CFA work, etc.] and such as I aim
to do with a future nonprofit similar to the Omni in Oakland).
What affective resources do I have
and/or need? I think that I currently have a pretty good resource base, but am
worried about losing some of that post-graduation. Right now, I have an incredible
therapist (though I ran out of sessions…), which is vital for me to sustain
myself and to cope with mental illness, nihilism, and general anguish over The
State Of The World. I am worried that post-graduation, I will not have such
good luck with therapy. Right now, I have the class that Hannah and I are
teaching, which is great. I may not have this kind of space post-graduation but
intend to seek it out or create it if possible. Right now, although my closest
friends are not quite as political or quite as sad, ENST is a community of
people who see the world through a similar lens, who can relate to my anguish,
my motivation, and my ideals, and who can make Marxist jokes. I would like to
get closer to the ENST community, and am glad to say that I have been doing so.
Post-graduation, I will need to find a similar community. But I also need to be
around people who do not think the way I do; indeed, there is great danger in
constantly reinforcing my own worldview. I need books and music that expand thought
and that comfort, and I think I will always have access to those. I need coffee
and vegetables and to be able to get outside and climb or board or hike often
enough. Over summer, I will need to start figuring out what to do
job-wise/location-wise after graduation, and will need the support of my
community at HSU in order to find my next best steps.
This semester’s readings have been
immensely thought-provoking and/or reassuring, and serve a perfect culmination
of my journey through higher education. I’ve especially taken to our readings
on love, as that is the grounding
force for my work and my ideals, and is something that I want to more freely
express, in its many forms. Hardt and Negri provided a particularly moving
framework of love, as one of reciprocity and willingness to understand, to
become different, to adapt and change. Understanding was the key takeaway for
me from all of our readings on love, and from Occupy Love. Furthermore, readings such as those by Zinn and Jensen
remind me that our work is always occurring, that we are not alone, that
regardless of what lies ahead, we must pursue our ideals and do so knowing that
we are in good company.
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