Agitate, Shmagitate

Wow, this blog is already seeming more relevant to my daily Sonya concerns than I'd ever imagined. Way to set the bar high, Stevo!

But about agitation. And that scenario with the Hmong activist group. There's something about that whole scene that makes me want to reach through the computer screen and slap those people. What do they think they're doing? Prodding you into becoming a better organizer? Provoking you into effectiveness? Sure, an oyster needs an irritant to make a pearl, but let's remember what a pearl really is: a glob of hardened mucus to make the irritating thing go away.

Call me Minnesotan, but them pointing out that you want people to like you seems to cross a line. First of all, it presumes that that's a problem. Sure, there are ways in which that trait could manifest itself in needy, desperate ways (crying drunk into the phone! starting fistfights in parking lots!), but there a million ways in which it helps your cause and your person too. It's the reason you meet and unite people so well-- whole varieties of people, and with vast opinions. It's the reason you're a good conversationalist, with an attentive pair of ears. Hell, if you didn't have that trait, they'd call you "anti-social," "distant," or some other trait that needs fixing.

But what bothers me more is the patronizing tone of what they said. "Why do you think you're like that?" "We've noticed this about you." As if you are a lab rat under their watchful eye. I thought you were supposed to be working with one another, not against.

There's a line that our father says sometimes, that perhaps he heard from someone before him: "Religion must be caught, not taught." The same applies to community organizing, or political activism. This is not to say that a "teaching" element is not important-- quite the opposite, really. But what the quote indicates is that a person must feel some sense of agency when making such a decision; they must feel, in a deep and organic way, that it is they who are shaping the changes in their lives. Otherwise, I think, it's easy to feel like you're being brainwashed, or made gullible, or most important-- made to feel that your opinions and life experiences are lacking in some way. I'm in favor of trying to change people's opinions, but a person has to do so in the most careful, ever-listening, human of ways. This "agitation" step doesn't sit right with me. It seems uninterested in the unique qualities that every individual brings to the table, and their potential within those qualities.

Sorry, this is so much an engaging, storytelling blog post as it is a rant. I promise not to do this too much in the future! I guess I just get defensive over my bro, and I also have a problem with cause-crazy, humorless activists. I think that sometimes they overlook the individual souls that compose any group.

I'll post photos this weekend as well. There are some good ones.