The last three classes have been my favorite of the semester thus far. The inspiring tales and lives of Robin Kirk and Crystal Dreisbach combined with the reading from Rules for Radicals has equipped us with an arsenal of tools for creating successful movements. Among the three sources, there was a common theme of working with all groups of people within the system for gradual changes. In Kirk’s example of the slave trade, people did not devote their efforts to ending slavery all together. Rather, they used witnesses, victims, and informational reports to target multiple angles of the issue and connect with people on a human level.
Rules for Radicals similarly emphasized the importance of understanding and respecting others’ values when addressing one’s own concerns because people typically do not respond well to radical and sudden change in principles. Therefore empathizing with the masses first will increase support for one’s initiatives. Secondly, Saul Alinsky claims that we must “start from where the world is”, meaning we must accept the current situation of the world before we can attempt to change it. In all of this, patience becomes the ultimate virtue.
Lastly, Crystal Dreisbach quoted, “it takes 10 years to build an overnight sensation”, referring to the years of hard work and toiling she put in for the explosive success of her many initiatives. I was also struck, however, by her willingness to invite everybody to the table. Doing so had three major benefits: she was able to knock down any barriers or misconceptions, it created a meeting space for different groups to share their ideas, and the masses contributed by helping fill in gaps of knowledge.
In our own projects, we have already adopted this gradual, collaborative mindset by speaking to multiple groups on campus, dining leaders, and eventually reaching the more general public. For the divestment group, they edited the goal from full divestment to less than 10%. Together, small actions will hopefully build a snowball effect to change campus for the better.
