if there is one thing radicals/progressives/liberals have failed to get right in the new age

themodernistwitch:

bankuei:

cupcakesnotbombs:

navigatethestream:

its the notion of boycotts

you wanna know why the bus boycotts of the civil rights movement were so successful?

because an alternative black run transportation system was created for those who couldn’t walk to work or whatever they had to go

they didn’t just tell people “oh the bus enforces racist policies so don’t take it and FUCK if you can’t get to work on time or where you need to be!” 

they said “hey you’re paying to get on the bus and not even being given a seat let alone being ejected if a white passenger needs your seat. here’s a potentially better alternative where you pay to sit down and get to where you need to go” 

all this “boycott Target, Walmart, Monsanto owned companies” comes from a notion of boycott located in the politic of privileged white people

and that’s why they are largely unsuccessful

its why Obama just gave Monsanto the green light to commit even more fuckery to your food

its the reason why cooperation are considered people

its the reason why Walmart is allowed to usurp safety and labor regulations in their factories, and underpay their American workers

because you say “don’t spend your money there” and that’s the end of the story 

you expect people to locate their survival in a politic of “abstaining from unethical choices”

and then from there those unethical choices are somehow supposed to magically disappear. when really only a small percentage of people are able to boycott so many things

there wouldn’t be a movement located around the “99%” if 99% of people could really afford to stop shopping at the unethical places and stop buying the unethical brands

good luck with your hocus pocus activist logic 

hocus pocus lol. but this shit is hella real.

It’s the fact that people ignore that the Civil Rights Movement would involve months of planning and prepping before hand - alternate methods to get to work/school, lawyers to press the demands for change of laws, etc.

But all you see is the marches and protests.  The “exciting” part.  Which is why a lot of modern activism suffers from lots of effort for little payoff.  (There’s also a good portion of anti-blackness in the unwillingness to pay attention to the level of intelligence and planning that the CR movement had to do and to talk to people who were involved).

Yep. To repeat one of my favorite refrains: the meaningful work isn’t glamorous, it’s gritty and everyday.