I find the concept of direct action very inspiring.
Think Student Sit-Ins of 1960, when four black university students in Greensboro, North Carolina went to a white-only lunch counter at Woolwroth’s and waited for being served until the place closed. In the segregated South, this was very incredibly courageous. They were beaten and had ketchup poured on them, but continued their protest. The next day, more students joined in, and sit-ins spread to other cities.
Or think suffragettes, who chained themselves to the railings at 10 Downing Street, the home of Great Britain’s government, demanding the right for women to vote. They then went on to smash shops’ windows and set some buildings on fire.
Think nowadays Climate Camps, Reclaiming the Streets or Greenpeace activities.
Recently, I read the story of Bidder no.70. Our fellow TH!NKers2 might know it already. Here goes.
Bidder no.70
It all started in December 2008, when the US Government’s Bureau of Land Management held an auction to sell parcels of national park land with the rights to drill for oil and gas. Environmentalists’ protests managed to save around 53,000 ha of land, but many more were still up for sale to oil drillers.
Then one guy, Utah University’s student Tim DeChristopher, decided this wasn’t enough. Tim entered the auction posing as a bidder. He was driving up prices on many parcels and won over $1 million worth of oil leases, until it was understood he was a saboteur and federal agents took care of him. The auction was disrupted, and the incoming Obama administration cancelled many of the leases altogether.
Tim is now awaiting trial. He is charged with two felonies: one for violating the “Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Act” and one for lying to the government (signing the bidder’s form). He pleaded not guilty but might face up to 10 years in prison and a huge fine if the jury thinks he is. “Not guilty” on the basis that he was preventing a bigger crime – climate catastrophe. An open letter signed by Naomi Clein and the likes called Tim’s action “a profound gesture made on behalf of all of us and of the future”.
Speaking on Democracy Now!, Tim explained why he did what he did: “I’ve been hoping that someone would step up and someone would come out and be the leader and someone would put themselves on the line and make the sacrifices necessary to get us on a path to a more livable future. And I guess I just couldn’t wait any longer for that someone to come out there and had to accept the fact that that someone might be me.”
That someone might be me… Made me think about courage and personal sacrifice in the fight for a just future. Many have already paid the personal price – imprisoned for speaking up, persecuted, tortured, suffering and dying, every day. Would I be prepared to spend 10 years in prison if that helped protect a national park from being exploited for oil?
pictures: Greensboro sit-ins from American University, suffragettes from psd via flickr
Thanks Giedre, for the post, well done! How far would you go… that is exactly the subtitle of the post I am about to place on the platform but mine carries completely different approach so I am still going to keep it
Thanks Helena, I’m eager to see it!
Looking forward to your post!
If you stick to non violent methods, I think you can go very far as long as you know you are fighting for the truth. But I guess it is pretty much the situation that makes direct action suitable or not.
I agree, Daniel. The perfect example of that is the Civil Rights Movement in the US. However, violent direct action is also a reality. The suffragettes were militant (although many other factors contributed to women finally getting the right to vote), and I recently read this article on eco-anarchists, “a new breed of terrorists” http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/eco-anarchists-a-new-breed-of-terrorist-1975559.html
it;s briliant, if i will smash a window i will be a huligan, but if i will smash a window and shout that i´m figthing for humans rights i will be a hero in this post. Some anarchist and socialists are using it as excuse for their violence in demonstrations. Dont need to pretend a new che
however i agree that there were many brave people who sucraface that now we could live a better lifes, but it’is a thiny line between criminalist and heroes. Many times in history they are mixed together
This post is about non-violent direct action. It doesn’t follow that if an idle element of society smashes a window in the name of human rights, he or she should be praised as a hero. This is your misinterpretation only.
Giedre, in my definiot violent is all actions that breaks the law. I don’t see so much diference between people who chained themselves and those who smashed windows
Dear Giedre, you asked: Would I be prepared to spend 10 years in prison if that helped protect a national park from being exploited for oil?
Interesting. A lot of young Indians are asking the same question to themselves.
We want to protest about the skewed development policies. We want to protest about the abuse of human rights of the tribals so that their land can be given to the mining companies.
Will we do it?
I don’t know. We are scared. But some of us aren’t. It will be interesting to see what becomes of it.
Not all actions that break the law are violent, Andrius. And of course there is a difference between smashing windows and chaining yourself: the first causes damage to other people, while the latter is something you are doing to yourself.
Disobedience (whether or not political) is needed to change what needs to be changed. And the student Giedre wrote about tried just that. It’s amazing he wants to give up 10 years of his life to protect a part of everyone’s future.
Thanks for this post Giedre. Inspiring. It’s very sad how too many people who have the power and the capacity to do concrete actions just end up fencesitting or worse, doing more harm than good. Direct, concrete actions are good. An amazing story, indeed!
Hi Giedre, the promised post by similar title, right here:
http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/how_far_would_you_go/
Hey,
In the same category as Helena:
I wrote something a bit similar too. Have you heard of Enric Duran, aka Robin Hood of the banks?
http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/index.php/think3/post/how_activists_attract_attention/
How far would I go? I don’t know. But, before putting themselves at risk, I think the best tool activists must and should try before: humor.
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=8107
Thank you for your reactions!
@Hieke, that oh-oh-no-oh-oh boycott boycott campaign was great! And funny too. Maybe the accompanying article was right, maybe people in the streets of say San Francisco or even London are already too used to demos to pay much attention? And also, I like the point they make about adapting strategies for social and environmental justice to our own times. Your post says that - Twitter and this Robin Hood guy are good examples. Thanks for sharing it
@Helena, important questions you raise in your post. I wrote some thoughts on it.
@Iris, you are right: concrete actions are what we need, not more mumbling and fake promises from the powerful.
@Hanna, thank you. Agree with you completely.
@Hemant… That last question doesn’t leave me alone. What would I bid? I don’t know. As you say, some of us are scared, but some aren’t. I hope there are more of the latter, and that we will all play our part for the better future, or should I say at least a possible future, whether it’s by disrupting a land sale-off or protecting indigenous communities or whatever else our imagination brings us to.