My version of protest differs from the mainstream view of picket lines and boycotts, hunger strikes and rallies. While I do believe those examples are instances of protest in visible action, I consider the most important form of protest to be the variety that lies in the individual and his or her mentality on life and society. To make a change in society, one must first protest the status quo within his or her mind. Without this seed, visible dissent, the hunger strikes and picket lines, would cease to exist.
I understand that my judgment on protest is a bit impaired because of my personal life. I grew up in a very conservative (and very Christian) household with parents who were (and still are) the kind who mark “moral values” as the prime issue on their exit poll surveys. For many years I believed in everything they believed and placed myself on the right side of the political spectrum, just a bit left of Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter.
This is shocking to the people who know me. After all, I’m a tree-hugging vegetarian hippie who plans to join the Peace Corps after graduation – nothing like the middle-school Laura who could recite lengthy Bible passages and spoke of the ills of abortion for the semester final in speech class. What transformed me was the music of political punk/rock bands like Refused and System of a Down. (I guess those of the religious persuasion are correct when they say that punk leads you away from the straight and narrow!)
When I first discovered this genre, I was both appalled and intrigued. I was a bit tentative about the common use of profanity but felt that the overall message was too important to ignore because of some silly four-lettered words. Listening to “New Noise” by Refused activated a passion within me that was stronger than anything I had ever felt before, a passion that surpassed my selfishness and drew me toward fighting for positive change.
I’ve since moved on from punk and rock to more of an indie style in music, but I still find those songs that play to my passion for protest. I got chills when Connor Oberst sang “When the President Talks to God” on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and fell even more in love with Arcade Fire when their lyrics on Neon Bible spoke against the current state of affairs in
A protest is, therefore, much more than organizing rallies at the State Capital or passing out leaflets at the West Mall. It is an intangible force within the individual that desires change.
3 comments:
Wow, I never thought about the spiritual part of protesting. I always thought of it as a group of people or just one person protesting against something they don't believe in. I also thought that protesting against something was just a matter of stating your opinion. I realize that protesting can be a really important process in creating change, but I never knew there was more to it than that. It was really enlightening reading your opinion about the concept of protest.
Your focus on the significance of protest for the individual is extremely interesting. I especially like how it raises some interesting questions, such as whether a protest is still worthwhile to a person even if it is not successful. However, I wonder if this outlook can leave out an important aspect of profile; the point at which an individual takes their beliefs and opinions and applies them to a specific action.
Thanks for sharing so much, Laura! Your take on protest locates itself down at the other end of the spectrum from the kind of "power in numbers" perspective. The point that you make about protest is an important one - the role that changing one's mind plays in creating change. It is true that change wouldn't happen if everyone continued to think and believe the way that they always had. In playing the devil's advocate, I would also ask for further elaboration between your idea about the individual's role within a larger context. How might that work?
Post a Comment