'[They] doth protest too much'
Elijah Nouvelage
Issue date: 3/18/10 Last update: 3/18/10 at 12:49 AM PST
Section: OpEd
After co-organizing the Oakland rally opposing Proposition 8 in 2008 and attending many more in California and other countries, I have found one thing to be true-people love to hear themselves speak.
Most activists care about real injustices but don't visualize clear, achievable goals, nor use media wisely. Because of impatience, pride or tunnel-vision, energy is wasted, and opportunities for progress lost.
The March 4 rally started out with speakers discussing how cuts would affect them and their schools. They argued cutting school funding was the worst solution to the state's budget problem.
Then a legitimate reason to be upset turned into an angry, politicized, open-mic night. Speakers railed against the corrupt, corporate system that uses police and media to oppress minorities and censor "the truth"-vague, broad rhetoric that was neither relevant nor proposed solutions.
The crowd heard slam poetry barely related to education cuts, and songs about racial identity. Hooded, black-clad "anarchists" waited for the speeches to end so they could go take over a freeway-to re-fund schools, of course.
Nothing says "we're valuable, invest in our future" like climbing on a freeway and snarling traffic-which provoked a violent crackdown from police (and cyclically justified their worldview), but didn't change minds or educate the public.
These are loose-knit organizations and average people, not public relations consultants, but it's still inexcusable to willfully remain ignorant of the way the press filters messages and actions.
Fighting every fight at every event means that you will win none. An inconsistent message always reflects in media coverage.
What should be a one-way channel of information from activists to the public becomes an unending, unproductive cycle.
Media came to cover a story about students and teachers taking on injustice-instead the arrest of 150 people on a freeway dominated their coverage.
We criticize the media for obsessing over the trivial-but if we want that to change we need to give them wheat, not chaff.
Most activists care about real injustices but don't visualize clear, achievable goals, nor use media wisely. Because of impatience, pride or tunnel-vision, energy is wasted, and opportunities for progress lost.
The March 4 rally started out with speakers discussing how cuts would affect them and their schools. They argued cutting school funding was the worst solution to the state's budget problem.
Then a legitimate reason to be upset turned into an angry, politicized, open-mic night. Speakers railed against the corrupt, corporate system that uses police and media to oppress minorities and censor "the truth"-vague, broad rhetoric that was neither relevant nor proposed solutions.
The crowd heard slam poetry barely related to education cuts, and songs about racial identity. Hooded, black-clad "anarchists" waited for the speeches to end so they could go take over a freeway-to re-fund schools, of course.
Nothing says "we're valuable, invest in our future" like climbing on a freeway and snarling traffic-which provoked a violent crackdown from police (and cyclically justified their worldview), but didn't change minds or educate the public.
These are loose-knit organizations and average people, not public relations consultants, but it's still inexcusable to willfully remain ignorant of the way the press filters messages and actions.
Fighting every fight at every event means that you will win none. An inconsistent message always reflects in media coverage.
What should be a one-way channel of information from activists to the public becomes an unending, unproductive cycle.
Media came to cover a story about students and teachers taking on injustice-instead the arrest of 150 people on a freeway dominated their coverage.
We criticize the media for obsessing over the trivial-but if we want that to change we need to give them wheat, not chaff.
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