Re: growing activism

salaam vana,

i think it is pretty hard to ever see the effects of the work we do.  i work
at a transition house, and though the women who come to the house are safe
that day,  most of them return to their abusive partners and/or find brand
new abusive partners.  it often feels like my actual job is putting
band-aids on patriarchy.

as for other activism, like anti-imperialist stuff, its hard to see tangible
proof of anything.  the only time i ever felt like i was on the winning side
of something was last year before the invasion of iraq.  and while i still
think the anti war mobilizations were in themselves victories, we are in a
much worse political climate today.

so frankly, the only reason i do any of it is because when i'm dead i want
to be able to say to my Rabb that i did.

masalaama,

itrath

on 2/26/04 8:55 AM, Vana Lopez at [email protected] wrote:

> Salaam,
> 
> I am wondering how those of you who are activists on a
> large(r) level know when what you are doing is
> useful/working?  I'm coming at this from the
> perspective of the smallest.  Give 1 person some food
> & he is not hungry for a day, shelter and not out in
> the elements for the night.  It is very clear what is
> working at that level. it is easy to see if someone
> stops drinking or stops using drugs. it is easy to see
> if someone hasn't killed themself.
> 
> As the target of the activist increases past the very
> small, how do you know if your meetings, speeches,
> protests, etc., are doing any good?  How do you
> measure it? Is it a "feeling" thing?  Is it a level of
> opposing intensity measurement? Is it the
> acknowledgment of others like yourself?
> 
> I see this as somewhat separate from the "do the right
> thing" need that we probably all have in that I think
> that the "right thing" is irrespective of
> outcome--more of us having a whiff maybe of what God
> has put us here on earth to do.
> wondering, Vana
> 
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