Spending time in clink for the marginalized…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pEfZ9SeAVA&feature=related[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULdZ0p8ZxeM&feature=related[/youtube]
Just flew in this morning from TX. What a world wind of a weekend (I think I spent more time in airports and train stations than out). I did get to celebrate with family so it’s all worth it. Anyway I read this article while on the Metra Train from Chicago and thought it might spark some lively discussion.
Actor (and social activist) Danny Glover was arrested recently for trespassing while demonstrating against the global company Sodexo due to unfair business practices. You can watch some of the comments from the demonstrators as well as their eventual arrests in the videos above.
So I’ve got to “come clean” and say that I’ve never been arrested-does that make me a bad sociologist? I mean part of sociology is working to make the world a better place for marginalized people and groups, right? Moreover, demonstrations are definitely a method to shed light on injustice. It was Martin Luther King who said “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” So I wonder, as my train passes the nice and posh city of Barrington, IL, “Am I a bit of a hypocrite if I haven’t went to the clink for those individuals/groups who don’t have a voice (or their voice isn’t loud enough to be heard)?
Nelson Mandela. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gandhi. Besides being great leaders and activists they were all imprisoned at some point in their lives. Perhaps that injustice is what made them people to take notice of and help bring about change, but I do not believe you have to spend time in jail to be a force. Other great things have been done by people that did not go to jail.
Although many of us have a cynical view on political figures there are many in office that truly understand their role is to act as our collective voice. Sargent Shriver, for example, was a great idealist that was the behind bringing the Peace Corps to life.
It’s like saying you’re not an artist if you’ve never starved. Just because you’ve never been in prison does not mean you cannot make a difference or find some other way to have your voice heard.
There are other ways for you to help individuals/groups find their voice and let it be heard. In our present day, we are more interconnected via modern technology and ideas. However, it seems that no matter how much we are involved with a cause or social injustice, we wish we could do more.
Danny Glover, Dr. King, and Cesar Chavez threw themselves into fighting injustice. Each had varying agendas and outcomes; yet, they were willing to sacrifice their well-being. This has always motivated me to live for a cause.
Therea re a mutlitude of ways one can make a social change without getting arrest, such as inspiring someone else through education to potentially become the next Martin Luther KIng Jr. I think bringing awareness to impressionable youth through providing information or a different perspective they may have not had access to creates a voice. Plus, prisons is not for everyone, so maybe it is better you never got arrested.
Frist of all I was very surprised to see that Danny Glover was arrested! I think that to make a difference one does not have to do anything considered extreme, such as getting arrested. But sometimes it definetly helps. There are many ways to spread one’s ideas in things such as this, blogs. One can also post clips of themselves saying something or demonstrating something that they believe in. I think that many people make a difference and many times the ones who get noticed are the ones who get arrested or do something else drastic.
I think that it is a shocker that Danny Glover was arrested for being an activist. I think that free speech is alright as long as it does not start to violate any other laws. I think you can be a social activist and not get arrested but when something is so close to your heart how do you just walk away and give up or do you fight? Sometimes it all depends on what the situation, we all could be like Martin Luther King Jr. and be that type of activist, someone who abides by the laws. Sometimes the only way to get your point across is by making yourself noticed.
I never thought I’d see the day that Danny Glover is arrested. I’ve heard that he was a social activist but I wouldn’t think it would come to this point. Social activist and sociologist do not have to go to the extreme and take the chance of being arrested but it definitely gets the attention of what you’re advocating for. Like Alex said, there are other ways to spread the word or ideas about certain ideas.