I Am Worried For My Activist Friends (Patreon exclusive)
I think a lot of activist situations are patently abusive
There was a Tweet (an X?) I came across several months ago that made me very sad. It was not a particularly bigoted or spiteful comment, but it made me sad nonetheless for what it meant for the person who said it and those who think like them.
To paraphrase, it was something along the lines of: “Organizers need a big unifying issue to rally behind. Otherwise, they will devolve into interpersonal issues.” I am a former member of this activist’s chosen organization, and the comment made me sad because their mentality was the very reason I left. I was one of those people who had disagreements that were filed away as interpersonal, and my organization's refusal to engage in repair led me to pull away.
This person’s comment hurt because it dismisses situations like mine. Framing interpersonal issues as being a lack of a centralized campaign or campaigns positions disputes as a lack of willpower. If activists do the “real work,” this logic goes, then they won’t have to worry about interpersonal conflicts.
