Hi Susan,
I sure do value others participation as long as they do something-phone
calls, letters of protest, faxes, e-mails, articles, but let's
not forget that we all must do something if we call ourselves
change agents- remember nothing plus nothing = nothing. If one has a
history of being on the line in one way or another that's different-there
are times when one cannot do everything for "whatever reason" and I will
not list mine but I'm generally there-Susan, we all have our reasons for
being activists or not-defensiveness is unnessary-just don't describe
yourself as something you're not. Isn't this fair? Your thoughts?
In Unity
Phyllis
On Wed, 22 Sep 1999, Susan Gabel wrote:
> Dear Phyllis and all,
> Phyllis, thank you for participating in the Singer protest. I appreciate your
> willingness to be arrested for that cause. I hope that I can learn from your
> example and your strength.
>
> I think, though, that there's another way to look at the activism issue. It
> seems like activism can take many forms and that from the outside looking in on
> someone else's experience, it might be difficult to know what they can and cannot
> do and what they consider activism in their life. Some folks have just enough
> energy (physical and mental) and just enough time to be good advocates for family
> and self. I suspect that we all go through stages in our lives when we can and
> cannot be involved in protests that lead to arrests, etc. There probably are
> many reasons for these phases but I'll bet they're often related to constraints
> or other commitments in our lives: children/family members who need us present,
> impairments that prevent or interfere with certain activities (my depression, for
> example, can be quite constraining at times and I must carefully manage my
> environmental stress), jobs that cannot be missed, selves that must be tended
> to. I'm sure my list isn't exhaustive.
>
> Can we find ways to value everyone's contributions and accept that we will all
> contribute differently but to the best of our "ability"? Susan Gabel
>
>
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