1/ ACTIVISTS/SCHOLARS/INTELLECTUALS SHARING THEIR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE - why it matters
At some point or another, we are confronted with the accusation of speaking from the Ivory Tower. We didn't get our hands dirty, we didn't bleed, we talk about others' pain.
At some point or another, we are confronted with the accusation of speaking from the Ivory Tower. We didn't get our hands dirty, we didn't bleed, we talk about others' pain.
2/ Indeed we do: I'm not in Syria or am allowed to visit the American concentration camps for refugees. Action is driven by principles and ideology and also fueled by empathy.
3/ There's a point where sharing our material, human experience matters. It matters not only for credibility, but for the fight itself. Do you remember the movement hashtagged #WhyIDidntReport, in support of #ChristineBlaseyFord?
4/ And Dr. Ford was coming out also as a matter of principle, to help stop a dangerous authoritarian in the SCOTUS.
5/ I shared my rape experience and also my suicide attempts. I strongly rejected being portrayed as some icon of strength or role model at the time. The reason to share is to "solidify" the reality of social violence.
6/ Most victims have no access to public statistics. One of the reasons they don't react is that they feel "this can't be real" and that it happens in the movies, in the newspapers and not to real people. They are alone.
7/ Actually, the proportion of us, scholars and intellectuals who have also suffered social violence is not small. We just don't talk about it. It became taboo: if you publish analysis, you can't insert yourself as a protagonist of some story.
8/ Yes and no: it's messy and confusing if you try to do both in the same article. But if there is one moment when personal social violence experience must be shared by everyone, erasing the line that separates analysts and protagonists, that moment is now.
9/ That is why I decided to share and make as much noise as possible about corporate impunity and violence in the USA until the elections. My journey as a USA permanent resident began with a gigantic financial catastrophe made possible by corporate impunity.
10/ It never stopped. And it had happened before. I realized that I am also guilty of not reacting to the full power of my reach. After all, "it's just $300". I complain once or twice and then give up. Not anymore!
11/ Why? Because each one of these fights against corporate violence and impunity, against Corporocracy, is part of a narrative. By telling each story of fraud, of abuse, of rape, of racial discrimination, we are strengthening a bigger narrative.
12/ The narrative that will reshape the Global Democratic Alliance, the shared experience of all oppressed segments to make sure we never have a Trump, a Bolsonaro, a Johnson or any other sadopopulist in executive power again.
12/ The shared experience that will give mass support to measures that will regulate, break down, tax and hold corporations accountable; the shared experience that will abolish private prisons and reduce by 80% the American incarcerated population;
13/ The shared experience that will keep the bigots frightened, never again challenge Roe V Wade and make abortion not only legal but free to all women;
14/ The shared experience that will give the USA its first National Public Health System (aka "medicare for all") and reduce the suicide rate driven by the desperation and helplessness of abandonment;
15/ The shared experience that will turn law enforcement against oppressors and not the oppressed. That will defend gay and trans rights and will tax churches;
16/ The shared experience that will finally make it possible for Humanity to breath for a couple of decades knowing that the forces of social violence and disruption are under strict control, transparently and safely.
17/ That's why I will share my personal war against predatory corporations and I hope YOU do too. I will continue to share curated analytical threads, as is my mission here. But you will know that I am part of the shared experience that makes us all reject social violence.
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