A Vision of the Future through the Past

When he moved to talk about his future, he reflected on his family and his history in more

GM: It’s kind of funny like how your study asks how literacy is involved. Like, when I – when I look at my grandparents, I don’t know if I’d say that they were activists but a certain part of me wants to say it. Like, there are definitely issues that they are passionate about. But, and on other issues, I wouldn’t say they were very progressive about it. Like, for example, they think that America is a very cruel place and people are too individualistic around here. And like, when they watch the news and see how the Bush tax cuts, how there are talks about them being extended, they are just like – why would he do that? Even coming from a background in Southeast Asia, which is not the most liberal society or form of government. Like, wealth distribution is a good thing.

Like, maybe it’s not happening, but the average person thinks that it is generally a good thing. But here in America, they think that it is always being questioned. And that there is this thinking in America that someone is poor and it is there fault. But they don’t think that. So, sometimes they look at it from a very Christian point of view, like that we should feed the poor, feed the hungry, take care of your neighbor. And I think that is advocacy, whether or not it has religious or Christian message… It’s a form of – it’s definitely a way to connect with other issues. So, becoming activist, I don’t know how to say it. You can’t pinpoint it, but…

As we concluded our discussion, he talked a little about a vision for his future activism, as well as he identified as the most pressing needs for others engaging in social justice work:

EB: How do you see activism in the future?

GM: Well, what I see from my university, the racial diversity needs to be improved. So like, focus on literacy. How is that defined? Is it words written on a page? Or is it dialogue, incorporated in that term? In a way, I don’t know, I hate myself for saying this

but literacy sometimes, or writing things down, as opposed to the oral tradition, it’s a very Eurocentric thing imposed on the rest of the world. So, from an anti-imperialist perspective, can literacy incorporate oral tradition or discuss things not on paper but…

EB: What do you think? Do you think it can?

GM: I mean, I feel like people could have different answers. I mean, I like literacy.

More people should be literate with reading and writing. And learn from that, and develop as a human being from words on paper. I mean, I like both. Like, you can’t just choose one. I mean, oral tradition is good but it also has its limits. Same thing with writing.

EB: Which is interesting, too when you think about new media. Because it’s like the fusion of so many things…

GM: It’s good that there are more – many different types of mediums out there to communicate ideas. Like you know, I forgot who said it, in anthropology, that the Medium is the Message.

EB: Oh, Marshall McLuhan. Totally.

GM: Yeah, that’s who it is. Like, there should be more mediums out there.

EB: Yeah, definitely, when I think about the future of doing this kind of work, researching and connecting with youth activists and organizing groups, a huge part of it is to see how they are creating a future. And how we all create messages for ourselves and others in different ways.

GM: The how question is really important.

Throughout our conversation, he continued to question history and current events, applying lessons of theory to the complex problems in the material world. He left shortly after our

dialogue to start graduate work in history at a university in Europe. Our exchange has continued entirely online since then.

4.2.6 Articulating an Activist Identity

Gentle Meadows quietly articulated his activist identity. In this study, he positioned himself first in relation to the moments of his youth in the immigrant neighborhoods in Queens where he grew up and attended school. Much of his activist roots are connected to his time in Global Kids and his involvement with the citywide coalition of the Human Rights Activist Project. He highlighted the importance of conversation and dialogue as foundational for learning and growing, gaining multiple perspectives and coming to understand the experiences of others.

In his articulation of himself as an activist and organizer, his humility downplayed his deep knowledge about issues around international affairs, state security and human rights. As he remembered the work he did when he was in high school around food production, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel and Palestine, women’s rights and LGBTQ rights, he pointed to the importance of having safe spaces for learning. He argued that the elements of such workshops focused on positive youth development structures that make space for social justice organizing, to discuss controversial topics and work past barriers to create peaceable, actionable visions.

Gentle Meadows stressed the need to politicize issues. In his activist work, he continually studied topics of marginalization, human rights, nation-state rights and the concept of welfare. He highlighted the interconnections between complex social issues, and argued that human rights activists need to engage in a struggle even if it is not personally related to one’s experience. He evoked Judith Butler to talk about the performance of identity and the performance of statehood. In doing so, he highlighted the notion that discourse spaces are ripe

for catalyzing change for individuals and institutions. He argued that not taking hard political lines allows for things to become gray, and for possibilities of change to be realized through rich dialogues and narratives.

His activist work ranged from his early interviews in New York’s Union Square around same-sex marriage equality to his more recent work around socially just investiture and community literacy. As Gentle Meadows talked about the Socially Responsible Investing Committee at his school, he was clearly skeptical about the university and questioned the real power behind shareholder advocacy. He argued that activists challenge oppressive discourses around justice and access. As he stated early in our study, activists connect people through being socially aware and engaging with the communities in which they are involved. As such, he championed information freedom in his own view on contemporary issues in the digital present. He named Bradley Manning in this discussion, arguing that action is not always about physicality and that information should be transparent and free. He reinforced the notion that although human rights activists and social justice organizers often have different goals, it is the process that connects them.