They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I say a picture with sound is worth even more. Presidental candidate John Edwards has posted his recent news conference with his wife about her news of cancer on his YouTube site. Today's post is about how people most effectively make their views known in the world of activism.
Activist bloggers online "speak out" by typing on a computer keyboard. Another layer of emphasis can be added with visuals (changes in the font, clip art or photos). A third layer would be sound. Technology has not learned to add scent, taste or texture as an asset to computers, but wouldn't we just love to do that?
Video activism - A search on "activism" with my new toy, YouTube, yielded 3240 results. "liamh2" posted a video slide show - "Antiwar Activism Digitalized" - of recent antiwar protests in Washington that is typical. More videos in References *below.
Elie Weisel is the consumate activist. Yesterday he was in Charlotte, North Carolina, speaking to students about activism, according to Tim Funk at PopMatters. I would have liked his story better if he had included a current Weisel photo, such as Wikipedia's. To quote Funk,
All day long, they came to tap into his big-hearted wisdom: the students who stood in long lines to ask him questions, the members of the clergy who consulted him over lunch, the 2,000 patrons who paid Broadway-seat prices to hear him speak.
. . . a challenge.
To do more to help the suffering. To speak up against intolerance. To organize. To protest. To write letters. To make a difference.
The war in Iraq has galvanized activists on both sides of the question. Brigid Schulte, in the Washington Post today, wrote a very good story about this headlined, "Seeds Planted in Vietnam Flourish in Activism on Iraq." It is about two activist vets on opposite sides. Her story is deeply enhanced because it includes a wonderful closeup photo of the face of one of them, Mike Marceau, who is against the war.
"Speaking" out today began with a link to Elizabeth Edwards words as she talked about a recurrence of cancer. She and her husband have taken their activism to one of the most challenging levels possible, a run for the presidency. We understand her comittment as an activist so much more deeply as she speaks. And our admiration grows. As a little political activist blogger, I am dwarfed by her stature and courage. And as a person of compassion, I am also moved to say how very sad I was to hear that Tony Snow's cancer has recurred. And I owe him an apology for being so hard on him in a recent post. He is a good man who was just doing his job for our current president, and I know for sure that our prayer lists should not be partisan.
References:
- *YouTube's "anticonsumer"- all you ever wanted to know about Noam Chomsky (with photos)
- *YouTube's "TEDtalksDirector" - very well done video of Bono,"rock star with a cause" (Bono's words), on activism in Africa.
- the Newport Daily News - story and photo about 86-year old activist Sarah Pener
- the Daily Collegian online - "Student activism: New generation practices different activism," an editorial on the current state of student activism
- The BG News' Amy Dillon writes wonderfully about being an activist at Bowling Green through Facebook. BTW, yesterday BG hosted conservative activist, Ted Nugent (includes photo)
My "creative post" today at Southwest Blogger is about oil.
2 comments:
It's true that there are lots of ways to speak out. Plus, the internet is revolutionizing (pun?) activism.
You might like the Activism Forums.
Scott, I visited your sites and noticed that you started in 2007. Congratulations. I will look more at the forums. BTW, I usually post something about activism every Wednesday.
Thanks for your comment.
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