Arbitrary Quote Tuesday: On Activism

[faerieboots]

This first one is a Nellie McClung quote about activism:

“Never explain, never retract, never apologize. Just get the thing done and let them howl.” I like this quote, even though I wildly disagree with it, because the ideas it represents about activism seem to me like they have been so broadly represented of late by many different directions.

Comments

[tikva]

See, I love this quote for the disability rights movement, because we are so often expected to apologize for taking up space, and there's so much backlash. Then again, that's also true for queer rights and feminism and...hmmm. Okay, no, I just love this quote. :)

[faerieboots]

Isn't it a great quote for discussing activism?

I can totally see where it is coming from in its entirety, especially when one considers the context in which it was made--which was, I believe, about first-wave feminism. Discourse about activism, in a lot of different arenas, has become a lot more complex because it has become so much easier to have in some ways, and I like this quote because I feel like it kind of gets at multiple angles even though it was really speaking from a different age.

I can't necessarily back "never apologize," even as someone who works with extremely marginalized folks who frequently ARE expected to apologize for taking up space, because the absolutist framework really bothers me. At the same time, though, I really like "Just get the thing done and let them howl." Action is important; it's even right there in the title! :)

[marphod]

Hunh. Interesting difference of opinion -- the issue I have with the quote is about 'never explain'.

I have to assume the quote is about moral and ethical actions. In which case:

Never Retract, sure. Don't back down when doing the right thing for the right reason.
Never Apologize, sure. Doing the right thing for the right reason means there is no reason to apologize.

However, there are people who won't know what you are doing (is someone just standing in the way without situational awareness, or are they taking part of a sit-in?), or why (what action(s) are your protesting?), or, most importantly, legitimately lack a context in which you action makes sense (a young child asking why).

[faerieboots]

I do like a lot of things about this quote; the thing that bothers me is that it assumes one is never wrong if one is engaging in activism--which is a theory I'm not sure I can completely support, especially when discussing the blogosphere. Basically, I'm not making the same initial assumption that you are. :)

All that being said, I can totally see your point about the necessity of contextualizing actions, social or otherwise. I think that, in this instance, "explain" may be used more like "excuse"; she seems to be advising that activism requires an absolute stance and certainty in order to effectuate change. Which may even be true--I'm just not at a point in my life where I'm able to recognize it.