Attention Activists: THIS is how you create sustainable social change! | Mickey Z.

A Ku Klux Klan meeting in Gainesville, Florida, Dec. 31, 1922. Public Domain.

Mickey Z. -- World News Trust

Feb. 1, 2017

I write about “activism” a lot and I believe I offer plenty of valuable advice.

Predictably, there are those still clamoring for a “solution” from me. So, as a special gift to them, I will offer a productive example of “what we should do.” For that lesson, I’ll turn to a group infinitely more effective than anyone on the sign-holding “left.” Yep, I’m talking about white supremacists. 

In October 2006, none other than the FBI issued a warning that “White supremacist infiltration of law enforcement” represented a significant national threat. Multiple incidents (far too many to list here) had prompted the report, e.g.

• A federal court found that members of a Los Angeles sheriffs department formed a Neo Nazi gang and habitually terrorized the black community. 
• The Chicago police department fired Jon Burge, a detective with reputed ties to the Ku Klux Klan, after discovering he tortured over 100 black male suspects. 
• The Mayor of Cleveland discovered that many of the city police locker rooms were infested with “White Power” graffiti. 
• A Texas sheriff department discovered that two of its deputies were recruiters for the Klan.

Reminder: The FBI warning was issued in 2006 and nothing has been done to address the threat. Meanwhile, from 2008 to 2014, the overall number of known white supremacist groups in the United States rose from 149 to nearly a thousand. Their infiltration of law enforcement continues, unchecked and virtually undiscussed. But not unfelt. 

How to plan a revolution
What does this have to with your brand of clicktivism, you might be wondering? Picture this: Some time back in the late 20th century (who wants to bet it was during the Clinton years?), a group of powerful white men conjured up a plan.

It may take quite some time, they surely realized, but they decided to begin methodically infiltrating law enforcement departments from sea to overfished sea. Start with lowly recruits now and within a decade or two, they’d rise to decision-making positions. 

As their power grew, they could lure in returning soldiers and influence lawmakers to allocate funds for increasingly militarized equipment and weapons. By the time something really bad happened (read: a black president), they’d have enough influence to do things like control what information gets leaked and when. Who knows? It might even contribute to getting a powerful kindred spirit into the White House. And if the rabble ever actually tried real dissent, well…they’d be faced with a heavily armed, heavily conditioned force of sociopathic racist males.

So, comrades…
While we danced in turtle costumes in 1999 Seattle, the enemy patiently took over another police force and standardized authoritarian tactics like “designated free speech zones.” 

While we gathered under the “Anybody-but-Bush” banner in 2004, more KKK types became sergeants, lieutenants, captains, inspectors, commissioners, and beyond. 

While we argued with cops over arcane laws that may or may not “allow” us to sleep in tents in a downtown Manhattan park, they trained with law enforcement agencies in others countries -- including Israel -- while normalizing military-style weapons right here on our city streets.

While we marched behind celebrities in the name of fighting (sic) climate change, they ramped up surveillance and infiltrated “activist movements”... just in case.

And especially while we blocked traffic with our Black Lives Matter signs, they rose to positions like prosecutors, judges, and district attorneys to make sure justice would never be served.

Do you really wanna know what works when it comes to creating sustainable change? Hint: It ain’t flame wars and clever hashtags! Can you handle what it looks like have a vision, an agenda, and the patience to implement it? The template exists, if we only had the courage to embrace it. 

Activist Tip: Success leaves clues. Find them and learn from them.

Mickey Z. is currently writing two books, a political memoir called How to Change Minds & Influence the Future: Rebuilding Activism From the Ground Up (Microcosm Publishing) and a graphic novel entitled stain red. In the meantime, he can be found here.

Attention Activists: THIS is how you create sustainable social change! by Mickey Z. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://worldnewstrust.com/attention-activists-this-is-how-you-create-sustainable-social-change-mickey-z.