I’ve mentioned in my previous post that I have people coming over for the Amsterdam elections campaign. As I wait for them to arrive, I was having a hasty look at the news of the Arizona shootings. I’ve been following the developments since last night and so far, I haven’t said a word because I am rather speechless.
This post by Sady Doyle summarizes much of the issues of women in politics. Sady also seems to be gifted with foresight because a few days ago, she was also writing about this very same topic on Tiger Beatdown. She saw it coming. And she elaborated extensively on what happens when women become visible within certain kinds of politics. Particularly women working in social justice issues.
And then there is the media. I’ve been accused of posting irrelevant media matters, dissecting the use of language and the way we name things (things through lack of a better, more encompassing word). Media rhetoric is one of the subjects I am relentless about. How violence and aggression, exclusion and fear are disseminated not just by the type of discourse news organizations put out but by the mere choice of words. The othering, the intolerance and inequity that certain words, paired with a rhetoric of violence perpetuate. Shootings like the one in Arizona, and the discourse that brought them to life are the reason why we must be vigilant about language. If we ever needed an example of why we should care, I am afraid this is it. It is sad and appalling that the lesson had to come at the expense of so many lives and so much suffering. But if I ever hear one more person say that pursuing the way media portraits society is a futile task, I am not going to patiently explain the reasons. I am not going to educate them. Because if the lesson was not learned by now, then we are without hope.
And this brings me to something entirely different: fear. I have written on many occasions about my political involvements here in Amsterdam. I am, in several circles, the token foreigner who is expected to evaluate political matters and point fingers at exclusion, racial disparities, problematic messages. I do this eagerly. Whenever I am asked for input, I might not be particularly nice or soft in my delivery, but I do it in the hope that bringing these matters to light will help change them for the better. Also, I have written about my intentions to eventually run for European Parliament. I speak several European languages, I have grassroots experience, I really love my politics. I learn by doing. I learn by reading and interacting with people. I learn by volunteering. But now. I just don’t know. I am vocal and restless. My politics, strongly based on issues of race, gender, feminism and anti capitalist ideas are problematic. Nowadays they are dangerous. And it pains me to type this because I have said it before, in 4 millions years of human evolution this is where we are standing? This is what we have achieved? And yet I have to hear regularly “how far we’ve come”? I just wonder how many will evaluate their public work in view of the violence we witnessed just last night. How many will just retreat to privacy and give up because the price these victims just paid is too damn high.
And these are the questions I ask myself as I am about to host a political meeting in my own home.
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