Heavy traffic in our neighborhood at 1:30 PM on a weekday? And it's not even raining? Practically unheard of. And yet there I was this afternoon, hungry, nursing a semi-headache, and having to wait a full minute for the jeepney I was riding to traverse the last ten meters or so of my journey home.
It turns out that the students at the university across the street were waging some sort of rally. I don't know much about the issue -- come to think of it, I don't know a single thing about the issue...actually, I don't even know what the issue is -- so I can't comment on the validity of their arguments, et cetera, et cetera. However, being a child of a former PAL employee and having once walked the halls of UP, I have had my share of strikes and protests. Here are a few thoughts.
1. Try not to create a traffic jam. Seriously. I realize it can't be helped, sometimes, but try. Disrupting traffic tends to get people who would otherwise be sympathetic to your cause to just think that you have nothing better to do with your time than wasting theirs.
2. Get the masa on your side. More importantly, remember that the
masa is not just the angry, dirty and dispossessed. Do you see those people who are trying to get on with their lives and doing the best they can in the present situation? Yeah?
Those are the people you need to connect with. Rizal once said -- at least, I
think it was Rizal who once said -- that no revolution can be successful without the support of the middle class. Likewise, your grievance won't go anywhere if you can't get the ordinary people on your side. If your only sympathizers are those who have made a career out of staging protests, don't expect too much.
3. Don't make a career out of staging protests. When I entered UP, there was this girl who was, like, third year or fourth year. When I left UP, she was, like, third year or fourth year. She was so into demanding quality education from the government that she kinda forgot to, um, like, get educated. Which kinda ruined her whole argument. Of course, a cause is a cause no matter who espouses it. But if you want to espouse a cause
effectively, try to act like it matters to you.
4. Drop the anti-America chants and slogans. One funny thing about a lot of activists is that they blame everything on America. I mean, I get it. The colonial upbringing of our country did have and, in some insidious way, continues to have, an influence on our mindset, our attitudes, our culture. And there are American economic interests that want to have a hand in shaping our policies. But blaming everything on some other country -- America, China, Bosnia and Herzegovina -- is not only inaccurate, it gets old rather quickly. Pretty soon, no one's going to want to hear what you have to say, because they know it's going to be some updated version of the same old thing.
5. Be successful in something. This helps build credibility. Be a singer-activist, or a businessman-activist, or even just a hardworking-person activist, or a good-neighbor-activist, or a student-who-passes-exams-activist. The purpose of this is to prevent from arising the perception that the reason why you're on the losing end of such-and-such agreement or such-and-such policy is because, well, you're a loser.
6. Don't be an annoying person in everyday life. I'm finding it hard to sympathize with those students across the street right now, because they are Always. So. Noisy! It could be 2 AM, and people could be sleeping, but do these annoying little twerps lower their voices when they pass through the neighborhood? No. So am I automatically skeptical of whatever cause they're fighting for? I hate to admit it, but I have to say, yes. Just because it's them.
7. Go for it. If you have a grievance, and you think you're right, fight for it. Say what you have to say, say it well, say it to the right people, say it for a clear purpose, say it with conviction. Somewhere in this world, justice, fairness and equality live on and continue to be possible, as long as there is one person willing to stand and do something.
