Fear and Loathing are NOT Activist Values

Amy Richards was the first person to call me an activist. Although she denied the nonprofit young women's leadership organization I started in Las Vegas a grant, she called me up towards the end of college asking for permission to profile me in Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism. "Your values really embrace me," Amy had said, or at least I recall her saying something along those lines. "You saw a problem and used your skills and interests to do something about it. That's really noteworthy, and you're the kind of activist Jennifer and I are featuring in our new book."

Fast forward half a decade or so, and I'm getting activist hate mail. I showed up to a theatre rehearsal the other night, and was given a piece of mail addressed to me c/o Stolen Chair that had a North Carolina postmark and no return address. Apparently the anthrax scare of 2001 has taught me nothing, for I opened it and discovered two pages of typed information about animal abuse, at least a dozen pictures of mutilated animals, and enraged declarations that people who wear fur are making these practices happen.

I have only worn fur once in my life, at least that I am aware of. One of my father's ex-girlfriend's gave me a rabbit lined sweater. I felt so guilty about the whole thing that after wearing it once in front of her to perform my appreciation, I gave it away because I kept picturing my beloved teddy rabbit coming awake at night and attacking me for wearing her mother.

I have no idea why I was targeted for this mail. Quite frankly, I don't want to know at this point. But I'm disappointed in whomever sent it, in whomever practices a fear and loathing driven activism.

I hoped that the days of using anger and scare tactics to mobilize communities died with Senator McCain's campaign, but clearly it has not. There is so much to learn from the extraordinary worldwide popularity of President-Elect Obama, as I eluded to in my previous posting, but perhaps most importantly it's how to bring people with colluding viewpoints to the table to engage in dialogue. Scaring, shunning, mocking, or in any way violating the dignity of another, regardless of one's analysis of that "other's" character, values, beliefs, or actions, goes against the mission and vision of my activism. And I hope it goes against yours.