By Suzanne Braun Levine,
Encore.org
Over coffee on a winter afternoon, I spoke with Courtney Martin for Encore.org about how to go about making the world a better place.
Courtney Martin is the author of “Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists.” She speaks to her generation in her writings and her blogs on Feministing.com (“young feminists blogging, organizing, kicking ass”). And she speaks about her generation to older activists who are trying to figure out where all the political flowers have gone.
In her book, Martin profiles eight young people who exemplify the kind of activism that is a “bridge over the chasm between what our parents and teachers told us about good deeds, about success and what the real world needs every day.”
That chasm is very personal; her parents were, as she puts it, “radicals” when they were in their early 30s, as she is now, but her father had to make the practical decision to “get a secure job.” Now he is retired and looking for an encore.
Q. You see a difference between your parents’ activism and that of your generation. Can you describe it?
A. I think the big distinction I make is about a “save the world” mentality. There was a lot of those three words when I was growing up, and both of my parents – in a well-intentioned way – thought: You’re Americans, you’re privileged, go save the world.
To me those three words deny the complexity of what it would mean to make change in this day and age. The world is more globalized, it’s more corporatized, it’s more bureaucratic. You can take any daily decision – like “I want to buy all my clothing from companies that don’t exploit people” – and if you follow that chain you find out, “Well, now I’m not exploiting people, but I’m using some sort of toxic chemical that’s going to someday poison my baby.”
It’s so overwhelming to try to lead a very basic meaningful life, and it’s very difficult to make a really solid decision about what is actually going to help, what is worth your energy, what is going to make a difference.
Read more of our conversation about her generation of activists, mentoring, social activism and her father at encore.org.