by Mickey Z.
"The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of
extremists we will be. The nation and the world are in dire need of creative
extremists."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  When reporting on the infamous New York School of abstract expressionist
painters in 1947, art critic Clement Greenberg pondered, "What can fifty do
against one hundred and forty million?" It wasn't so much an entire
population stacked against a band of radical painters that Greenberg was
contemplating. Rather, it was 140 million Americans essentially ignoring a
movement that would eventually change the face of art.
The U.S. population has more than doubled in the fifty-plus years since
Jackson Pollock dripped his way onto the cover of Life magazine and there
are still plenty of movements being ignored by the majority. In fact,
lurking beneath the homogenized, one-size-fits-all surface of today's
consumer culture, there's a broad range of indefatigable rabble-rousers
doing their thing.
For many (most?) Americans, the term "dissident" evokes images of a brave
soul standing up against a Soviet-style totalitarian regime. But, contrary
to our headlines and history books, a long, storied tradition of American
dissent exists-out of necessity. From Emma Goldman, Eugene Debs, and Helen
Keller right up to Abbie Hoffman, Huey P. Newton, and Angela Davis - there's
been no shortage of rebels in the U.S. The same holds true today.
Of course, charismatic leaders can never take the place of an informed
populace, brimming with solidarity and ever ready to engage in passionate
action based, for the most, on some sort of unifying theory. Still,
dedicated, articulate, and perceptive activists are essential...particularly
in such a heavily conditioned society.
Everywhere we are inundated with the American theology of individualism
within the capitalist/entrepreneur model. The "heroes" that are packaged and
sold to us are Wall Street speculators, professional athletes, and
digitally or surgically-enhanced celebrities. The dreams we are encouraged
to fulfill seem to be limited to appearing on television, purchasing
consumer electronics, and playing the lottery. Civil society is vanishing
while fortitude is measured on Fear Factor, morality is dropped along with
cluster bombs from 15,000 feet, and solidarity has been reduced to waiting
together on line for hours to buy Play Station 3. Obviously, we need a
radical new vision of courage.
As Alice Walker reminds us, activism is our rent for living on this planet.
Mickey Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.
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