Angela Davis in Brussels (Part 5): “Young people offer the impatience to create a new world now”
Angela Davis, the figurehead of the civil rights movement, was in Brussels at the end of April. In a packed Royal Circus hall, she talked to young people, artists and social organizations about the new political and social engagement that currently moves all age groups on all continents. We were there too and have written a series of five articles for this summer, each highlighting a separate theme. This is part 5 about youth in battle.
“How much social media activism today? It is gaining momentum activism has gained momentum through the development of new communication techniques that could ever be imagined.”
“We allocate all our demonstrations and conferences through letters.”
We do all our demonstrations and conferences through letters. I often tell of a massive national action expected by a group of us in 1970 against Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia. We wanted to organize a massive country and we couldn’t even afford long distance phone calls, so we had to organize ourselves by writing letters to all the different organizations on all campuses across the country. And we were successful.”
“Glad we didn’t have social media”
“If we had social media back then, we could have revolutionized the whole world. But I’m glad we didn’t, because it wouldn’t have been the world I wanted it to be, since it would probably be a straight male patriarchal world. It was important to address that, and that was clearly evident in the fight against racism.”
“Social media is great, if you want to connect with millions of people at once. But that doesn’t mean you can create a community of people to think deeply for themselves.”
“We didn’t have social media, but we did have ways to encourage people to join movements. Social media is great, do you want to connect with millions at once. But that doesn’t mean you can create a community of people to think deeply for themselves.”
“I’m happy with this new capability, but also suspicious of how it works. For I fear that instead of technology being put to good use in establishing new movements, it is being used to pronunciation to do or promote the Cancel-culture.
So, on the one hand, I want to embrace the possibilities, but we must not allow new ones to use social media.”
“We, people who are older, have to learn from young people”
“Young people are always at the very forefront of the radical struggle. Wherever you look in the world, when you see opportunities for big change, it’s young people who lead it. The landscape and the changes have changed.”
“So I also see myself as a student of young people.”
“Young people are closest to the future we are so fighting for. That’s why we, people who are older, have to learn from young people. So I also see myself as a student of young people.
What is the essential intergenerationality of struggle? What we do is not only to bring about tomorrow’s today, but our activism can do a legacy for generations to come. I like to use the following metaphor: every generation stands on the shoulders of the finished. This means that the youngsters are strongly rooted (strong foundation) on the youngsters who started the struggle.
But, precisely because they stand on the shoulders of the elderly, they can see much further ahead. And so it is righteous for young people to be at the forefront of a struggle. Even if, or causes, you don’t have all the experiences.”
“Often the fact prevails that an accumulation of experience is to wisdom. And wisdom would be something older people can offer to younger people. That is indeed true.”
“But there is something even more important that young people have to offer. And that is: the impatience, the desire to create a new world now.”
“But there is something even more important that young people have to offer. And that is: the impatience, the desire to create a new world now. While the older activist would say, we did it sus and stuff, and it won’t work if you do it like that.
The younger generation is experimental. For example, who would have ever thought that slogan Black Lives Matter would resonate around the world?”
“I am grateful to young people”
“I want young people to know how grateful I am, and many of my generation with me, who have been involved in this fight for justice for over fifty years. June 4 I celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of my freedom.
If someone had told me then that we would experience this period of demonstrations around the world, I would not have believed it. But now I know that the work we’ve done has allowed this historic conjuncture to emerge.
Even if we are somewhere else now, we are not all on the street, we do not have a demonstration every day, not that we assume that we are no longer in that economic situation.
Maybe that’s something older people can offer young people: a sense of the time it takes to struggle to mature, to grow up. Together with my comrades I have been speaking for fifty years about many things that are now being discussed. Fifty years ago we talked about structural racism.”
“I sound like a broken record, but participating in repetition is important”
“I’ve said before that I sound like a broken record to myself. I keep saying the same thing again. But after the summer of 2020, I had a revelation.
I have an idea how important it is to participate in this replay, to keep saying it. It’s not always exactly the same when you talk about it, it grows and develops. But don’t aim for it, because we can’t reach it within 1 year, 5 years, 10 of 20 years.”
“I have that what we witnessed in 2020 was the coming of age of organizational efforts that massively involved many people for decades. I think what older people can offer is a sense of why it’s important to keep going.
how frustrated you feel. how much you feel. done that you did the work, but you don’t see any results. no matter how burned out you feel, you have to keep going. You have to continue to talk about it, to organize and maybe in one day 50 years from now you will see the consequences of what you are doing.”
The conversation with Angela Davis was a project of Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Bruxelles Laïque et PAC (Présence et Action Culturelles), in collaboration with Tribunal Russell sur la Palestine, le cinéma Palace.
Read more:
Angela Davis in Brussels (Part 1): “There would be no capitalism without the institutions responsible for today’s racism”
Angela Davis in Brussels (Part 2): “Glass ceiling feminism operates from the wrong frame”
Angela Davis in Brussels (Part 3): “The struggle of the sans papiers is the most important struggle of our time”
Angela Davis in Brussels (Part 4): Climate change: “We must fight for the future that we will not necessarily experience ourselves”