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Mr. Rogers once said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” In these uncertain times that quote rings true more than ever. At every Austin Bar and Austin Young Lawyers event you can look around and see helpers such as the attorney taking out the trash while holding their toddler on their hip or see an experienced judge introducing themselves to the new nervous lawyer who doesn’t know anyone just yet. These are all examples of “helping” and small acts of kindness that can play into the larger idea of “quiet activism.”
The Coventry City Council in the UK states,
Quiet activists are individuals who probably don’t identify themselves as an activist, but are passionate about the work they do and believe strongly in changing society for the better. Their influence spreads beyond those within a particular community or those engaged in a given project. Their enthusiasm is infectious and inclusive, it draws people in, and makes you feel part of something bigger, something meaningful and important. They make you realise that real and meaningful change is achieved not through a ‘top-down’ agency but through real people, forging authentic connections with one another.1
Often in times of upheaval these quiet activists emerge as unlikely heroes. Anyone who has seen the Steven Spielberg film “Schindler’s List” should know that sometimes the person who is seemingly just trying to do their job and make their own way in the world can also be the one sacrificing their own life to save others.
Recently, the Austin Bar issued a statement joining the American Bar Association’s and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers’ statements on the Rule of Law, and individual bar members began expressing their desire for the opportunity to sign their own names to such statements. These individuals should be applauded for using their voices to express their values and desire to uphold the rule of law on which any functioning society is based. But what about the attorneys who don’t have that luxury?
In the current political climate attorneys are often prohibited from expressing their views because of the ramifications they would face from their families, neighbors, or employers. Having to remain silent out of fear of retaliation spits in the face of the First Amendment and everything our forefathers fought for, yet it is the current reality of many Austin attorneys. Instead of shaming those attorneys or “challenging” them as to why they are not nailing their four-foot-high soap box together to engage in performative activism, pay closer attention to their actions. The attorney who anonymously donates to Drag and Justice is doing the same amount of good as the attorney who reposts the pride flag multiple times on their LinkedIn. The attorney who shows up to volunteer during the MLK Day of Service is doing just as much good as the attorney who uses quotes from civil rights leaders to rally against elected officials on social media.
We all do things in our daily lives that express and show our internal values, and we all have different roles to play to successfully create societal change. The four most accepted roles needed to impact a society are that of Citizen, Reformer, Rebel, and Change Agent.2 Briefly,
1. A “Citizen” promotes positive national values, principles, symbols, e.g. democracy, freedom, justice, nonviolence. They are a normal citizen, grounded in the center of society.
2. A “Reformer” uses official mainstream systems and institutions, e.g. courts, legislature, city hall, corporations to get the movement’s goals, values, alternatives adopted into official laws, policies and conventional wisdom by using a variety of means: lobbying, lawsuits, referenda, rallies, candidates, etc.
3. A “Rebel” protests through nonviolent direct action and attitude such as demonstrations, rallies, and marches including civil disobedience that targets powerholders and their institutions e.g. government, corporations. They are empowered, exciting, courageous, risky, center of public attention types.
4. A “Change Agent” creates participatory democracy for the common good by educating and involving the majority of citizens and the whole society on the issue. This type creates and supports grassroots activism and organizations for the long term and counters new powerholder strategies.
It is imperative that all four of these roles are respected and acknowledged when trying to create societal change. If a “Reformer” continually challenges a “Citizen” because they are not leading rallies and lobbying state officials, then the war for change has already been lost. Every attorney in this city can make change that aligns with their values regardless of how much freedom they have to participate in performative activism.
I call on those attorneys whose First Amendment rights have been trampled on to continue helping where you can. Continue showing up, volunteering, and engaging in quiet activism. Your authentic connections with other attorneys and citizens are just as valuable as being able to jump up and down on the social media soap box. Likewise, I call on those attorneys who have the luxury of speaking out against tyranny and the erosion of our democracy to build your soap box as high and as wide as your can. Be a change maker and be a reformer, and never discount the work of quiet activism.
ENDNOTES
2 https://commonslibrary.org/the-four-roles-of-social-activism/