I have a different opinion on the phenomenon of the local activists (in every locality) being dismissed as media hungry egomaniacs. Having not completed my journey down the sliding scale toward enlightenment, I welcome your critique of this perspective.

It is easy to dismiss local activists as simple media gluttons and loud mouths but I believe to do so is to not fully acknowledge the dynamics of the situation.

1. To dismiss activists is to reinforce the attempts of elites to sidestep attention away from the issues and toward the activists. This is often successful. I forget who said this one: "Why is it that when I feed the poor and I am called a saint but when I ask why the poor are hungry I am called a communist?"

2. Doing direct action in public is a form of personal and professional sacrifice. The novelty of media attention often fades quickly as the activist realizes that they are locked out of the actual decision making processes in which they could possibly share a great deal of insight. Once a person is successfully smeared as a loud mouth it is difficult to shake the image and so those who engage in direct action are often relegated to working from outside the panels and councils. Every time an activist gets dismissed for speaking truth to power we must acknowledge the hit they take on their own reputation, career, and credibility among those who have the consolidated power to distribute.

3. The direct action work needs to be done and all the direct action activist can do is hope that by putting themselves out on a limb they are creating an opportunity for someone who agrees with the principles but has kept quiet enough to retain credibility with elites and recieve a share of power to distribute. The opportunity, however, would not exist without direct action activists.

So...I guess that leaves us with a question. Do we really think that long time activists do not realize this? Do direct action activists not know that they could have chosen a more lucrative path in pursuing the people's issues? Of course they know this. If showering themselves with attention was what motivated them then they would just climb the ranks of Rotary and get a plaque and award every six months, not to mention immortality in the historical societies. The truth is that direct action activists are rewarded by seeing their issues on the front page, not their own name in lights. If we want to see the name of the same dedicated activists in the media less often we simply need to help them engage in the act of creating news. By offering ourselves up as the uppity person more often we also dimish the ability of elites to attack the messenger.

Solidarity my friends.