meemsaf

Activists, especially from privileged backgrounds, often hold an incoherent belief: that “we are not important”, i.e. that the activist's own safety and wellbeing can and should be sacrificed for the struggle or its beneficiaries.

The incoherence is obvious: if this were true, why do you bother to act?

You actually are important. This should be obvious and go without saying. Everyone matters. More to the point, nothing (in society and history) has ever changed without people pushing to change it. Burning yourself out in a couple years of intense mobilization detracts from the struggle – it's not a heroic contribution like one might think.

Successful struggle needs organizers and militants not only willing to sacrifice their own well-being when it comes down to it, but first and foremost able and willing to continue the work over years and decades.

When you're young and newly radicalized, whatever is going on at the moment will seem like the final fight. And you know what, looking at the world 2020, that makes more sense today than ever.

But no matter what — even after the final fight — there is a day after. And we still will need you. Watch out for yourself.