Dan the Dude: Lessons in Organizing

Anton's blogpost yesterday mentioned Dan the Dude, an amazing zine that explains the "Dos and Don'ts" of non-patriarchal, privilege conscience organizing by following the exploits of Dan, a straight white man and committed organizer. I love it so much (thanks Anton!) that I decided it's worth its own post.

Robin, the artist behind the zine, wrote it to express some of her frustrations as a feminist member of Students for Democratic Society, but she is careful to point out that

Dan is a white, straight male because many of his bad behaviors are ones typically carried out by people with these privileges. However, despite the "dude" label, these behaviors are not confined only to people who look like Dan. Women, transpeople, queer people and peple of color can also be guilty of committing Dan's "DONT"S.

And it's true, in reading the zine I recognized both the privileged behavior of others but also that of myself (much to my chagrin). It served as a reminder that I must keep myself in check and always be aware of how my behavior is affecting those with whom and for whom I am working. The zine is a must read for all activists, no matter their identities.

The Word for Today: Can We Say PRIVILEGE???

Ok, so I said to myself that I wouldn't give some of these conservative pundits and intolerable commentators sipping on their haterade the time of day. But dammit, I just can't resist. What's up with this week's media frenzy around, dare I say it, the supposedly vulnerable political and social power of white men (gasp)! PLEASE! Give me a break.

First, we have a roundup of conservative hoopla taking Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor's statements about her identity impacting her role as a judge out of context and slandering her as a "reverse racist":



Oh, let's not forget Gordon Liddy & Rush Limbaugh's attacks. Those are pretty classic:





Then we have a debut of yet another boys club, this time at University of Chicago, "Men in Power":



I mean, really, what is the deal with all this sappy "woe is me, I'm a white male minority" nonsense. If you ever needed a reason as to why feminist and racial dialogue is imperative to the overall change in our society, well now you've got ONE!

Because issues of race and gender have been so conveniently appropriated lately, individuals who continue to gain further strides due to historical political, economic and social privilege tend to challenge anyone or any ideology that conflicts with that history of privilege. More than ever before, we have women, lesbians and gays, and people of color taking on influential positions in our society and this power shift seems to be a threat to the status quo. I feel that it's very cowardice and absurd that many of these conservatives would make racial and sexual indictments against masses of people when the nation as a whole is seeing for the first time true diversity being exemplified.

If Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) can dismiss such arguments, then surely people, we must do better.