Hi - I'm a neighbor. Definitely agree with your analysis and frustration with moving change in Alabama. It is difficult, but having lived in a big west coast city for 20 years, we'd say the same things about politics there. I think the politics in that state's government were a little more transparent and a LITTLE less crony-corrupt, but no one ever funded the projects that pushed hard from the left. We did that by working boring jobs (and cost of living was cheaper so you could pay bills and fund projects). Maybe we felt that there was more possibility because there was a greater concentration of like-minded people. I definitely have found people in the Montgomery area who want more radical change but feel really isolated. That makes you feel unable to accomplish anything. This state has been the launching point of major historical struggles and some revolutionary organizing. I try to hold on to that.
I have lived on the West Coast and have friends really all over the world. Most of them are working in organizations that have high levels of funding and support. There is no comparison to the amount of support people in our network get compared to what we get here in Alabama.
Yes, Alabama has be the focal point of many historical struggles, but it is not 1963. The people of Alabama today really don't even have an analysis of who the enemy is or what to do about it and in my experience are uninterested in learning. Activism in Alabama, with exceptions, is a popularity contest and the media plays into it. I don't really blame the people of Alabama for the provinciality because there's an active suppression of other points of view by governing institutions. I mean, you can't even get the most basic, non-controversial community development projects funded.
Finally, and I'm going to be as gentle as I can. You're post smacks of Yankisplaining. There's an embedded assumption that I don't know what's going on on the coasts, that because I'm a we're rednecks, that we don't have national or international networks, which we do and in fact, have helped people from coastal cities start successful organizations in Alabama. I ask you to examine your assumptions, critically.
You are assuming that I am assuming and I think we'll both end up sounding like asses. I grew up in Alabama and lived a lot of places. I did listen to your talk in which you clearly refer to your connections to other places. I was trying to ground my comments in my experiences having very similar conversations in what you refer to yourself in your talk as better funded coastal places. Instead of being asses, why don't you come sit on my porch for a conversation?
Hi - I'm a neighbor. Definitely agree with your analysis and frustration with moving change in Alabama. It is difficult, but having lived in a big west coast city for 20 years, we'd say the same things about politics there. I think the politics in that state's government were a little more transparent and a LITTLE less crony-corrupt, but no one ever funded the projects that pushed hard from the left. We did that by working boring jobs (and cost of living was cheaper so you could pay bills and fund projects). Maybe we felt that there was more possibility because there was a greater concentration of like-minded people. I definitely have found people in the Montgomery area who want more radical change but feel really isolated. That makes you feel unable to accomplish anything. This state has been the launching point of major historical struggles and some revolutionary organizing. I try to hold on to that.
I have lived on the West Coast and have friends really all over the world. Most of them are working in organizations that have high levels of funding and support. There is no comparison to the amount of support people in our network get compared to what we get here in Alabama.
Yes, Alabama has be the focal point of many historical struggles, but it is not 1963. The people of Alabama today really don't even have an analysis of who the enemy is or what to do about it and in my experience are uninterested in learning. Activism in Alabama, with exceptions, is a popularity contest and the media plays into it. I don't really blame the people of Alabama for the provinciality because there's an active suppression of other points of view by governing institutions. I mean, you can't even get the most basic, non-controversial community development projects funded.
Finally, and I'm going to be as gentle as I can. You're post smacks of Yankisplaining. There's an embedded assumption that I don't know what's going on on the coasts, that because I'm a we're rednecks, that we don't have national or international networks, which we do and in fact, have helped people from coastal cities start successful organizations in Alabama. I ask you to examine your assumptions, critically.
You are assuming that I am assuming and I think we'll both end up sounding like asses. I grew up in Alabama and lived a lot of places. I did listen to your talk in which you clearly refer to your connections to other places. I was trying to ground my comments in my experiences having very similar conversations in what you refer to yourself in your talk as better funded coastal places. Instead of being asses, why don't you come sit on my porch for a conversation?