To the Tired Activists
Story and Illustration by Mallika Sunder
Activists, especially teen activists, know all too well that change takes time. We have waited, protested, fought and worked for the causes we believe in, but oftentimes change just comes too slowly- or not at all. It’s easy to drift, and feel like your work doesn’t matter. Especially this past year, where adjusting to a life after COVID brought personal difficulties for all of us, and increased in person activities after a year of zoom brought more fatigue. In her paper, Sociable Behavior is Related to Later Fatigue: Moment-to-Moment Patterns of Behavior and Tiredness, Sointu Leikas wrote, “After all, there is indirect evidence suggesting that the presence of others evokes higher arousal and/or effort. For instance, people tend to engage in some level of self-presentation in the presence of others, even close others (e.g. Roth et al., 2001; Tice et al., 1995).” This self- presentation can bleed into activist circles, and we sometimes feel like we constantly have to be working or other people will not think we are ‘dedicated’ enough.
We attach faces, memories and feelings to movements because they motivate others to join that movement and motivate us to keep fighting. This is important for the sustainability of social justice programs because it keeps up spirits even when they don’t get many successes. Many activism communities are very tightly knit, which forms a sort of support group for those going through periods of low motivation, so why are activists nationwide experiencing heightened levels of fatigue?
This exhaustion is similar to burnout, but it is so much more. Activism fatigue differs from burnout simply because the people who experience it have more at stake. A lot of pressure falls on young activists to take on the past mistakes older generations made, whether it is fixing a damaged earth, dismantling long-standing institutions that promote racial descrimination or breaking cycles of generational trauma, we are expected to magically solve the world’s problems within just a few decades. The women's suffrage movement and the civil rights movement lasted more than 50 years each, and even though those movements made great strides in securing rights for women and people of color, they never fully succeeded in ending racism and sexism. As much as we long to do so, total equity can never be achieved even in one generation. It takes a lot of waiting and working for even the smallest successes now, and thinking of all the work left to be done seems almost hopeless.
Activism burnout happens when this feeling of hopelessness gets too overwhelming. In Racism, whiteness, and burnout in Antiracism movements: How white racial justice activists elevate burnout in racial justice activists of color in the United States, Paul C Gorski and Noura Erakat write, “More than nagging frustration or temporary weariness, activist burnout is a long-term and accumulative condition that can be mentally and physically debilitating (Maslach and Gomes, 2006). It can have dire consequences for individual activists, often forcing them to disengage from movements in which they had invested considerable portions of their lives.” After a big goal is accomplished, like a bill is passed, an official goes out of office or an important election is won, it becomes harder and harder to go on after investing so much energy in one burst.
2022 is upon us- a potential new year for wins or losses in social justice. As we all go into this year, keep in mind that every activist goes through activism fatigue at some point, and although the future may seem bleak, what is best to do is make sure that you minimize fatigue so that you are able to help out as much as you can. Just like any other type of work, like school or a job, you need to take breaks from activism to truly be as productive as possible. It is important to realize that even though you may be personally affected by a cause, it is never one person’s job to solve a societal issue that has existed for decades. Appreciate yourself, and other activists, more. Activism is oftentimes a thankless thing to do, so make sure to just look around and take a moment to remind yourself of why you care about the causes you fight for. We know all too well that change takes time, so don’t pressure yourself to rush it.
Resources used:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1468796819833871
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X20300324