The word activism seems to have a totally different definition in today's society than it did just 4 years ago. The goal of activism is to bring change politically or socially that will help to effect the society that you live in. In the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement in the United States most of the ideas that the movement was based on were created on college campuses and community churches. Large amounts of people were informed of what was going on in their communities through word of mouth and local press coverage before the national news caught on to what was going on in the south. Contrastingly, in 2014 activism begins online, with just one person. If that person uses the resources of social media to their advantage then they can start a discussion that leads to something bigger. With more and more people having access to social media and who are willing to publicly voice their opinions, and activism can be picked up on by the press just by what is said online. This brings into question whether activism is just talking about it, or is it acting on it?
Based on the definition of activism from dictionary.com, it is "the doctrine or practice of vigorous action or involvement as a means of achieving political or other goals, sometimes by demonstrations, protests, etc." This means that activism requires action despite the process you use to take action. With many great movements that have helped shape the American society and the world, younger generations are taking note and trying to inspire change in the world that live in today. recently, the #Occupy movement made strong efforts to get the American population to become aware of the large income inequality gap between the top !% of America's wealthiest and the other 99% of Americans. The starters of the #Occupy movement took cues from the Tunisia and Egyptian Arab Springs protests in terms of how to organize together. With a highly prevalent usage of social media these movements were able to come together in large numbers from instant communication on sites like Twitter and Facebook. The #Occupy movement looked at how Egyptians used Twitter to spread the word of what was happening during protest events and recreated that type of action during #occupy events. Also, just like the Tunisia protests, the #Occupy movement congregated in large numbers in front of the people that they waned to clearly hear their messages. These previous movements inspired and forced change just like the #Occupy movement seemed to do.
I think that great activism movements are not just inspired by the cause that they are working to change, but also successful movements that have achieved the goals of their platforms. Like the many movements that came before the #Occupy movement, each political or social change group has taken cues from what has worked in the past. In large numbers the message seems a lot clearer. The movement can be sparked just by one person saying that things need to change. Most importantly, sharing the message with a plethora of people will always help bring more attention to the cause at hand. I personally am starting a nonprofit that will help deal with the ideas of depression, anxiety, and depression in minority communities and I look to past successful nonprofits as well of how to get my cause off of the ground. In order to be successful, I look at nonprofits like the It Gets Better Association and Love is Louder Than... to inspire me. These groups have made more people aware of the mental and emotional problems that people are scared to deal with but they are not directed to people of color. I want to fill that gap, and being inspired from other people helps me to learn how to be a good activist that is actually productive