"Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves." This expression credited to the 19th century American philosopher, writer, and activist Henry David Thoreau reminds us how important, yet precarious and delicate, democracy can be. Over the weekend as millions of women, men, and children took the streets worldwide to raise awareness around women's issues and send a clear message to the new US president, I had many mixed emotions about the what the face of activist resistance and organization will look like in the years to come. On the one hand, it is astonishing how quickly word spread through social media channels since November to assemble the record-breaking crowds. Images, video, and other media saturated all communication formats in the 24 hour news and social media cycles following the marches-- a feat that in itself points to the democratic nature of the Internet. But on the other hand, I couldn't help wonder where these crowds had been when it really counted-- in the days and months leading up to Brexit, the US elections, and other moments of intervention over the past year(s) when a collective vote or voice could have turned the historical tides in different directions. There weren't clear demands being voiced by the weekend marchers-- something that reminded me of the splintered Occupy movement from a few years ago. I suppose it is the spectacle of the activist crowd in today's digitally mediated world that worries me most, and I hope that the disobedience part of Thoreau's equation can be exercised when cameras are not present. I also hope that this movement, in all of its impressive scale and potential, can become activated politically, and not just as a form of temporary, or worse, armchair activism. I also hope I am proved wrong and that this weekend was the blossoming of something remarkable and history changing. Enjoy the links and exercise your disobedience wherever possible this week :)
- Universities Must Help Educate Woefully Uninformed Lawmakers
- The Bitter Legal Battle over Peggy Guggenheim’s Blockbuster Art Collection
- Various Dismal Futures
- Game Developers March on Washington to Protest Trump
- Book review: The Art of Rivalry by Sebastian Smee
- Oxford University rejection letter turned into art
- Google Sets Out to Disrupt Curating With “Machine Learning”
- 10 Quotes on Feminism From Madonna’s Pre-Inauguration Talk With Marilyn Minter
- Let’s Spend a Few Minutes with This Photo of Donald Trump, Shall We
- Putin vs the West: An Issue of Respect | The New School (VIDEO)
