Why More Americans Are Becoming Activists
TIME
By Sarah Jaffe
It’s election season, so most of the political stories we hear about have been related to the presidential candidates, their ups and downs in the polls, and what passes for nail-biting suspense about what they will say about the day’s news. Yet even in a mass of predictable stories, this election cycle has been more dramatic than most, as outsider candidates appealed to Americans’ sense of anger at an economic and political system that they feel is rigged.
But the real political drama this year has taken place in the streets of cities like Oakland, New York, Baton Rouge, Minneapolis and St. Paul. The anger on display in the presidential race built on the outrage expressed in protest movements from the Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street, in places like Manhattan, where activists occupied City Hall Park for fairer policing practices; in North Carolina, where they challenged voting rights restrictions; and in Chicago, where teachers went on strike for the schools Chicago students deserve. Americans have rediscovered the fine art of direct action, making what Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis calls “good trouble, necessary trouble” to bring about the change that they want to see.
