Episode 3: You found a clipping from the Revolutionists Survival Guide

Imagine you discover a clipping from a book. You read the heading and discover it is from the book The Revolutionist’s Survival Guide. No, you didn’t find the full toolkit but you did find a piece. That’s what I’m attempting to emulate here.

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to Crows and Roses Podcast, a podcast made for creative and intellectual explorations centered in love and liberation. I'm your host, Nicole Olivia Dapo, and my intention for this podcast is to invite listeners into deeper awareness of themselves and the world around them, inviting courage and discernment while hopefully providing some tools and insight along the way. Now, always remember that what I share here is based on my own life and experiences. These are my insights, so although I encourage listening with an open heart and an open mind, it is up to you to choose what is most valuable and resonates with your own life and experiences. So without further ado, let's begin. Hello and welcome back. Today we're going to talk about the Revolutionist Survival Guide. Imagine you discover a clipping from a metaphorical book. You read the heading and discover it's from a book called The Revolutionist Survival Guide. No, you didn't find the full toolkit, but you did find a piece. And that's what I'm attempting to emulate here. First, let's discuss what it means to be a revolutionary. Angela Davis discusses what it means to be a revolutionary in an interview around 1972. She states that while there is no single simple description that can encapsulate what it means to be a revolutionary, she goes on to say to be a revolutionary. A revolutionary is a man or a woman who is a lot of things, but basically the revolutionary wants to change the nature of society in a way to promote a world where the needs and interests of the people are responded to. A revolutionary realizes that in order to create a world where human beings can live and love and be healthy and create, you have to completely revolutionize the entire fabric of society. And that's a quote from Angela Davis. A revolutionary can both observe and be aware of the fact that for changes they seek to come to fruition, it takes an altering of the very fabric of society that we live within. That is that for the needs of the people to be met, the societal structures must be altered entirely. The first structure, as an example, would be the economic structure. In an economics course, I quickly learned that the economic system is based on the theory that there are limited resources and unlimited wants. And I would argue that although the desires and potential greed of humans may be limitless, the basic needs are limited and can be met. I dream of a system where everyone has their needs met and that we as society take pride in making sure everybody is cared for. To me, this is not an ignorant viewpoint, but a simple one. Whether someone were to argue that it's impossible or impractical alike, I believe that it's something that at the very least we can strive towards. I trust that because you're reading this, you already have an idea of the changes you would like to see in our society. This guide is intended to accompany those who are living out what it means to be a revolutionary, or suggestions that you can carry with you on your path. First of all, combating perfectionism. There is much pressure to perform perfectly in our society today. Encroaching on our freedom of expression is a fear of doing, saying, or behaving in ways that will get us canceled, persecuted, or ostracized. And that although that fear is real and valid, it takes courage to live our truth, speak our truth, and create changes we seek to see in our world. Courage allows us to accept that making a mistake is ultimately better than doing nothing at all and being constrained to stagnancy or status quo. To make an impact, we need to have bold action, bold speech that roots into a desire for a more just and equitable society. Societal norms need to shift, which means that we need to go against the norm, and going against the norm inevitably requires us to accept pushback. As people were told that we dislike change and that we are creatures of habit. Allowing ourselves to make small steps that hold change may be more sustainable than attempting to make a giant change abruptly. Ultimately, though, there is no better or worse, just as long as we are moving forward, even if that is failing forward. So in this sense, combating perfectionism may look like not allowing our desire to show up in a certain way to hold us back from showing up at all. This is something I'm still learning. I would add that I believe that as a society, we need to put more energy towards supporting those attempting to do good rather than nitpicking the ways they deliver their words. The intensity of the political code that seems to now be required to engage in certain conversations can limit who is actually able to participate in meaningful ways. So I believe that focusing on the actions rather than fixating on the specific delivery of the words is another way we can combat perfectionism. Know yourself. As humans, we are all unique individuals. This means we have our own set of skills, talents, capacities, and limitations. And because of these differences, we cannot all play the same role. In fact, I like to see activism as an ecosystem. The more diverse the ecosystem, the healthier and more robust it is. Knowing ourselves is a way we can select and orchestrate our role well. Making these choices on what feels most relevant and important to us is one way to have longevity and sustainability in the process. Passion is fuel for showing up through the difficult moments. Knowing our limitations is another aspect that fuels longevity. The changes won't happen overnight, so we must make sure to take ourselves to take care of ourselves through the process. And that leads into the next one: taking care of ourselves. Many revolutionaries have talked about the importance of self-care. Audre Lorde and Angela Davis, for example. Taking care of our well-being combats burnout and is an act of revolution in and of itself. We must take care of ourselves and not be depleted in order to show up and do the work that we set out to for the long run. In order to see those changes come to life, I believe we must be well enough to take the actions required. Now, although the discussion on needs is complex due to the nature of allocation of resources, I want to focus on what keeps us well when it is accessible to us. Oftentimes, we may be fighting for our rights, well-being, and needs to be met. However, doing what we can to fuel the longevity in that process. We can stay on top of our well-being through incorporating what works for us. Some examples could be self-expression, which could be art forms, journaling, soul chats, therapy, and dance, body connection, somatic practices, movement and exercise. Addressing difficult emotions and experiences and not letting them stagnate or suppressing them. Staying on top of our well-being by knowing our limits. The basics such as hydration, nourishment, sleep and rest, pacing ourselves, finding healthy outlets and hobbies, community and social supports. As revolutionaries, we may tend to carry a lot, and we have to allow ourselves to release and not be hardened or hindered by our work. Yes, it will change us, yet isn't that the point to fluctuate with the changes that we seek? Thank you.