Dear young activist by: Arnold P. Alamon

I write this with a feeling of trepidation. Because I do not purport to be wise despite my advancing age nor am I imbued with a grand self-perception to consider myself an activist. It is just that I have had the privilege of knowing this rare breed of people and my life and world-view have been enriched by my constant encounters with these friends of mine. So perhaps, as a tribute to these brave souls, let me share to you what I learned from them.

How does one become an activist? There is no singular answer. It can unfold throughout childhood or it can be an event that leave behind mental and emotional marks. Not to say that activists are damaged but it is the indelible scar of our violent encounters with certain societal truths that surface critical questions such as  - Why does mama have to work abroad? Or why does papa have to fight a war? Questions like these bring us to the threshold of activism.  

In a country so full of contradictions and shared desperations, many actually undergo the scarring effect of these forms of structural violence. It is a conundrum why many opt to perpetuate a rotten system and only a few stand up to challenge this. Apparently, it is not the experience of given social maladies that make an activist, but that urgent response that one chooses to undertake in the face of these painful encounters.

For while many steel themselves to escape these social traps by saying that “this should never happen to me and my family,” the activist, urged by a deep sense of humanity, instead declares, “this should never happen to anyone.” This singular conviction will bring you a life of heartache and frustration but you would not want it any other way.

Heartache will essential come from your elders, on occasions, your family, and the rest of society-at-large. They will taunt you for being young and for not having learned as of yet the language of compromise. For them it is a question of working on the pragmatics and they regard your worldview as archaic. Better to find a middle ground between one’s convictions and one’s desire for social acceptance and accolades in the mainstream professions, they would say. Some would even go far as to argue that it is a difference of interpretation in a world without Truth.

But somewhere in your gut, you are repulsed by all these justifications for compromise and inaction. And there will be a great deal of sacrifice in terms of possible life-chances in exchange for following this conviction.

Oh, and you will be frustrated because you will be joining other like-minded individuals who also seek change. And when humans come together, personalities clash, expectations are not met, and work becomes tedious and for a moment, uninspired. But you will then realize that there is a difference between human endeavors undertaken for self-gain and those that labor for selfless ends. You will find that goodwill and determination are inexhaustible resources in these groups, a far cry from the work undertaken for material ends when egos and insecurities have to be constantly pampered and thus impose limits as to what can be achieved. Here, you will find real people who you can regard as your life-long friends and not the empty shell of wants, posturing, and flash without substance that characterize many of those among your peers.

And there will be painful mistakes as well in the process of achieving change, a burden that you will carry and must seek to redress just as the previous generations of activists soldiered on despite these errors weighing them down.

But the ultimate reward for an activist is when you can say to yourself, that you are an integral part of this great narrative for social change and nation-building.  It won’t be the dime-a-dozen yuppie upstarts, the power dressers of Makati, nor the bullies on the net, or the politicians, who will be counted when the history of this nation shall finally be written. It will be clear that it is the brave souls like you who will be remembered, you who have made their own mark against the tide of self-serving apathy that has always been the scourge of this nation. Padayon!