Activism vs. Activist Rhetorics
Embattled Populations
Flyers
Radical Lesbians' "The Woman Identified Woman" (1970)
ACTUP and WHAM! "Stop the Church" demonstration (1989)
Manifestos
Zines
Poetry
Donna Kate Rushin's "The Bridge Poem" (1981)
Zoe Leonard's "I Want a Dyke for President" (1992) or view a performed version of the poem by Mykki Blanco
Paerenetic Appeals
Embodied Rhetoric
Decentered Access for Historically-Underincluded Populations
Hashtag Activism
#BlackLivesMatter (2013)
#BringBackOurGirls (2014)
#HeforShe (2014)
#IceBucketChallenge (2014)
#OscarsSoWhite (2015)
#TakeAKnee (2016)
#MeToo (2007; 2017)
#NeverAgain
(2016 American Freshmen Survey)
(Image credit: Reuters)
Rhetorical strategies to silence and counter activism
Too soon; not the right time
Need to have a definition
Respectability politics
Hyperbolizing the “other” side to extremes
Dismiss tactics of social movements as irrational and based in pathos
Questions for Consideration
What are the benefits of attuning to or participating in activist rhetorics (e.g. encouraging civic engagement; understanding exhortatory writing, acting, and thinking as an essential—if not always ethical--tool in a democratic society)?
What challenges or resistance might arise as you examine or participate in activist rhetorics?
Considering current political divisiveness and the need to for inclusive and fertile community spaces of intellectual curiosity, what are the potential risks of activist discourses (e.g. backlash, accusations of “indoctrination” and politicizing the classroom)?
Organize “Teach-ins” (students plan, propose, and deliver a teach-in on an activist topic of their choice) to encourage intersectional thinking, community organizing, and collective action.
Students can write their own social justice manifestos/statement.
Create Activist Zines with student choice for the theme of the zine as well as its format (online, print, or other).
Plan a campus-wide public event—collective organizing, action, reflection; locating resources, planning, acquiring necessary permits and funds, and creating content through wise rhetorical choices; public statement that benefits the campus.
Read and analyze activist rhetoric and then to create activist rhetoric based on an assigned or chosen rhetorical situation.
Christal Seahorn, PhD
Associate Professor of Writing and Digital Rhetoric
Writing Program Director
University of Houston-Clear Lake
@ProfSeahorn on Twitter & IG
