Part 2: The Social Justice Leadership Game

Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Tonight we have an exciting battle of David and Goliath proportions! 

In the black shorts, we have the reigning world champion, undefeated for centuries, systematic oppression their not-so-secret weapon.

In the red shorts, we have the foolish and optimistic underdog, a Black Jack, Poker playing survivor of Reality-TV.

It should be a gripping match!

The System versus the Players on the Team.

In my last article I talked about The Social Justice Leadership Game and the dizzying rules. I explained that in order to be an effective agent of social change you had to be nimble, and you had to be familiar with the rules of Black Jack, Poker, Reality-TV and boxing.

If your head has stopped spinning you’re ready for the rest of the story…

Believe it or not, in this game the champion in the black shorts has the same handicap as the underdog: The System.

Because the game is adversarial by its very nature, The System is oppressive on some level for everybody: our heroes, role models, idols, teammates, rivals, underdogs, favorites, allies, and adversaries. Everyone.

But you can overcome the inherent obstacles and become an effective player in The Game.

First, let’s take a closer look at our opponents.

Systematic Oppression – Black Shorts.

The player in the black shorts – systematic oppression – represents both the “how” and the “why” things are the way they are now. 

Historical perspectives, bias, victories, and losses have not shaken this player’s foundation. Systematic oppression owns the game, literally. 

It is my belief that this player will never submit or soften, forfeit or send in a second-string player. The boxer in the black shorts feels no pain, does not bleed or bruise, and assumes victory is at hand. 

The time has come to focus on the opponent in the red shorts – to begin the journey of self-reflective observation. Red shorts needs to spend some time at boot camp…here’s why.

The Foolish and Optimistic Underdog – Red Shorts.

I don’t know about you, but when I put on my red shorts and get ready to jump into The Game I’m asking myself:

• Am I prepared?
• Will I be successful?
• Is there something I should be doing first?

Personally, between prioritizing my strategies, gathering resources, building alliances, listening to self-doubt, and giving myself pep talks, I find myself distracted and intimidated.

Because it is hard to see progress in the game, I may decide to take a break…do laundry, hang out with my friends, get a pedicure, watch a silly movie, take a long walk alone. Who knows what else I’ll do while I’m not paying attention to The Game. 

I might be playing “sideline games” –  As My Universe Turns, or Who’s Got It Worse, Silver Spoons and Other Spoilages – with my close confidants, neighbors, even total strangers. Remember the factions we talked about in Reality-TV shows? Here they are…we compare our subordinate roles in society and it makes us all feel a bitter better, and a bit worse.

These sideline games are part of Black Shorts’ game plan. They distract from The Social Justice Leadership Game and keep my judgment skills – of self and others – sharp. They keep my reflective observation skills focused on other people or situations, not on how I can affect change for my subordinate group.

Here’s what happens when I wade back into the game: feelings of guilt, shame and defensiveness well up. Gandhi didn’t take time from his day to drive to the laundry service a block away from his home to pick up his freshly pressed dhoti and shawl, did he? Of course not.

Now I’m paraylzed. You find me in the ring…but I’m curled up in the fetal position shielding my head from the blows I know are coming from Black Shorts. Because, as I mentioned before, Black Shorts is perfectly happy to kick me while I’m already down.

Repeat after me: I don’t have to be perfect to be in the ring.

It’s true. When you shed the tendency to fall into a cycle of shame, embarrassment and self-recrimination, you take away The System’s greatest advantage: the self-defeating voices inside your head telling you that you’ve already lost. 

Steve Biko, noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa, stated that the strongest tool of oppression is the mind of the oppressed.  

Once you’ve given yourself permission to be a regular human and not a Social Change Diety you can change your perspective about the outcome of The Game…

Play for change, not for victory.

If you enter The Social Justice Leadership Game thinking you already know the process and the outcome – already know all the answers to the questions you’re about to pose – then you’re already stuck. You’ve stepped right into Albert Einsteins definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

Don’t mistake tenacity for bone-headed stubbornness and inflexibility. Pair your passion with a willingness to learn, grow, take in new information, make mistakes, refocus and remain accountable.

Do everything in your power to curtail your tendencies to judge, complain, intimidate, doubt yourself, or bend to peer pressure.

And keep in mind, your impact will probably be invisible to the naked eye. Social change is extremely hard to measure in a snapshot. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, to the finish line. And sometimes you’ll have to run the same bit of the course over and over to make the progress permanent and widespread.

For example, same sex marriage is legal in many states now, but vendors can still refuse to provide services to same sex couples for their ceremonies in some of them. We’ve changed some laws but not some minds. We can see the finish line, but we’re jogging on the spot here and there.

Repeat after me again: I can change things in increments…it’s still progress.

When I was a teenager I decided I was going to become a “disciple” of PETA. I mailed away for the list of businesses I would ban from my purchasing decisions, the ones known to do animal testing or practice other acts of cruelty against our voiceless cohabitants of the planet.

I was going to memorize all those businesses, keep a little card in my wallet…avoid them like the plague.

I received a catalogue nearly as thick as War and Peace. The odds of me memorizing even the first two pages were slim and none. The list wasn’t going to fit on a little card. I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem and nearly gave up even trying to make an impact.

Instead, I decided to do the best I could, keep myself informed, pay attention to the hotspots and make an impact when and where I could. 

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: becoming an effective Social Justice Leader.

Sir Isaac Newton was on to something. You can build on a thought, a dream, a desire for change by standing on the shoulders of great thinkers who stood up before you. That’s not the same as comparing yourselves to them, though. It’s important to make that distinction.

It also doesn’t mean pushing another subordinate group down so you can rise up. It means being able to reach down and pull someone else up on those shoulders, too, so you both have a better view of the landscape of change.

Follow these steps to begin your journey:

• Accept yourself and who you are, where you are in your life. This includes being honest about your dominant and subordinate identities. For example, I’m a white, US-born, legally married lesbian with a university education, a great job, a roof over my head and a healthy bank account.
• Commit to enact change not for your own benefit, but for the benefit of the subordinate group. 
• Don’t seek to annihilate your opponent. Seek to make yourself the best possible leader. Turn inwards. 
• Don’t forget to give yourself permission to “check out” once in a while to recharge and regroup. You’re no use to anyone if you’re completely burned out. 
• Give yourself permission to make mistakes, to be human. Mother Theresa questioned her faith in God, Gandhi battled lust, peer pressure and jealousy on his path, and Martin Luther King Jr. died with the heart of a man 25 years older than his actual age, so hard was he on his body.

Then, go through this exercise of self-reflection before beginning your journey anew. Grab your pen…

• Write down your dominant and subordinate identities.
• Was it easier to identify your dominant or your subordinate identities? Why?
• When reviewing your dominant identities, where do you have the most access to power?
• How can you take advantage of your support networks and other spheres of influence to implement your game plan of social change?

Remember that the pressure to be perfect is self-imposed, and the results of your efforts won’t necessarily be tangible in The Social Justice Leadership Game. You must constantly remind yourself that the only element of the game you have control over is your own role in The Game itself.

Finally, regardless of which strategy a player employs, it is imperative to be realistic. At every stage of The Game you’ll make mistakes, take breaks, experience unexpected realizations, and spend a good deal of time in self-reflection. 

I believe we can all be agents of change. I believe we all want to do better, every day. If you’d like help finding the path towards your social change journey, contact me. It’s important, now more than ever, that we commit our efforts to meaningful, lasting change. Let’s rally the Red Shorts.