Practicing Sustainable Activism: Fighting Against Burnout and for Social Justice

Introduction

As a University of Richmond student, you have a lot of ambitions. You want to succeed academically, socially, and for many of us, making change in our communities is a staple of who we are. Here at Richmond there is so much to do: academics, sports, extracurriculars, chances to engage with other people. For students who also want to make change in the world, college can be a great place to explore communities of activism and join causes that you care about. As a college student, there is also a unique opportunity to meet new people and discover many new things about the world. These discoveries can often begin the spark that is necessary to ignite the activism that lies within so many of us. Maybe you learned about something new in your Global Studies class and want to help out, or hear about a protest for a new cause from a friend. At times however, the amount of causes can seem daunting, especially when considered alongside all the other demands on your time as a full time student. If any of this sounds like you, you might also set high standards for yourself and feel a strong sense of personal responsibility to others.

When advocating for a cause, it can be easy to feel like your work isn’t making an impact and that you’ll never be able to do enough for your cause.. Unfortunately, many activists have fallen victim to a cultural phenomenon, one that places success over our own inherent value as human beings.

The Laziness Lie

In the United States we live in a culture that glamorizes success, achievement and the “hustle.” When your humanity gets the best of you, it can be easy to feel that you aren’t doing enough or that compared to others your achievements make you appear lazy. In their book Laziness Does Not Exist, Devon Price dives into this culture of high achievement and explains what they call “The Laziness Lie.” According to Price, this lie is ubiquitous in our culture and is likely impacting the way you live. Price first realized they had an issue after getting so severely ill from overwork that they had to quit working for months. The Laziness Lie impacts how we treat both ourselves and other people. It will tell you that you are never doing enough or that people facing homelessness somehow deserve it because of their own lack of effort or work ethic. In the world of activism, this belief that our efforts are not enough can often translate into a phenomenon known as “activist burnout.”

As Christianna Silva points out in her NPR article titled “Black Activist Burnout: 'You Can't Do This Work If You're Running On Empty,’” activism burnout is a very real phenomenon, especially for those who are personally affected by the cause they are fighting for. Activist burnout occurs when an individual does not make themselves a priority and reaches an exhaustion point in their fight for change. This could mean a former passionate activist no longer feels they have the same drive and energy to support their causes as before. This article in particular spoke to Black activists during the summer 2020, a time when protests erupted across the country. Those interviewed for this story spoke of the difficulty of staying motivated while having to watch the continuous racial injustice in this country play out again and again. The size and coverage given to the Black Lives Matter Movement at this time also meant that a lot more white protesters joined marches. Despite being wellintentioned, allies joining the movement can also place additional demands on already overwhelmed black protesters. Danielle Hairston, a psychiatry residency training director at Howard University Hospital, described the difficulties of working with uniformed allies: “While I do appreciate that many white or non-BIPOC people are stepping in to say, 'I'm an ally. Can you teach me?' Or 'I didn't realize this.' That's an additional burden for Black activists.” She continued, saying, “you have people who are saying 'we're allies,' but are asking you to teach them. ... But it really should be more of a collaborative effort."

Hairston continued to describe the importance of taking care of yourself, especially as an activist. "It's really prioritizing yourself, which many people are uncomfortable with, especially people who are activists, who really are selfless and give everything that they have to others, to their movement, to what they believe in. But you really also have to protect and preserve yourself, because if you don't, you'll have nothing left to give."

Fighting Activist Burnout

How do you find that balance between working hard for your cause and making sure to take care of yourself? If you are like some of the people interviewed by Dr. Price you may also feel “deeply anxious about the future of our world” and “guilty for not doing more to address the world’s problems” (196). Thankfully, this book not only lays out the ways The Laziness Lie manifests in our culture, but ways to combat it. Price notes that the solution to The Laziness Lie is compassion, not just for those around us who may be struggling from things we cannot see but also towards yourself. So what do they suggest? First, it is important to remember that the sheer deviation of a single person will never be enough to save the world; it is not possible for us mere mortals to use our individual efforts alone to achieve change. Rather, Price suggests that activists acknowledge this and strive to use their own personal strength in a collaborative manner with others in order to make change. Price continues to emphasize the importance of setting goals based on compassion, not panic or guilt. They described seeing their own activism as a healthy habit, like exercising, wherein you don’t want to overexert yourself and fall apart but rather it is something you work on regularly to the benefit of yourself and others. Through interviewing Xochitl Sandoval, a counselor who works with the Practical Audacity, a Chicago-based therapy group, Price described the importance of processing grief as an activist.

Ultimately, there will be some things, such as the harm that has already been done to the planet through climate change, that cannot be undone. By accepting this and processing the grief that comes along with it, it is possible to move toward positive change while undertaking the limits of activism and future change. Lastly, Price recommends starting small. They point out that facing large abstract problems can leave us overwhelmed while finding ways to make small, but tangible steps towards change can bring back a feeling of control and hope. Getting involved here on campus and in the larger Richmond community is a great way to apply this advice to your own activism. Lasting change is not something that we can create alone, and ignoring your own needs for the sake of your cause will only leave you burned out.