You Are Here:
More than 1,500 activists recreate Picasso's "Amnistia" to protest the unprecedented prosecution of Greenpeace by the Justice Department.
magnify image
Purists wouldn't have it. Fed up with the plummeting quality of beer, four Irishmen sitting glum-faced in Europe's most westerly pub founded a movement now known as the Campaign for the Real Ale (CAMRA).
The group succeeded in stopping big brewers replacing traditional ales with tasteless keg beer, and today still acts as a buffer between Britain's great pub traditions and big money. CAMRA's membership now stands at 85,000, and it's considered the most successful single-issue consumer campaign group in Britain. All because a massive body of people agreed to boycott their favourite pubs until the owners started selling real beer again.
Take one small gesture. Mix with a generous dollop of determination and then stir in a large body of people. Season with action. Serve.
Change is often represented as something complicated and difficult to achieve. Yet some of the most profound changes in history have arisen not through grand gestures, genius or money, but through small and simple stands.
Think back to that Alabama bus in 1955, when Rosa Parkes decided she'd had enough of being told what seat she could and couldn't use, and simply made this basic decision for herself. She was arrested for "disturbing the peace" by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger.
Within days of the arrest, her friends organised a highly effective boycott of all Alabama buses. This helped strengthen Parkes' legal case, in which she not only secured an acquittal, but successfully appealed the legality of the bylaws that segregated bus seats by race and colour.
And as a result of that, the entire system of racial segregation began to unravel across America. Parkes said "Some people say I stayed sitting because I was tired … but the only thing I was tired of was giving in."
Parkes' action took courage and commitment, but what made it successful was its rapid adoption by thousands of like-minded people. A classic example of lots of people doing simple things to achieve an enormous outcome.
Think back to the morning of 5 November 1881, when nearly 1700 armed constabulary stormed the small Taranaki settlement of Parihaka. Expecting resistance, the army was instead met by singing children, freshly baked bread and more than 2,000 villagers sitting quietly on the marae. To this day, these extraordinarily peaceful but powerful gestures represent one of the defining moments in pacifism.
From Parihaka, to the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, to Mahatma Ghandi and India's fight for independence, history is littered with ordinary people who stood up and took action that led to real change.
Change need not be loud or brash. It can just as well be quiet and steady. All it needs is for people to recognise it as achievable and necessary and for people to act.
Right now we need this kind of momentum over climate change. It's widely accepted as the biggest threat the planet has ever faced. In addressing the problem, it's important to remember the power wielded by many people doing simple things.
This goes further than just the political power of demonstration; it's about actually being the change itself. From beer to civil rights, it's worked before, and with the earth now at a tipping point, we need it to work again.
The group succeeded in stopping big brewers replacing traditional ales with tasteless keg beer, and today still acts as a buffer between Britain's great pub traditions and big money. CAMRA's membership now stands at 85,000, and it's considered the most successful single-issue consumer campaign group in Britain. All because a massive body of people agreed to boycott their favourite pubs until the owners started selling real beer again.
Take one small gesture. Mix with a generous dollop of determination and then stir in a large body of people. Season with action. Serve.
Change is often represented as something complicated and difficult to achieve. Yet some of the most profound changes in history have arisen not through grand gestures, genius or money, but through small and simple stands.
Think back to that Alabama bus in 1955, when Rosa Parkes decided she'd had enough of being told what seat she could and couldn't use, and simply made this basic decision for herself. She was arrested for "disturbing the peace" by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger.
Within days of the arrest, her friends organised a highly effective boycott of all Alabama buses. This helped strengthen Parkes' legal case, in which she not only secured an acquittal, but successfully appealed the legality of the bylaws that segregated bus seats by race and colour.
And as a result of that, the entire system of racial segregation began to unravel across America. Parkes said "Some people say I stayed sitting because I was tired … but the only thing I was tired of was giving in."
Parkes' action took courage and commitment, but what made it successful was its rapid adoption by thousands of like-minded people. A classic example of lots of people doing simple things to achieve an enormous outcome.
Think back to the morning of 5 November 1881, when nearly 1700 armed constabulary stormed the small Taranaki settlement of Parihaka. Expecting resistance, the army was instead met by singing children, freshly baked bread and more than 2,000 villagers sitting quietly on the marae. To this day, these extraordinarily peaceful but powerful gestures represent one of the defining moments in pacifism.
From Parihaka, to the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, to Mahatma Ghandi and India's fight for independence, history is littered with ordinary people who stood up and took action that led to real change.
Change need not be loud or brash. It can just as well be quiet and steady. All it needs is for people to recognise it as achievable and necessary and for people to act.
Right now we need this kind of momentum over climate change. It's widely accepted as the biggest threat the planet has ever faced. In addressing the problem, it's important to remember the power wielded by many people doing simple things.
This goes further than just the political power of demonstration; it's about actually being the change itself. From beer to civil rights, it's worked before, and with the earth now at a tipping point, we need it to work again.
