More than 1,500 activists recreate Picasso's "Amnistia" to protest the unprecedented prosecution of Greenpeace by the Justice Department.
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.