“You don’t lead by lip service. You lead by example.” –Jim Leyland
Inspired by Clutch Magazine, it came to me to post on what it means to be politically or socially progressive, the contradictions therein, and misperceptions of the stereotypes.
The obvious first example is that of the stereotypical Black voting bloc, fiscally progressive but socially conservative. We might even use as examples those elected to uphold the Constitution but have tough times practicing that. I’m also, however, speaking on when progressivism morphs from the abstract to the personal, the moment you must walk your talk.
So...what do I really do?
For example, one could support her Latino sisters and brothers in the struggle for immigration reform, and in contrast, be pressed to rationalize the influx of Hispanic immigrants looking for opportunity in her hometown.
One could give emphatic lip service to reversing Prop 8, holding that we should be happy love is found anywhere in this sometimes-maddening world, and conversely be uncomfortable with man-to-man or woman-to-woman expressions of affection. (As a friend of mine says, the world is fine with Ricky Martin coming out of the closet, but when will we see him sing love ballads to the objects of his affection?)
Of course, I’m not immune, so I don’t say these things from on high. Folks assume that because I’m a vegetarian, I should be sporting “Save the Whale” T-shirts and such, picketing my local grocer because folks shouldn’t be eating eggs anyway. Au contraire, I will kick a squirrel in a heartbeat if it looks at me too hard. Too, I’m an advocate for the safe use of chemicals in our food and cosmetics, but I ain’t going a week without this (in my defense, it doesn’t contain parabens).
The point is, folks, as I’ve been saying from the start, we’re all walking contradictions. I’d rather be in the surface-level progressive camp with the following in mind, though: that following my lip service I incrementally incorporate these stances into my walk, eventually to be proud and confident that I am not spouting these “for” and “against” notions because they are PC, but because I believe in them and want to work toward a world where they are fully executed.
So we shout the slogan and think on what it means—then we do a little more. Shout and think—and do a little more . . . till we’re walking revolutions.