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The dictionary will tell you that an activist is simply "a person who campaigns to bring about political or social change", but I've never been one to leave lexicographers as the sole arbiters of meaning.
Words, like people, shift and move with the times. If we reduce activism to wanting to bring about change, then anyone with a view on marriage equality, refugees, Indigenous affairs or renewable energy is an activist.
That definition is far too broad, and if everyone is an activist then what's the point of the word?
I think it's more useful to look at how the term is used online and in the media.
The term "activist" seems to be applied more to those on the left than those on the right, and it tends to go hand in hand with environmentalism, student politics and unionism.
And if you're Indigenous, it appears you only need voice an opinion to be labelled an "Aboriginal activist". (The other go-to label is "Aboriginal leader", but that's another story.)
"Aboriginal activist" seems to have an alliterative appeal that rolls right off the tongue, but like "much of a muchness" it doesn't necessarily mean anything.
When I was employed as a teacher, I was referred to as a teacher — that made sense.
But when I left teaching and worked as a freelancer — training, consulting, researching, writing, speaking and running the social media project IndigenousX — I began to be introduced as an "Aboriginal activist", or sometimes an "online activist".
Perhaps it was the combination of having various opinions and highlighting opportunities for change.
Admittedly, I have been involved with various campaigns, and am rarely short of an opinion, but I've never really thought of myself as an activist.
For me, the term evokes images of legendary campaigners and activists: the Freedom Riders, FCAATSI, Grandmothers Against Removal, Mum Shirl, Jack Patten, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, the protesters at Standing Rock, Black Lives Matter, and too many more to name.
People who dedicated themselves to their causes; people who strategised and petitioned, organised, collaborated, marched, and held demonstrations.
People who faced incarceration, abuse, physical violence, threats, dogs, pepper spray, and other consequences I have rarely been at serious risk of encountering.
To me an Aboriginal activist is not just anyone with an opinion, and it isn't even anyone willing to get arrested or march down a street. Activism is a set of skills, a set of strategies.
It is about responding to the failings and limitations of our society with purpose and conviction, and offering alternatives.
I think part of my unease with the term is an extension of Australia's own unease with activism.
As the self-proclaimed land of the fair go and the Aussie battler, you'd think we'd identify with activists, with Dave versus Goliath. "It's Mabo. It's the constitution. It's the vibe."
Yet all too often, activists in Australia are framed as whingers, selfish rabble, careerists and easily offended rent-a-crowds.
Aboriginal activists often face sustained animosity — Australia doesn't want to see Aboriginal people as David, or itself as Goliath.
That would turn the image of the beloved Aussie underdog on its head, reframing it in light of theft, murder and dispossession.
There's fear there — that we might want to take the farm back or, somehow, your backyard.
Aboriginal people's response to that fear pops up everywhere, including in the Warumpi Band classic From the Bush:
You can keep your Opera House and your MCG. You can keep your company home, it don't mean nothing to me.
We're not trying to take away your suburban backyard. We won't be stealing any sheep down on your farm.
Our life is different to yours. What are you worried for?
You got the money, you've got the lot. You've got it all but you still don't stop.
It also comes up in a classic Basically Black sketch from the 1970s.
Were these commentaries acts of activism?
When simply being Aboriginal is seen as a political act, any expression or perspective that stems from that identity is seen as activism.
But what is the difference between an activist and an advocate? Or an activist and a lobbyist?
Is it their level of access to politicians? Is it their income or bank balance? Is it to do with their brand of politics?
My lack of interest in the term is not because of any lack of respect for activists and for activism.
No serious gain in Aboriginal rights has ever come about without years of tireless hard work and campaigning.
For me though, there are so many other words that better sum up my identity and my methods. I am a teacher, writer, editor, digital producer and public speaker. I am a collaborator and a mentor. I am a fiancée and a father.
Maybe I'm what some refer to as an "accidental activist", or maybe I am an activist in waiting.
In my own eyes, though, I'm just a teacher without a classroom, hoping to help make more people aware and informed of often ignored perspectives.
Because in 20 years, I don't want my kids to live in a society that sees their very existence as an act of activism.
Topics: activism-and-lobbying, government-and-politics, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, indigenous-policy, community-and-society, australia
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