My oldest and dearest friend has been living in Northern Africa in Tunisia with her family for the last year. Into the new year she was giving us regular updates on the unrest in the country, as the 23 yr Presidential dictator declared a state of emergency when protestors spoke out about the rising unemployment and claims of government corruption; he dissolved the government and then fled the country while the Prime Minister declared power. I learned of evening curfews, gunshots and looting in the streets nearby. I was worried for her and her family, sleeping together in one room and debating evacuation for safety.
All along I was watching the comparisons between the situation in Tunisia and in Egypt as journalists mused over how nearby Egypt would deal with similar challenges of dissent, political upheaval and demonstrations about their authoritarian regime with President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
It was the topic of conversation in our office this morning as we learned Egypt had effectively closed its mind to the 21st century and ‘turned off’ the internet last night to reduce the ability for protestors to mobilize and allow both their own citizens and the rest of the world know what was happening. No twitter, no Facebook, no Blackberry service, no internet. From what I understand this is censorship stronger than when any other country has blocked access to information. I didn’t even know it was possible.
The shock turned to gratitude for the freedom of speech and expression we enjoy in Canada. Sure there was the firm handling of the G8 protests or frustrations with some access to information, but I can’t ever imagine the country blocking any type of 21st century communication, in attempt to stop unrest. This can only make citizens more frustrated and angry with the government, non? When the people are united, they will find a way. And what they are asking for – solutions to poverty, reduction in food prices, corruption, and need for communication – is worth speaking out for.
These protests caused me to revisit earlier discussions I’ve had with GSA speaker and veteran activist Judy Rebick, who believes in the power of building a movement from the bottom-up and who studied the rise of participatory democracy in Bolivia. Author of Transforming Power: from the personal to the political, Rebick shares: “what emerges from the new political directions around the world is that transforming power at every level is what is common and central to progressive social change in the 21st century. Envisioning and creating a new world in the soil of the old is critical to building movements for change…”
She notes the power is in the process that ‘brings communities of people together to produce something new; building a movement from the bottom up; emphasizing co-operation and consensus over confrontation and political partisanship, and spreading ideas and actions through local and global networks.’
The voice of the people is struggling to be heard and they will find a way to communicate and spread their message, even if the internet goes dark.
