I must confess that when I sat down for our lecture on the French Revolution, I was confused. I felt determined to figure out how this idea of a revolution was impacting my everyday life. So, I began where most people would begin – by googling the definition of a revolution. The term ‘Revolution’ is defined as a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favour of a new system’. That is when I realised how my Instagram and Facebook was inundated with supportive photos, websites, comments, books etc. The Black Lives matter movement is our revolution. I was reading the Washington Post when I came across an article that stated, “Are we on the brink of a revolution”. Whilst reading further into the article I noted the quote “Revolutions do not necessarily erupt at the moment when people are most oppressed. Rather, revolutions have more often been the result of “rising expectations.” Which I believe sums up Zizek’s lecture and the protesting that is occurring perfectly. People are not just protesting the unforgivable death of George Floyd, they are protesting for themselves, their children, and their families and friends, they are protesting for equality. Equality in life should just be a given right. Donald Trump responded to the marches and protests with violence, instead of actually hearing what the people had to say, he called in the army to control them, and placed curfews on the times they were allowed out of their homes. Yes, there have been some who have been resorting to violence in their protesting, but Zizek stated in his lecture “Conflicts have context and contexts have conflicts”, people around the world have said that enough is enough – they have to be heard. I also thought about the peaceful protesting and started to put it in context of New Zealand. Parihaka in the Taranaki region is a well-known site of protest in New Zealand, where on November 5th 1881 Maori peacefully protested the right to their land. After their land was being confiscated by the British, Maori who had already endured so much pain and heart ache, decided that the way for their voices to be heard was to protest – peacefully. The British who were policing the area were fully armed and ready for violence – but Maori did not believe that violence would achieve any results and chose peaceful, non-violent resistance. So instead they sat, sung songs and greeted the British officials with open arms. But the British officials did not like this, and so they had the Maori leaders of this settlement arrested. I think in some way the Black Lives Matter Movement or revolution relates to the peaceful protesting at Parihaka, both of which the peaceful methods of protesting were responded to with threats and violence. I can only speak for myself when I say that I believe that this is – and will be a ‘positive’ revolution and a long overdue one. Zizek mentioned the quote “every generation writes its own history” which I believe is an appropriate quotation for this generation.

 

Adams, C. “Are we on the brink of revolution?”. The Washington Post, June 4 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/06/04/are-we-brink-revolution/