A niece of mine brought to my attention an exceptionally inspiring video for, of all things, a basketball training camp. The video repeatedly asks, “What if you were blind?”, prodding viewers to consider whether such an irrefutable handicap would stop them from pursuing excellence. I could not help but think of the members and constituents of grassroots organizations and initiatives that I help administer as Executive Director of “The Law Project” (TLP). Not all, but many of them, including me, have been emotionally and financially devastated by what seems to be unlawful abuses of power for which America’s legal system has not provided relief. Having the virtue and vice of bull dog persistence, I somewhat struggle to remember that people are not equally resilient in the face of such life altering tragedies. So the “I’m Possible” basketball training camp video I reference compels me to ask, “What if TLP − its viability, the hope it offers, were your only possible triumph over adversity. If you have not already, would you become a dedicated legal reform and whistleblower protection advocate?”
Frankly, I believe that personal relief and the experience of being made whole are integral parts of justice and the greater good. Of course there are times that victory eludes us and our only vindication is through helping others succeed. But selflessness is not necessarily a trait of committed good government activists as far as I am concerned. Instead, their hallmark is what a colleague of mine describes as a “movement mentality”; the willingness to be part of and not simply benefit from a lawful, effective reform movement. And this involvement reflects more than a willingness to do major media interviews, cameos, or otherwise bask in the spotlight of highly publicized reform efforts.
Perhaps true activists are born, not made. Not everyone grooves on making lemonade when life gives them lemons. Even Christ momentarily prayed to be spared a bitter cup. Yet to have adversity thrust upon you or anyone, and consider responding with dignified, lawful resistance to be worse than succumbing in wretched defeat, is to misunderstand what healthy activism entails.
Despite lacking major institutional support, TLP combats deeply entrenched, serious misconduct and corruption by some of the most powerful malefactors imaginable. Our biggest obstacles are an apparent, widespread perception that such an adversary must be toppled by a more powerful foe, and a belief it will never emerge from the collective will of average Americans at the behest of TLP or similar advocates. The corresponding misperception is that TLP is an exercise in futility, fueled by obsession or some other pathology.
Actually TLP is led by people charting a new course for their lives and careers when one or both were unjustly derailed, or disrupted by injustice suffered by others. Those without the wherewithal to join us on metaphorical frontlines of good government advocacy can nonetheless support our efforts in all manners of ways while “moving on” as non-activists should that be their choice. Alternatively and at least theoretically, the role of activist can be maintained without triggering imbalance in anyone’s life. Predictable and therefore reliable volunteers help make that possible, even when their contributions are otherwise small.
In fact small contributions by many are key to TLP’s success. Only by thinly spreading the cost and burden of its task among reform minded people is TLP likely to persevere. To be effective, TLP and organizations like it must persist as surely as the misconduct and corruption they help resist. These dark forces can be worse than Hydra, with tentacles stretching far throughout local, extending to and through national as well as international networks. Fortunately the great monster withers through exposure, i.e. credible, reasonably objective revelations − not tabloid rants.
Through its various projects, programs, and initiatives, TLP strives to provide practical assistance for personal relief and broader, worthwhile reforms. That our sights soar above any one case should not suggest we disregard individual cases. TLP undertakes case-based advocacy AND tackles systemic problems that regularly make sustained grassroots advocacy the last best chance for personal victory.
Again, I can be too literal with my “Just Do It” approach to life, but if you never overcame a single miscarriage of justice, would there not be dignity and some triumph in:
• gathering at least once with a half dozen or more people to consider restoring the balance of power between America’s judges and its sovereign people by abolishing state judicial self-policing and instituting other lawful modes of judicial oversight through National Forum On Judicial Accountability;
• parlaying TLP’s mainstream appeal into a massive challenge of family court fact-finding processes and plea bargaining as presently instituted in America through the “More Than Solomon Project” and “Plea for Justice Program”;
• helping ensure that corrupt and corrupted U.S. government officials (state and federal) are not unduly exempted from international scrutiny through OAK’s “RESPECT Human Rights Campaign”;
• helping foster generations of youth intolerant of substantial waste, fraud, and abuse and reasonably protected from retaliation should they whistleblow as is the mission of Drum Majors for Truth;
• striving to reasonably protect corporate and government insiders who expose intolerable misconduct and corruption at great personal risk which is a goal of all TLP affiliates;
• applauding the beacons of hope who periodically receive POPULAR’s “Restore Integrity Award”; and
• continuing to forge the connection between art and justice through TLP’s “Theatre for Justice”?
Certainly the foregoing organizations, programs, and initiatives would never replace direct pursuits of personal well being. But what is the chance of anyone overcoming injustice if such nonprofit endeavors (regardless of sponsor) cannot be sustained through small contributions by many? If we categorically forego them, is that not tantamount to embracing defeat?
Zena Crenshaw-Logal, Esq.*
Executive Director
"The Law Project"
*Bar admissions limited to 7th Cir. COA