Conflicted-Experience
In certain situations, we all have ideas of how to act based upon what the other person expects so they can interpret our actions and apply meanings to them. When we started our ethnographic study on Social movements in Belgium, I was very excited and curious as my knowledge of social movements and its operation has and is still very scanty. As an International student from a developing country, I felt I had a lot to learn and understand from social movements presence in A developing country, Belgium. Back in My country I was part of several social movements, so I thought as I am not too sure if they were social movements or strikes or demonstrations… as they are not clearly defined or differentiated in my country. Whichever the case, I promised myself to stay away from social movements or any form of protests accompanied by huge public gatherings. Yeah!!!! this might sound strange to some but believe me I know my Kenyans would understand my decision.
So, before I narrate my experience that led to my above decision, let me go back to my honors research. So, in 2020 February my colleagues and I decided to attend a social movements protest organized by Belgium Youth for climate change graced by the famous Greta Thunberg. I was skeptical about going against my decision or feelings of protests but who wouldn’t want to share platforms with Greta… my friends back at home would not have believed I had seen or even was in the same vicinity with Greta. From the moment I stepped out of the train station in Brussels, I could feel the uniqueness of the climate change protest. Though the weather was unstable with the on and off rains, the energy of the groups present was infectious. However, there they were the reason I detested protests back in my country, the police. I have always believed that encoding plays an important role in processing information and helps us in forming memories, for me, if my memory serves me well, police presence means fire. Kenyans always chant a slogan ‘where there's smoke there must be fire’….and protests represented smoke and police the fire. The culture of excessive use of force by the Kenyan police in their interactions with the public during gatherings and protests is what gives me chills when it comes to movements. However, after witnessing the calm and well-coordinated Brussels, Belgium youth for climate change protest, I was presented with unending dilemmas, questions and challenges that speak to the theory as well as practice of policing. Keeping public order is one of the traditional missions of police services. Public gatherings and protests often present scenarios that theoretically and practically test this mission.
Have you ever been in a place where one foot was ready to run while the other was in the mission of staying? That was me all throughout the movement. The youth for climate change movement was in response to the reluctance displayed by the leadership and society on matters regarding climate change and justice. The anger, frustrations, rage and outburst exhibited by the protesters signaled the depth of the matter. . Being a youth led protest, I thought I would only come into contact with youths as that was the ‘identity constructed by the headline’. Nevertheless, it was surprising to find both old and youth under the umbrellas of the collective identity of ‘YOUTH’. The continuous negotiations, dialogue and adaptation of the collective identity by the Protesters was outstanding, chants such as, WE want climate justice, emphasized such ‘identity’.
The presence of children accompanied by their parents and older families was something very interesting. It is rare to see children in protest back in my country but by now you might have a clue why. The European or developed world form of collectivism, greatly helps steer shared concerns and forge their collective action response. Michael Taussing text on I swear I saw this…. Just echoes my disbelief because for sure believe me when I say, for the first time in years, I swear I saw the great coexistence between the children, youths, aged and the policemen.