ZEITGEIST

Revolution is messy, but oh, that’s so hard to sell!

The blood spilled on the streets

Is packaged into pretty plastic bottles

And guzzled by those who wish

To position themselves on the Right

Side of History, shilled to us by

corporations wanting to cash in on cultural capital. Calls for change

Are drowned out amid consumers Clamouring

for a slice

of Revolutionary Valour and Vain—

glory; sanitised slogans printed and

reprinted, cries for justice cannibalised

And the cries of the voiceless fall upon deaf ears

While blatant lies of

‘We’re

On

Your

Side!’

Are spewed from every orifice of the earth.

Revolutionary rhetoric re-enacted by bad performers

Fuelling not the flames of social change but instead their own egos—

Burn down the theatres!

Set stage and actors alight!

Change comes not

Out of the mouths of clowns and ventriloquists’ dummies.

When will you realise: your performance is meaningless!

Enough with your stupid soliloquies of faux-solidarity! Stop shouting and

listen.

- Talola John

This poem was written out of frustration with an outpouring of performative activism, particularly from corporations, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests following George Floyd's unjust death. Many of these individuals and corporations continue to hold and perpetuate harmful prejudices, yet they attempt to express solidarity with the movement in order to seem 'woke' or socially conscious. Instead of engaging in performative activism, we should always be trying to listen to and amplify marginalised voices.

Biography: Talola is an Indian-Australian university student and an aspiring writer, illustrator and comic artist. She is deeply passionate about history, literature and the world she lives in.

Cover Photo Source: https://thewildcattribune.com/10174/news/performative-activism-rises-as-traditional-activism-becomes-a-trend-for-social-media/