Reaching Out

In honor of a day that is set aside to celebrate people who have tried to make a difference in improving the human condition, I'd like to talk about Mark Ashton. Mark was a gay activist during the early '80s who realized that human rights can't just be fought for one group by one group. Everyone has to use what energy they have, when they have it, to stand up for everyone who is being oppressed.

During the very cruel miner's strikes of Thatcher's time in office, there were communities where the miners had nothing. No food, barely any heat. They were dependent on donations to stay alive. Ashton started a movement within the gay and lesbian activist community to take up donations for the miners.

Their donations were not met with a complete welcome by the mining community, and yet they persisted. They helped to make a difference and in turn, when the next Pride parade happened, the miners came to march with them.

Ashton has been honored in a lot of ways. There is a movie about his support with the miners, called Pride. The Mark Ashton Trust, created in his memory, is part of a larger HIV trust in England to help support people living with HIV. The Communards wrote a song for him called "For a Friend." The film Jean Genet is Dead is dedicated to his memory.

I see so much anger these days. People scream at each other, ban each other, shame each other, and constantly argue about things. They demand. They cajole. They whine. They think they are making a difference but the truth is, any difference you make with negativity is always going to be a shitty difference.

Mark Ashton started out his legacy by holding up a bucket and asking people to drop their spare change into it. He knew that one person's meaningly pocket change, when combined with that of a lot of others, could make a world of difference in the lives of people who had nothing.

People like Martin Luther King Jr and Mark Ashton didn't scream at others. They didn't snarl or send out angry internet mobs. They reached out. They stood firm on their ideas, but they also embraced the concept that we are human, all worthy of dignity, all worthy of safety, all worthy of life. If you really want to make a difference in this world, then try for something positive. Reach out to people who need you. Be a friend. Talk to someone. Look for understanding. Have some faith in the good. See where it takes you.