Jeroen is part of the family. Literally. He is the partner of Frederik’s one and only sister,
which makes Jeroen my one and only brother-in-law. Both environmental activists, Laura and Jeroen met when they were joining a solidarity action in the Lappersfortbos near Bruges, which was at the time being
occupied in order to be saved from clearcutting. Jeroen used to be a very Jezus-like figure, but over the
years, his hair got shorter and shorter. His change in appearance, however, did not affect his principles
and activism. He is very driven to make the world a better place, an attitude I admire him for. Over the
last few years, he (and a friend) founded their own non-profit organization called LABO. With their
organization, they promote social and political change by making individuals aware of their own power as
active and responsible citizens. As a scholar of Hannah Arendt, I applaud this goal wholeheartedly, and I
am not the only one! Succeeding in a very hard application process, they got governmental funding for
their organization, an extraordinary achievement!
MY THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE JEROEN:
COMMITTED
It wasn’t until I met Jeroen that I understood what the word ‘activist’ truly meant. It is not about going to
a protest once in awhile, nor having heated arguments with your relatives or friends, like I like to have. Activism is a way of life. It
is a life of commitment. Jeroen left halfway a lucrative contract with the Court of Audit of Belgium (Rekenhof) for a badly paid job in social work. And then, he worked even harder to get his non-profit organization going and funded.
ERUDITE
His passion for action goes hand in hand with his passion for knowledge. When it comes to activism and
critical citizenship, he literally knows what he is doing. He devours all the theories and books on the
topics he is working on and he shares his knowledge on the blog of LABO, which is well worth a read!
ELOQUENT
Some people are of little words. Jeroen is not such a man. He loves words and word play, and he is good
at it. He used to give speeches at our family Christmas parties – attended by all five of us. Fortunately, he
has found a more willing audience since. He also raps and writes poems. In 2011, he was shortlisted for a
urban spoken word project, and he has continued to write occasional slam poetry since. He is also into
improvisation theatre.
I have limited myself to three describing words, so I am going to stop here, but not before I point out how
nicely Jeroen has merged these talents into his daily job, that is, his own organization. Through Theater of
the Oppressed, theatrical forms developed by Augusto Boal, he helps the participants of his workshops
transform from victims to actors, first on stage, then in real life. He literally made it his job to teach
commitment, using the stage and his gift for words as his tools!
MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU:
What did you think of the three words I picked for you? Do they correspond with your self-image
or not? And if not, which ones would you have picked?
I think quite some people who know me well would agree on those words, so I guess there must
be some truth to them. I don’t like talking too much about myself, as society is already way to
ego driven as it is. When asked about his past, the anarchist novelist B Traven always
answered: “A creative man doesn’t need a biograpy, his work is his biography”. I
hope my practice will tell more about me than some pieces of an identity. Nevertheless, I like the
idea of being committed to a cause. The word does describe my focus on working for the long
haul rather than being a ‘sprinter’. I also might have picked words as ‘passionate’ (which
connects the commitment with ‘soul’ and ‘fire’) and ‘reflective’, as I like to question sometimes
even more than to answer. I definitely would not have picked ‘erudite’, although your description does fit
how I (and I guess others) see myself. My hesitation with the word goes back to some elitist
connotation I believe the word has combined with the realisation that book knowledge, however
valuable, is often overrated in comparison with the lived experience of daily life and struggle.
This is one of the lessons I learned from Paulo Freire, who – the irony! – wrote some of the
books I refer to often. However, I see this lesson confirmed in my daily work with people whose
wisdom transcends by far the amount of books they ever read – if any.
Could you tell us what goals you support and what organizations you are in or have been in?
The main framework for my work as an activist is fighting oppression and striving for collective
liberation. When I say oppression, I mean all systems and mechanism that dehumanise people,
strip them from their dignity, silence their voices and render them to passive objects, instead of
active subjects. As the great author and activist Arundhati Roy says so well: “There’s no such
thing as the voiceless, there are only those who are deliberately silenced or preferably
unheard.” [Yes indeed, the same Roy as from the book The God of Small Things.]
If you don’t like the “fighting oppression” part, the more uplifting collective liberation frame might
do better for you. However, both go well hand in hand, and it’s good to realize that there is no
social progress without struggle, as the abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass once wrote. The
“collective” in “collective liberation” is important in two ways: It means we can’t change
oppressive systems by falling into the trap of individualist – consumerist? – change. Certainly, I
would encourage a more ethical lifestyle, but we’ll need collective action to accomplish meaningful
change. Secondly, the ‘collective’ also implies that we all have to gain some humanity. As Paulo Freire
pointed out: “We should fight the desire within some of the oppressed to become the new
oppressors, but rather prepare them for their historical role to liberate both of them from their
relationship of oppression.”
As you can’t fight all forms of oppression at the same time, I also have to prioritize which
battlefields I’m most committed to (for now). Over the last years, my activism has focused mainly on
two issues: refugee rights/migrant justice on the one hand and climate justice on the other.
I’ve been involved in quite a number of both formal organizations and informal networks or
activist groups. Right now, the bulk of my time is invested in LABO vzw, a movement for critical
citizenship, combining popular education (emancipatory workshops and trainings) with social
action and campaigns. Before, I’ve been involved in a variety of groups such as Dissent!
(mobilising against G8 summits), Young Friends of the Earth Europe, Climate Action Camp
(Belgium), Vredesactie (training in non-violent direct action) and JNM (environmental youth
movement).
How does one become an activist? How did you become an activist? And why?
I don’t know the original source by heart, but there are those few powerful lines, that apparently often got cited by the activists in SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee or “snick”), a movement I strongly admire and that played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights
Movement. I often use these lines when highlighting a dilemma we should all confront when
hesitating to take action ourselves: “If not you? Who? If not now? When?”
When seeing the many crises our societies are confronting nowadays, to wait might no longer be
an option. There is no saviour to hope for, rather hope rests in an active engagement to
transform society ourselves. There is no guarantee for success, but there are options to explore,
cracks in the system to exploit and expand, possible other stories to write, and futures to
envision.
I think the idea of taking action, becoming part of the change we need, as critical citizens, is far
more important than focusing on the identity of ‘becoming activist’. The sound of it draws a
picture of a commitment that not everyone might be able to make. However, we all have
opportunities to withdraw our consent with a system that oppresses and to support and nurture
seeds of change.
My personal journey has definitely been impacted by the people whose roads I crossed. The
roots to engage in activism were there, I guess, but buried deep under impotence, self-doubt and
other constraints we are socialised in. Meeting a friend, and later many others, and in the
process of reading many more stories of people who chose to act, made all the change.
Do you consider your activism a passion or a profession? What makes it worth your while?
Neither! The activism is a means, not a goal. Social change or collective liberation, that
would be the passion I have signed up for.
Seeing activism as a profession would really spell the end to activism. Activism should
always be informed by a passion for justice and a commitment to fight oppression, which has
nothing to do with a pay check. The revolution will not be funded (maybe crowd funded to some
extent), as the title of an important book on the non-profit industrial complex (yes, it is as scary
as it sounds!) reads. However, it’s true that nowadays my job in the organisation also pays my
bills, which remains a tricky balance one should never really be too comfortable with.
Doing what I do, I’ve seen the best of humanity where you wouldn’t expect it and I’ve seen people
standing up against the worst of humanity well aware of the personal cost and sacrifice. What
more reward does one need?
How often did or do you hear “You are an idealist/dreamer/idiot!” And what did/do you reply?
Many times! Especially the ‘idealist’ or ‘dreamer’ thing. Too often to count definitely, although it
has gotten less by aging. When you stick to your principles long enough (and beyond the
student years), respect and credibility seem to increase. You also get less defensive as
you don’t feel as much an urge to convince the other if your own vision has rooted deep enough
to feel confident of what you believe in. Of course, when hearing you, many people still believe the
ideas you proclaim might be worthwile but are simply impractical or impossible to reach. Whoever
voices such concerns I would answer nowadays: “You might be right or wrong, but if we agree
that something is terribly wrong with how things work today – and we often do – why not trying?”
Nowadays, when faced with the ‘dreamer’ or ‘idealist’ objection, I often say: “Let’s see. I
don’t have any blueprints for a brighter tomorrow to offer. But I know these two things. First of all, nothing has ever been reached by waiting for a saviour. Secondly, the realistic option today seems to be to settle for ecological devastation, brutally protected borders and increasing
inequality.” The realistic scenario might well lead us to the collapse of most of humanity in a few
generations as the end of the world seems much more likely than the end of capitalism to most.
If that is the deal offered by the realist, I’ll answer straightforward and firmly that I’ll never settle
for such a bad deal. And never forget that all great accomplishments from the past, started with
stubborn disobedience and a refusal to only have realistic goals. Without the dreamers who
fought to realise the end of apartheid, segregation, paid holidays or the right to vote, where
would we be today? Indeed, we would still need to dream about the dreams of yesterday, that
have now become the norm. So let us rather dare to dream about tomorrow and think about
what to do today to be able to do tomorrow what we can’t yet do right now.
What do you consider the biggest challenge of being an activist? Have you ever considered
giving it up and if so, what was the reason?
I think there are quite some challenges in being an activist nowadays. However, I strongly
believe you can’t separate the challenges from your identity and position. Depending on where
you live, how you look and many other factors, other challenges will be more dominant. I want to
pay homage to those activists in the global south risking everything on a daily base. Whatever
challenge I face is like a drop in the ocean compared to theirs. As a white middle class man
living in Western Europe, my main challenges are less related to survival and more to finding a
balance between maintaining integrity and being effective. It’s about resisting the
bureaucratization of our minds, yes, even decolonizing our minds. And definitely, it’s not giving
in to social pressure to confirm to the norm and finding a support system to nurture you to
prevent burn-out or drop-out due to disillusionment. In a highly secular society, it is also about
finding meaning and a bigger picture to relate to. There are moments where I drown in practicalities distracting me from
what really matters. There are times where I lack the energy to act in the ways I would love to
act. But giving up? Not really. This struggle is where I find hope, it’s where I find my community,
it’s the center of my life. It’s not always easy but I wouldn’t change this life for any other.
How has having your own non-profit organization changed you (and your activism)?
There’s some good parts to this change, but also things that make me wonder (and worry). It
created new opportunities. A space to learn, a space to grow. To meet others and connect. We
are building day by day. There’s an opportunity to strategize, to look beyond tomorrow. On the
other hand, there is more responsibility and there are more risks of co-optation and
bureaucratization. Too much time and energy is lost to administration. Time we should be spending on
building communities and doing grassroots social change work.
How does your average workday look like?
There’s no such a thing! Every day is different. Some ingredients: meetings, writing, planning, creative
reflection, reading and working with people in workshops or to prepare an action. Sad reality is that too
much of my working day is spent on the computer. Even though I realise that the revolution will not be
tweeted, I’m often stuck in a digital world, as so many others. So I would say, let’s stop having this
conversation online, switch off the computer (and yes, your mobile phone too) and see you in the streets!
What book(s) are you reading right now?
I have a hard time sticking to one book at a time. So I’m currently reading a couple of books,
picking one depending on my mood. There’s “Suddenly They Heard Footsteps” from Dan
Yashinsky, about the power of storytelling. And then an old book I found a second hand
copy of: a training manual for citizen activism from Greg Speeter. Preparing for a journey to
Morocco, I’m reading in alternative travel guide by feminist activist Fatima Mernissi (all credits to
Laura who shove the book in my hands). And lastly, I’m reading in two books on the ideas and
practice of my “political father”, Paulo Freire. One book is by Margaret Ledwith and focuses on applying Freire’s
ideas in social work practice today. The other by James Kyrilo and Drick Boyd and focuses on the
influence of faith and spirituality in his work.
If I can recommend only three people who deeply inspired me and whom you should really
check out, it would be Paulo Freire, Ella Baker and Audre Lorde. The first, a revolutionary
educator, and the last, a black feminist heroine who wrote many gems to choose from. To learn more
on Ella Baker, the strong women behind the SNCC scenes, you’ll have to pick some of the
recent books on her. Oh, and read “Hope in the Dark” by Rebecca Solnit. Every year I reread
the book or at least part of it, to realize that yes, we live in dark times, but hell yeah, there’s so
much we can do if we are willing to see it.
Have you ever lived abroad? Have you ever considered moving to another country? Which one
and why?
The only reason I could imagine to move somewhere else is if I wouldn’t find any possibilities to contribute to meaningful activism close to home. As long as I find accomplices to use the cracks in this system as a window of opportunity to struggle for a more just society here and now, I’ll stick to my ground. After all, the terrain you know best is the one where you can fight most efficient. I like to spend time elsewhere, but I have no intention of finding a new homebase.
THANK YOU, JEROEN!