Addy Pittenger, Arts & Life Editor Emeritus–

I would like to first turn attention to my good friend Ali Imran’s ‘24 article published in “The Bullsheet” on Feb. 26 which inspired this article. In that piece, Imran draws attention to the numerous extreme forms of protests that have been occurring in the U.S. over the genocide of Palestinians, and the lack of reaction from our own politicians to call for a ceasefire and an end to the occupation of Gaza. It is a very resonating read, and I encourage you all to read it as well.

We have seen acts of self-immolation like Aaron Bushnell’s dating back to 1963 with Thích Quang Duc, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, who set himself on fire in protest of the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government. All of my social media has recently pointed out the parallels of Bushnell’s and Quang Duc acts as well as the history of extreme protests. 

Self-immolation as a form of extreme protest is not new. In modern history, forms of self-immolation have been prominent during events such as The Vietnam War, Arab Spring, and the ongoing climate crisis, and the biggest message is, “something needs to change now.” People are willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to bring attention and awareness to political issues, feeling as if their messages in past attempts of smaller forms of protest are not enough. Out of desperation, they do what they feel will be sure to grab attention. There also seems to be a growing media narrative of, “who would ever do such a thing” being spread around. But this undermines the important question of, “how did things get so bad in the first place that people would resort to self-immolation?”

If self-immolation is the most extreme form of protest, then there are certainly other smaller forms of protests like boycotts, marches, sit-ins, walk-outs, and more. We have seen these be performed on and off our small campus on the Hill. The problem here, though, is that even these forms of protest can go unrecognized. The point of protests is to inconvenience the public for the purpose of drawing attention to the matter. Then there is also the consideration of large-scale and small-scale protests. A boycott, like the on-going Starbucks boycott, is a large-scale protest, and Denison SJP walk-outs and blockades are small-scale. Yet, public opinion starts to shift when protests occur on the small-scale because they inconvenience individuals on a more specific basis.

I draw back to last semester when Denison SJP blocked the front entrance of Slayter Hall, and the biggest criticisms were that people could not enter the building and that the protest was deemed, “performative activism.” In response to these statements, I point to the three other entrances to Slayter. Apologies if taking an extra 10 to 20 steps is too overbearing, but that is simply the point. As for the “performative activism,” there is nothing shallow or self-serving about reading off the names of victims who have been killed in Gaza. 

There is something to be said about the range of different forms of protest. Most likely, no one wants to sacrifice their life for the sake of conveying a message, but at the same time, it seems as if the public is becoming more apathetic to small-scale protests. So then, what is left for the public to engage in if all forms of protest are starting to lack participants? There are no extreme consequences for participating in school walk-outs or vigils under the American flag outside of Slayter, so I advise that if you have a stance on an injustice, then you engage as much as you can on the matter. 

It really comes down to a reflection of apathy or entitlement to call all protests unnecessary, or say that they won’t accomplish anything. Denison is progressive enough to have student activist clubs that promote marches in Columbus or public demonstrations on campus. We are a small enough school to have word spread about events that are occurring across the campus, and we are connected and mobile enough to engage in collaboration with other student organizations from across the country too. 

If a man can set himself on fire and have the public mourn his death while also fanning the flames for change, then students certainly have the ability to simply boycott Starbucks and go slightly out of their way to a small-business coffee shop or attend a campus-led public demonstration every once in a while.

Addy Pittenger ’24 is an international studies major from Columbus.