I wish that I had good answers to your questions, but I do not. Instead, I can only respond by saying what I do .... or at least try to do.
Way back when I was a student at a community college, there was a day when my sociology teacher told our class, "Well, we have some sort of celebrity here." He was a good man, with a social conscience, and wasn't saying this to pick on me. He explained to the class that the FBI had senta few gentlemen to our campus, to "talk" to the deans about my working with a couple "frats" to raise funds for Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's legal defense fund. Now, this was when the general public believed Rube was a vicious, racist mass-murderer. And so the deans, not aware of who Rubin really was -- much less why he was incarcerated on a triple-life sentence -- had spoken to my teachers, trying to figure out what manner of young man I was.
In my files on the work I did with Carter's defense, I have a letter that I received shortly after that day. It was from an assistant director of the FBI, and said that Carter was guilty of murder, and not a particularly good "cause" for an idealistic youngster to take up. The curious thing was that the agency had long denied having any information on Carter. That letter would help our attornies secure Rubin's file -- which, despite being largely blacked out, was interesting. Combined with the Caruso file, it indicated what had really happened that June night in 1966. And that Rubin Carter was no murderer.
I accept the fact that being involved in social/political activities draws attention. And not only the attention of the audience one attempts to communicate with. I could tell some stories about exactly this.
I've long admired Malcolm X. He told the truth. And he really couldn't be smeared, because he told the truth about where he came from. He knew that there was no shame in saying that he used to inhabit the gutter; only in saying that one still choses to stay in that gutter. I like that. And I have no problem in saying I used to be a "bad" teenager. Once again, I could tell some stories.
I do not hide what I am doing. In fact, I make a point of reaching out to the opposition. I believe that the tactics of Gandhi and King offer us our greatest opportunity to make meaningful changes in our culture. This belief frees me from any fear. I'm not foolish enough to think that I am capable of making any significant change by myself. But, by changing myself, I am able to be part of that larger effort to bring about progress. And that's all I need.
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