Last weekend, I participated in a flash mob in San Francisco targeting the bank Wells Fargo. We met, rehearsed the moves, planned our entrance into the bank lobby (as well as our escape route) and were able to perform in 3 locations – all in one afternoon. The dance, organized by SF Pride at Work, was about 4 minutes long, which meant that we were able to enter the bank, have our impact and depart long before the bank or police were able to organize a response. It was, altogether, a completely exciting experience and I can’t wait to do it again.

At our last White Noise dialogue, we focused on the Occupy movement. The conversation touched on facets of sexism and racism within the movement, as well as the roles of media, violence, self-marginalization and tactics. More specifically, one of the things we looked at was where white women were showing up within a movement that we recognize has a primarily white male face. Among the trends we noticed were that white women were highly represented within the Interfaith communities, in the conversations advocating inclusion, anti-racism and non-violence within the movement – and in the flash mobs.

And why is this? One thing we theorized is that these venues offered a simple way to plug in as well as the greatest safety, through the size of the crowd, the relative anonymity of the participants as well as the low risk for arrest. It also seems that folks are, in general, more likely to show up for things when they see themselves reflected in the faces of those organizing actions, events and movements and, so far, many of the flash mobs around the Occupy movement have been organized largely by white women (though the SF Pride at Work was organized by and drew a more diverse, queer crew).

Also, dance, performance and exhibition are more acceptable for women in the US, in general, and have become a historically sanctioned means for women to express their beliefs and opposition to oppression. A more subtle side of this is this is that white women, specifically, as holders of privilege, can interact more lightly with the themes we are trying to help surface through these actions. We are not putting our lives, our safety and our well-being at stake in the same way that people of color might be doing in the same situations. And, while it is important that we acknowledge the privilege that allows us to more safely enter mainstream establishments in order to protest the pillars they stand on, it is also positive that we have found a way to allow more and more people to plug into movements for social and economic change.

Flash mobs, as Levana said to me recently, are like a gateway drug. (Or, as Zara put it, they’re a kind of Trojan Horse strategy). It welcomes participation, invites folks to learn more about issues without a high amount of risk, can be good PR (when done well) and energizes our movements. We just have to be careful that we don’t let these actions replace our other tactics and don’t think that showing up one time releases us from ongoing responsibilities.

This piece was created through conversation with Levana and Zara. We recognize that so much more needs to be said about this topic. Let us know your thoughts.