Animal Rights Movement

In listening to the presentation given in class today on the Animal Rights Movement, I was reminded of our class discussion awhile back in which it was stated that PETA advertises itself through the use of naked women. At the time, I had no clue what PETA was and I was confused at what message they were trying to get across by photographing naked women. But hearing the presentation on the Animal Rights Movement and subsections within, made it a bit more clear. Yet I still have a hard time swallowing the use of pornography in an attempt to support a movement. I understand the philosophy of using a graphic image to draw attention; I was, after all, the one who presented a movement built off of that same strategy. The difference, however, was that Justice For All uses pictures of images relevant to their movment. They show pictures of aborted babies to get the public thinking about abortion. Emmett Till's mother showed the world a picture of her black son's murdered body to get the world thinking about the racisist injustice occuring. But female nudity to draw attention to animals and their fur? Not enough justification if you ask me.

Although this type of advertising may attract the attention of the public (especially considering pornography is a million dollar industry), I do not think it is a wise strategy for PETA to use. I believe different methods of catching the attention of the public can be thought of than degrading women and their bodies. Where are high standards our country once knew? Where are the values? I believe the Animal Rights Movement works for a good cause and is an important movement. So the fact that naked women are photographed in their advertisments is like a double negative. Its hypocritical. Protesting one indecency to advocate another cancels itself out. I vote PETA finds a new strategy.

Presentation on N.O.W.

I found the presentation done on the National Organization for Women, or NOW, social movement to be particularly interesting. When I think of feminism as a movement, I often think of it in past tense because it is not a movement I often hear about in the mainstream news. I usually think of the fight for women’s right to vote and the struggle of women breaking in to the workforce as the feminist movement, but do not see it existing today. With the so called “third wave” of NOW, it is easier to put the present day action taking place into perspective. As we have learned in our class this semester, there is often much work going on under the radar that is not seen by the public eye. Just because I do not hear of large NOW protests going on, does not mean the feminist movement is a movement of the past.

I think that as more women achieve high levels of education, the power of women will increase and give more dominance to movements such as NOW. With educated women graduating school and seeking jobs, some of the top positions of power will be held by women. I think we will begin to see more action from feminist movements as the years go on, and roles of women in history will continue to increase and impact our society.

Praise the Unpraised

I found Paul Hendrickson’s article “The Ladies Before Rosa: Let Us Now Praise Unfamous Women” to be very interesting because it gives appreciation to the unknown women who are behind social movements; a topic within itself that is usually unaddressed. Hendrickson says that the civil rights movement, specifically, was driven by women who have never been heard of, or praised. This was largely because of their gender and their “behind the scenes” work. In most of the poor, black communities, the men had to work to support their families. As a result, the men had little time to be involved in the movement and much less interact with white men and women. The black women, however, had more time to come together and plan. The women also had political cover because people did not expect poor, black, uneducated women to take action. But boy were they wrong.

Many black women saw the impact that their involvement could have on their children. They saw that the more change they helped to bring about, the better life their own child would hopefully have. This was a huge motivation factor for women. If it weren’t for the involvement of so many undercover women in the civil rights movement, I believe that it would have taken a lot longer for change to come about. Most of the women did not mind that they did not receive credit for their action. Many of them were in fear that if they had been exposed then their lives would be in danger. I think it is important for us to remember all the “unfamous” women who took action and helped fight for their cause. This is seen not only in the civil rights movement, but in most movements today. Much of the work and organizing is done behind the scenes by many “small” people who do not usually receive credit. Looking at this year’s Obama campaign, you can see how he tried to play off of this concept by stressing the importance of every single individual. Obama knew that making everyday people feel important and special would encourage them to support him and take action because they would feel as if they were truly helping change come about. He also tried to constantly give credit, praise, and encouragement to them to keep them motivated and energized. We can see how this tactic largely worked and made thousands of people feel as if they were apart of something large and great and that they were united in their efforts to bring him to presidency. Obama knew people have a thirst for meaning and recognition in their lives, so it was very smart of him to play on that aspect of human lives. It obviously brought him much success.

As said in class, I think it is important to remember that behind every name we know and hear, there are many more names of people working behind them. A movement is rarely ever brought upon by one person. When you know someone has worked hard towards something without ever hearing but appreciation, make the point of encouraging them and thanking them for their contribution.

Letter From a Birmingham Jail

On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter commonly known as “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to white clergy men in response to their criticism. In this long letter, King answers to the criticism of his direct actions as being “unwise and untimely.” The 8 white clergy men believed the proper way to deal with injustice was through the courts, with patience and indirect action. While sitting in the Birmingham jail, King decided to write a response to these men to explain and defend his actions, as well as attempt to move them to see their unjust attitudes as well.

Being a clergy man himself, King knew that to argue his position to the white clergy gentlemen, would take specific references to the Bible and other sources they would find credible. For example, King compares his duty to carry the message of freedom “beyond his home town” to Paul’s journey from Tarsus to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. King is trying to get them to see that he cannot sit by “idly” and do nothing when there is much work to be done. The cause he is fighting for, he sees as worthy enough to give his life just as Paul did. King believed as did the clergy men, that Paul was doing the will of God by spreading the truth to people who did not have it. Similarly, King is saying that he must spread the truth of freedom to those who cannot see their injustice. King goes on to cite Socrates’ belief in the importance of creating tension in the mind of individuals to push them to seek truth, and compares it to the need to create tension in society to push people to awareness and action against the racism. He argues that nothing will change unless people do something. Hence, indirect action will get them no where.

King continues to argue that simply having patience and waiting for a situation to change is not possible. People who are doing the oppression will never be moved to stop oppressing unless they are forced to give it up. For example, Adolf Hitler would have continued to oppress millions of Jews and “unworthy” people had no one stepped in and put an end to the corruption. If the world had sat by and had “patience” that the evil killing would stop, who knows how long it would have continued. In the same way, King argues, people need to nonviolently take action so that negotiation can then occur and change can come about. He addresses the clergymen’s criticism about breaking the law by giving examples from the Bible and from history. He says that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego broke the law of King Nebuchadnezzar when they refused to worship another God. Our country broke the law during what became known as the Boston Tea Party, to take action to get the attention of the public. King wanted the clergymen to see that it is sometimes necessary to break laws which are unjust and morally wrong. By supporting his argument with Biblical and historical examples, he is able to strongly state why his behavior is not in the wrong, in a manner that will speak to the clergy.

Another point King touches on is his categorization as an extremist. He says that initially he was disappointed to have been called that, but then he realized that some of the greatest men were extremists for love and justice. Jesus was an extremist for love, Amos for justice, Paul for the Christian gospel, Lincoln for freedom, and Jefferson for equality. King says that if he can be an extremist for justice, freedom, and love than he is doing what he needs to be doing. Again, King is able to prove his point by finding powerful examples of stories that mirror his behavior.

After reading this letter, I was even more convinced that Martin Luther King’s strategies were just what was needed and were justified. I never disagreed with him, but I found it interesting to read his direct thoughts and hear his explanation behind his arguments. If I were one of the white clergymen, I would have been both convicted and convinced by King’s letter. I’d say King’s attempted at explaining, defending, and proving his point was successful and done in a professional, respectful manner.

Success in Social Movements

Della Porta and Diani discuss what it means to have success in social movements, in chapter nine of their textbook. They give 4 ways that success is measured within social movements. The first is policy. Many movements define themselves by the policy that they put out there. If they don’t achieve their goal, they fail. Della Porta and Diani, however, say that a passage of law doesn’t always mean anything, so measuring by policy is not a good method. The second is symbolic messages. Some movements think that spreading messages to others is most effective. Della Porta and Diani say that when this is done right, it can be more effective than policies because the law can change, but symbolic messages can be consistently effective. Yet social movements often still need the law to change what they want. The third measurement is increased influence of the movement. Politicians sometimes find ways to make movements part of the commission by ways such as giving normal citizens the right to participate. When this occurs, many movements feel as though they have reached a success. Yet the government can make those decisions to please the movements, without really giving them much power or gain. The fourth and final measurement Della Porta and Diana discuss is whether or not the movement leads to change throughout society. If their accomplishment emboldens other movements, then many people see the movement as a success.

Defining success within a movement is a tricky thing to do. Perhaps what really defines success is just a matter of opinion. In movements like the Civil Rights movement, it is evident that they achieved success because they made changes starting small, and ending big – end to segregation, the right to vote, and the road to true equality. However, all a long their journey to their final end results, there were many successes as each small victory contributed to the overall achievements of the movement. Maybe success can not be defined in the midst of present movements; maybe it takes looking back on past efforts and evaluating their effectiveness in the present. Perhaps true success is found in persistence, determination, and hard work a lone.

Civil Rights Movement

The Morris article “A Retrospective on the Civil Rights Movement: Political and Intellectual Landmarks”, is an overview of the importance of the Civil Rights movement in our history. Morris points out how important this is because he says that you can see a huge change in history because of the direct doing of the movement. There are a number of elements of this particular social movement that make it different and important from other social movements. One is the use of nonviolent protests that occurred in the Civil Rights Movement. This was a different strategy than most movements that had been seen, and as a result, it had a huge affect on the public. It showed maturity in part of the African Americans fighting for what they believed. It showed they were so serious about their cause that they were willing to try new methods of protest to fight earnestly and persistently. Martin Luther King and other leaders of the Civil Rights movement knew that violent protests before them had failed miserably, and so they knew that a different, unique approach would be in their best interest. Another strategy of the Civil Rights movement was communication technology. As this expanded, so did the social movement. The Civil Rights movement was one of the first large movements to be heavily covered by the media, with recordings and photos. This helped spread the news to people all over the country and worked in favor of the movement. Thirdly, there was much migration of blacks into cities, which made it easier for them to socialize and team up together. Although the pace of the Civil Rights movement seemed slow, these strategies helped to lead them to change in a permanent and effective manner. Each nonviolent protest led to another one, and created a ripple effect.

The Gordon article entitled “Black Males in the Civil Rights Movement” discusses the importance of individuals within movements. For example, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X are just two prominent leaders of their movements who were responsible for much of the work that was accomplished within their movements. Gordon says that individuals are important in movements because they provide leadership for the movement and they create a symbol which encourages other leaders in the future. He also says that these leaders are largely responsible for their movements.

I would agree with both of these articles. Examining movements that occur today, you can see how the example of nonviolent successful movements has modeled the behavior for most current movements. There seems to be a lot less violence in movements today, and as a result, I believe people have a lot less tolerance for violence within social movements. It would be extremely offensive in America today, if an extremist group against blacks violently attacked a black community. In the 1960s, this was a common occurrence, but today it would be unthinkable for the majority of citizens.

Leaders are still a prominent component of social movements. Movements need a figure in charge who can be the head of the movement, and the face and voice that represents the movement. I do not think that movements are as effective without one leader who serves as the spokesperson. I think that if the Civil Rights movement did not have MLK, or someone similar in charge, they would not have attained the change that they did because they would not have appeared as organized and serious. It would have been easier for the government to ignore them if they did not have one leader on top, with mature realistic plans of action. Due to the success of the Civil Rights movement, the organization of social movements in our world has been forever changed.

Policing Protests

Often times when social movements become political, control and power from the state and/or government become involved. Della Porta and Diani discuss this topic in chapter 8 of their textbook. They say that states need to find some way to deal with social movements. The easiest way for states to do this is to give in to what the social movements are demanding. Yet as logic tells us, this is not always possible. One reason for that is because there is almost always a counter-movement to every movement. So if a particular social movement is fighting for a change in the state and/or government, there is usually another movement fighting hard for the opposite side. So the government may temporarily silence and please one social movement, but the counter-movement will remain demanding. Della Porta and Diani point out that this creates a constant battle for the state and for social movements.

They list three strategies that can be used to control social movements. The first one is coercive strategies. This is when the government threatens the social movements with some sort of appraisal for their actions. An example of this would be getting arrested and put in jail. As has been seen with the civil rights movement, this strategy does not always work. A determined movement will not be stopped in the face of threats. The second strategy is the persuasive strategy that attempts to persuade movements to take another channel for change, then the one they are using. The third strategy is the informative strategy which is when the government gives social movements information about a new way they could go about protesting. This could be seen as the government’s attempt to negotiate with the social movements, without the government really giving up anything. Della Porta and Diana say that sometimes the government has to be tolerant of social movements, although a lot of tolerance can equal a lot of initiative taking within social movements. They also mention how all it takes is a few uncooperative people within a movement, to mess everything up and give it a bad name. When this happens, the government can than resort to controlling it, if they so choose.

On a smaller scale, an example of this can be seen in the fight to protest the passing of Title IX at JMU. A body of students enraged at the decision to cut out numerous JMU sports, decided to come together in an effort to petition and protest the new declaration. JMU did not really have the option of giving in to the student’s request to bring them back, because counter to the movement was the rule about female/male sport ratios and many other reasons why officials in charge would not allow the school to refute their decision. So the strategy that JMU seemed to resort to was the informative strategy. They tried to inform, or educate, us students as to why exactly they did what they did. They attempted to explain and justify their actions, as a way to calm the student body down, and bring back support for JMU. In a sense, this strategy worked because the majority of the students eventually backed off, thinking there was nothing that they could really do to change Title IX. It is evident that the strategies Della Porta and Diana talked about are still used today.

Social Movements and Organizations

Social movements and organizations give life to and encourage one another in numerous ways. Della Porta and Diani talk about this phenomenon in chapter 6 of their textbook, Social Movements. They say that as for the role of organizations, they act as sources of identities for movements and often have people join because they want to be apart of that particular movement. Organizations also act as a recruiting ground for movements, because when people decide to join or support an organization, they are often later motivated to participate in the movement because they are already involved in the organization. Della Porta and Diani also say that organizations keep movements alive during down times when the movements are inactive. Looking at the organization Take Back the Night, you see examples of the interaction between organizations and social movements. TBTN attracts many women who have been attacked or assaulted sexually, and those who have been affected some how by violent sexual acts. It gives women the power to feel as though they can do something in retaliation for the injustice that was done, and to fight to prevent similar incidences from occurring again. Women and men who are involved in the TBTN organization are often motivated to join the TBTN movements such as empowerment marches, candlelight vigils, and survivor speak outs. As Della Porta and Diani say, being a member of the organization often recruits these members to join the movements, because if they see fellow members getting involved in the action, then they think they should be too.

Della Porta and Diani say that movements also influence organizations. One of the ways in which this happens, is that movements will draw attention to related organizations when they get a response from the media and public. For example, I never knew there was a group called Take Back the Night until I heard about the empowerment march on campus that took place. It got coverage in The Breeze and was seen on flyers all over the commons. This event brought much attention to the actual group that fights to end sexual abuse, violence and rape. When a movement takes place where the organization isn’t present, the important issues discussed at the movement will still be significant to the organization. At survivor speak outs for TBTN, even if not all the members from the organization are present, the issues addressed at the movement still largely affect and promote what the TBTN organization stands for as a whole. Lastly, Della Porta and Diani say that the symbols of social movements can become symbols of a particular organization. When a burning candle is advertised with an announcement of a TBTN movement, it is a symbol that can often be associated with the organization as whole.

Della Porta and Diani also talk about two general types of organizations. The first one is called mass protest organization, where the actual events are the goal of the group, a long with the desire to draw attention to particular issues. The second one is called grass roots organizations. This type is longer lasting because it believes it’s’ cause is always on going and it is more concerned with social change and recruiting people into movements. Take Back the Night would fall into the grass root category because it continually strives to bring awareness to the public and to gain more members to increase their effectiveness. TBTN is just one example of the many ways that social movements and organizations largely give life to one another.

Social Movement Networks

In Della Porta and Diani's book, Social Movements, they discuss in chapter five, social movement networks and why it is that people get involved, or pulled in to participate. They say that a big reason why people get involved in social movements is because of self-realization, or the matching of who you are with who you want to be. When people can visualize who it is that they want to become, it often makes them feel better about themselves if they get involved with an organization or movement that helps them work towards becoming who it is they are trying to be. As human beings, we are largely driven by our emotions and how we view ourselves. If there is something that makes us happy, we naturally go after that to increase our sense of self-worth and satisfaction. So if there is a movement that fights for a cause we believe in, or feel we should believe in, we are more likely to join out of a personal sense of obligation. This personal sense of obligation is usually a powerful driving force because if we do not join the network, we can easily feel guilty and feel bad about ourselves because it might appear as if we do not care about anything. So in a world where people are constantly trying to make themselves appealing to other people, being a part of a larger social movement enhances their self-worth and self-confidence because they feel as though they are doing something meaningful with their lives. This makes complete sense to me, because looking at my own life, I see how the things I am apart of, I join because it gives me a better sense of self-worth and I feel as though I am doing something important with my life. Della Porta and Diani say that social movements take advantage of this drive within people to feel worthy, and they work to make their network seem appealing and attractive to people looking to invest in a cause they believe in. Networks give people a sense of identity, and who doesn’t want to seek and understand their identity?

Diani and Della Porta say there are two types of networks that pull you into them. The first is exclusive networks. These are networks that take on a cult-like nature and are often religious. They are they only networks you are involved in because it becomes all you do. These are often extreme groups that involve brain washing and convincing people that their way is the only right way. When I think of exclusive networks, I often think of the KKK. People involved in the KKK were so set in their beliefs that black people were less human than them and undeserving of life, that they would do almost anything to keep blacks away. They convinced themselves that the violence they resorted to, and the things they would say were completed justified and right. They felt as though their beliefs against blacks were so important and worthy of defending, that they needed to join the network and devote much of their lives to fighting for this cause. It made them feel better knowing they were fighting for white supremacy, rather than sitting back and doing nothing. So the KKK got their members from like-minded people who felt a sense of personal obligation to join.

The second type of network is multi-organizational networks. These are networks that are linked to many other similar networks where the members are often involved in several. People who are involved in multi-organizational networks often switch from one to the other during latent periods within a particular movement. These types of movements also largely contribute to self-realization because people feel as though they have much importance when they are involved in several movements, fighting for several causes. In my life, I see this play out in the many religious networks I am involved in. The different networks are not partnered with one another, but they promote the same beliefs and work to glorify the same God. I am able to be apart of several different groups, and feel as though I am having more importance in my life as I come in contact with different people. Della Porta and Diani would say that this is how multi-organizational networks live and continue to grow, as people like me find their self-realization through them.

Harlan Country, USA in relation to Rose and Thomas, Walker, and Zelditch

Harlan Country, USA is a movie set in Kentucky in 1973. It centers on the working-class coal miner men of Harlan who go on strike to fight for better working conditions and pay. Naturally, they come up against much opposition, and learn that their fight for rights will be much more complicated than they anticipated.

In Fred Rose’s article, Toward a Class-Cultural Theory of Social Movements: Reinterpreting New Social Movements, he says that it is distinct class cultures that characterize social movements. Working-class movements will be shaped by the elements of their social class, rather than a particular political stance or a set of beliefs. He says that working-class movements are generally a direct outgrowth of the struggles and oppression felt from other classes, and therefore work to eliminate those struggles and produce immediate change. Middle-class movements, Rose says, tend to pursue universal goals through education and experiences learned from middle-class values, focused more on personal skills and communication. The miners in the movie were men from a struggling working-class who were tired of the lack of good treatment and respect from those in charge. Not only were their working conditions dangerous to their health and protection, but they were paid poorly and would not be able to retire till they were so old that they were already near death. Due to these injustices, a handful of men came together to go on strike and began the process of convincing others to do so as well. Just as Rose said, their initial reasons for coming together and creating a social movement came from their similarities brought about by class, rather than politics or specific values.

In Thomas, Walker, and Zelditch’s article, Legitimacy and Collective Action, they studied the likelihood of people to follow rules vs. getting together as a collective group and break the rules in order to bring about change. They found that “when change is legitimate, mobilizing collective action to correct inequity becomes a routine aspect of ongoing activity; however, when the social organization is legitimated so that change would damage collective purpose, participants behaviorally support the order by not even suggesting change in the social organization – even though it generates what is collectively defined as inequity to their disadvantage.” Several workers in the movie were reluctant to join the strike and union because it went against the rules and the norms. However, the majority of men (and their wives) saw that it was a “legitimate” cause to fight for change for. To them, once a few men had initiated collective action, it was easy to join in together and break the rules in hopes of bringing about a beneficial, positive change.

Collective Action and Identity

Reflecting on last week's posting, I realized a connection between Ms. Norma McCorvey, or Jane Roe, and the use of identity as a form of motivation, talked about in Della Porta and Diani's 4th chapter in the textbook, Social Movements: an Introduction. Della Porta and Diani say that in in order for people to be moved to join a social movement, they need to feel as though they are a part of that movement. Individuals must somehow see themselves as part of a specific collection and feel as though they are tied to the other members. The book points out that this can be a difficult process sometimes, due to the fact that identity is highly a dynamic process. Throughout our life, many things about us change, including our beliefs, our values, our outlook on life, our relationships, and our careers, to name a few. Granted, some aspects of our identity remain static: our biological gender, our height, the family we were born into, etc. Yet with dynamic identities, social movements must work extra hard to learn ways to use changing beliefs and values to their advantage, to get others to join their movement.

Looking at Norma McCorvey's influence in the abortion debate is a perfect example of this. McCorvey was once in her life a believer in the right for women to choose if they will abort their baby or not. She was a public figure for the pro-choice movement and helped bring about their victory. Later in her life, however, she had a transformation that changed the way she felt about abortion. Her identity drastically changed and she soon began fighing for the "other side"; the pro-life movement. This movement greatly benefits from McCorvey's dynamic identity because she has a story that can be shared with others to motivate them, or meet them where they are. Many people who support pro-life movements have gone through abortions themselves and now live with the pain and guilt that can be understood by spokespersons such as McCorvey. The pro-life social movement can use McCorvey to connect with others in their group, and especially those outside the group, who can relate to her and be influenced by her convergence. If people who are on the fence with their beleifs in abortion hear McCorvey's personal story that cannot be argued with, they might possibly be swayed to join the pro-life group. McCorvey also has the ability to help clearly define the boundaries between the pro-choice movement and the pro-life movement. Della Porta and Diani say this is an improtant phase in the identity construction process. Women who have had abortions and who are hurting emotionally and/or physically may deeply connect and empathize with McCorvey's story, and feel as though they are one of her and be motivated to join her in the fight against abortion. If they feel as though they are not alone and do not have to be shamed by their past, they may be greatly moved to step out and share their story as well. For the pro-life social movement, Norma McCorvey's transformation was a huge sucess. The movement is now able to apeal to those who can identify with her, and can gain participation by those who feel they are apart of McCorvey's story. Della Porta and Diani were right when saying that collective identity leads to motivated action.

Linders Article Reflection

I found Linder's article, Victory and Beyond: A Historical Comparative Analysis of the Outcomes of the Abortion Movements in Sweden and the United States, to be very interesting in that it points out the differences that can occur in the results of the same type of social movements that happen in different countries. This article examined the outcomes of social movements in the US and in Sweden that legalized abortion, and how the aftermath has taken on a seperate story in each country. As we learned in class, the social movement in Sweden had its change come about from the top-down. A committee was formed that studied abortion and was able to convience the federal courts that abortion should be legalized. The news then spread to the people of Sweden, and counter movements had less time to fight back before the decision was made. In the United States, pro-choice movements had to force their change from the bottom-up. People had to work their way through lower courts until eventually Roe vs. Wade made its way to the federale courts. Because the process that the U.S. pro-choice-ers had to go through took slow, steady work to make its way up, counter movents had time to anticipate this change and fight back. Once the government legalized abortion, many states still made it extremely difficult for women to actually get abortions; largely due to the work of pro-life movements.

By looking at the process that legalized abortion has gone through in the U.S., I think it is a very strong example of how "bottom-up" change can be a lot more challenging and time consuming for the supporting movement. When the famous Roe vs. Wade case made its way through the courts many years ago, pro-choice supporters saw an immense victory before their eyes. But was it a complete victory? To many pro-choice people, they would answer with a definite "yes." Still, the legalization process had just begun, and the battles were still about to be fought. Looking at strict abortion laws across our nation today, we can see that the war is not over yet. Due to the slow process of bringing abortion rights to the federal court, pro-lifers have been working just as hard. If those from the pro-choice social movements in Sweden were to come to America and observe the differences in our government's attitiude towards abortion compared to theirs, they would most likely be astonished. Yet the source of where their change came from can not be ignored. Their top-down strategy made all the difference in their fight.

Today, Ms. Norma McCorvey, also once known as Jane Roe, is fighting to undo the changes she helped bring about 1973. Her life took a drastic turn in 1995 when she gave her life to the Lord and had a revival in her soul. Her view on abortion changed, and she committed her life to spreading the word of the pain that abortion brings about. Many people might say that the fight to make abortion in the U.S. illegal looks impossible. Yet that is what many people once said when pro-choice groups marched in protest to legalize abortion. Nothing is impossible, we should have well learned. Time, however, will be the key variable in the fight to take back the case of 1973. Just as Jane Roe had to work from the bottom-up to legalize abortion, she must work from the bottom-up to slowly change the minds and hearts of those who hold the power to undo what she once did.