Exiting our Comfort Zone

Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), the animal rights group that is conducting protests inside, is challenging activists to “exit their comfort zone” on behalf of the animals:

“We have found that speaking loudly and proudly in defiance of social convention inspires others to do the same. And that is why we encourage activists to step outside of their comfort zones, past the boundaries of tradition and into the stores that are selling the dead bodies of our friends.”

It’s a message that is resonating with many activists who have taken a more traditional approach by peacefully protesting on public property. Indeed, hundreds of activists in cities around the world are, for the first time, staging protests inside of restaurants and grocery stores.

Of course, courageous activists have put themselves in uncomfortable situations on behalf of animals since the earliest days of the movement – liberating animals from fur farms; conducting undercover investigations in factory farms; protesting naked; blocking entrances to laboratories; and storming onto runways during fashion shows.

Protesting at a Donna Karan runway show

Exiting one’s comfort zone is nothing new in the movement. What has changed, thanks to DxE and Collectively Free, is that it is going mainstream.

Donny Moss of TheirTurn.net took the DxE challenge, (nervously) speaking out during a Collectively Free protest exposing Whole Foods’ fraudulent marketing campaign, which claims that the animals who they sell lived happy lives.

“Pushing my own boundaries was cathartic. I could finally relate to the old saying ‘Life begins at the end of your comfort zone,'” said Donny Moss. “More importantly, stunned customers who might have walked right by me during a street protest paid attention to my message.”

Just imagine how much more we could accomplish for animals if we all exited our comfort zone!