In praise of dissidents – non-violent dissenters with ideas

Lisa McElherron gave – for me – the most heartfelt and memorable talk at this year’s TEDxBelfast event.

Belfast has a long history of dissent, and at times their challenge has been used for positive outcomes. Lisa spoke passionately about her life-long admiration for …

… those who speak out, who challenge consensus, who speak for those who can’t, and who go against the grain.

YouTube video

She finished:

Dissent. It’s our word and we want it back.

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.