Wait Until We Vote? No; Organize

this is the second piece in a series that aims at redefining how we think of democracy in the United States and beyond

When the people rise up, the power comes down. (Photo courtesy of Sunrise Movement)| Source

This is the second piece in a series that aims at redefining how we think of democracy in the United States and beyond. If we are to truly bring change to these dark days, we cannot simply wait until we vote. There is time to act in the 437 days until the presidential election. For an introduction to this piece, you can read part one here.

In my spare time, I spend my weekends and nights organizing and working with the Sunrise Movement. As a youth-led movement, we are working to bring together millions of people to recognize both the severity of the climate crisis, and that there are readily available solutions to deploy if only we could gather the political will. Before I became involved with Sunrise, I was passionate about working to address the climate crisis, but hopelessly despondent, frequently returning to the question, “But, what can I do?”

This question is no doubt on the minds of countless U.S. citizens — not just in regards to the climate crisis, but to any issue we passionately want to address. When we become immobilized by an individualistic model of change, and perhaps count down the days until the voting process — our glimmer of…