First 100 Baltivist Members!
Before the pandemic, on the 30th anniversary of the Baltic Way, Baltivist.com was officially launched online. Since that day in 2018, the Baltivist platform has played an important role behind the advocacy infrastructure to make sure DC stays loyal to the Baltic cause.
This involved meetings with Congress through a Baltic Advocacy Day, a Virtual Baltic Advocacy Week, other meetings with important people like people from the White House, a protest, following the news/intelligence, working with organizations like the Joint Baltic American National Committee (JBANC), et cetera et cetera et cetera.
But in that year in 2018 when Baltivist.com was launched, my dear friend Aras Klimas gave me a goal.
“Your first hundred members will be the hardest to get. Get there first, then then next 100 will be easier.”
What a prophecy.
Every once in a while, someone would believe in the work and the cause, and sign on as a Baltivist member. I’m not kidding — with every new sign up, my heart fluttered with joy.
The numbers steadily continued to climb, until I hovered in the 90's for a time. 100 was a wall I couldn’t break, until another good friend, Marija Čyvaitė, believed enough in me to have me speak to a group of Lithuanian youths at a conference in DC.
I was humbled by the enthusiasm of the group that actively participated in the presentation. Then there was a time for sign-ups.
And WHAM!!
Sincerely, thank you to every member of Baltivist.
I started Baltivist.com because I wanted to supplement the work done and infrastructure built by Karl Altau of JBANC, Karin Shuey of the Estonian American National Committee (EANC), and a community of hyper-vigilant volunteers. I’m ecstatic that so many of this community are part of the Baltivist community.
I sometimes fear what would happen if my beloved Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia were ever invaded. I also want to take precautionary measures to make sure that dreadful day never happens.
That means taking symbolic political action isn’t enough for me. Baltivist is centered around the idea of taking meaningful action based on methods learned by advocacy professionals.
Now, I invite you to please check out Baltivist.com. It’s come a loooooong way since it’s beginning…
So please, go to Baltivist.com and check out it out! Here’s a bit of a scavenger hunt to get you started. See if you can find..
- A fun quiz to see how well you know the issues facing the Baltics.
- A fun-ner quiz to see what you retained from your civics classes.
- Whether your members of Congress are part of their Baltic Caucus.
- Some major news that’s missing from the intelligence feed, then post it! (only members can post)
And please join! My heart still flutters with each new Baltivist, and you build our community to make our advocacy stronger.
Then get involved however you want. Some ideas:
- Being a member and offering support
- Staying informed on the issues
- Sharing any intelligence or news you learn
- Getting your members of Congress to join their Baltic Caucus
- Participating in a Baltic Advocacy event (when we organize it)
- Staying alert whenever we need targeted actions
- Build the community however you want it
Together, we’ll protect the Baltics.
Ačiū! Paldies! Aitäh!
This post is the eighth in a series called “10 Thoughts from Vilnius” by Vytautas Aukštuolis. Posts released Tuesday mornings. Please subscribe to my channels on Medium, Twitter, Facebook, and Baltivist.com.
Thought #1: A Journey Hosted by the Dead
Thought #2: “Hi, I’m your distant cousin. Do you want to see where your ancestors lived?”
Thought #3: A Poem Offering Peace
Thought #4: Front Lines of Belarusian Protests
Thought #5: The Difficult Question Facing the Belarusian Freedom Movement
Thought #6: Discovering Jewish Life of Vilnius
Thought #7: Reconciling Lithuania’s Hidden Holocaust
Thought #8: First 100 Baltivist Members!
