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Find Your Own Flavor of Activism
I’m a reluctant activist. Here’s how I found something that works for me.
I’m a reluctant activist. I’ve been to exactly one protest march, in the late 90s, when Matthew Shepherd was murdered.
We were in New York. Policemen on horses corralled many of us into a narrow stretch of street between Grand Central Station and Madison and the proceeded to run their horses through us. People’s bones were broken, and when I asked a policeman on horseback how he could do such a thing, he smirked at me and huffed a laugh, and looked away.
It was a terrible experience, and I haven’t been back to a protest march since.
Even before then, I was always scared to go knocking on doors, or even to make phone calls. I don’t like confronting strangers (who does?) and I don’t like being hung up on.
And, if you grew up an immigrant in the United States, you learn to keep your head down, to not rock the boat.
But I knew I wanted to be part of the system that makes our voices heard. You may think that politics doesn’t touch you, but it does — from local volunteering efforts to our national elections, where you spend your time matters.
Here’s how I found a kind of activism that works for me.
There’s More Than One Kind of Activism
Google “activism” for images, and you only find images or graphic representations of people protesting, waving placards marked up with hashtags. Usually there’s a bullhorn involved.
But there are lots of ways to show support: Sure, you can phone bank and march. But you can support the people who are doing these things. Or you can donate money. You can look at your individual skill set and see how you can dovetail that into some activism: Are you good at spreadsheets? Maybe you can help to organize a charity’s donations or mailing lists. Are you good at logistics? Maybe you can help to organize or support a march or canvassing.
