What It Means To Work As An Activist
By Carmen Gurrola
What does it mean to work as an activist? What does it mean to fight for people’s rights? How do you convince someone that they should care about other people? These are the questions to consider when working as a Brazen Project Organizing Fellow.
Abortion access is about people, not politics. We, The Brazen Project, know this but it’s something that a lot of people don’t understand. Part of our job is to help them understand. When people enter a discussion with judgment, our job is to remind them that abortion is a personal choice, and that we are not here to judge. When people enter a discussion with anger, we remind them that though they may have different opinions, it is no one’s right to limit another person’s body. Our most transformative conversations are when people come in with curiosity because we can tell them that our goal is to move, not left, not right, but forward.
To the people who I do talk to when I’m tabling, I say, “We are the Brazen Project, we are a student led organization working to destigmatize abortion access across college campuses in Colorado to ensure that everyone who wants to have an abortion can get one safely, in a timely manner, affordably, and with dignity. We are working to educate each other and lift up real stories about abortion because this helps break the stigma.”
And when they look at you, and you can see them make their own connections, all of the rejection and criticism becomes worth it. Having one person sign a comment card, asking to be involved and learn more, makes it all worth it. Having a successful event where people show up to get educated and build community, all of these things make it so worth it. We get to build awareness, and help people. As far as I’m concerned I am so fortunate to work where I do. To do the things I do. I get to go home at the end of the day knowing that I made a difference.
Being a Brazen Organizing Fellow has given me an opportunity to learn and grow. It has given me a sense of community and magnified my direction going forward. I am confident that the knowledge I have gained here will help me for the rest of my career. The ways in which I have grown as an activist are countless. I have learned to advocate for everyone, including myself. I have learned that even the smallest tasks make all the difference. And I have personally seen the results that pro-abortion activism with Brazen brings forward. In my experience as an activist the most important quality of growth I have gained is knowing that when we all come together, there are very few things that can stand between success and an activist community.
