What does the new civic engagement look like?
We’ve had one question driving our coverage this month: What does the new civic engagement look like? For the people who are becoming more civically engaged, how are they doing it? What’s going through their heads right now?
We have a few more stories coming at you in the coming weeks, but here’s what we’ve learned so far:
Jennifer Gathright, a recent college graduate, describes her inner life since the election as such: “[beyond feeling young], I have been wracked with another overwhelming feeling: a yearning to know where to put myself. I think this political moment should force me to change my life, but I’m not quite sure how yet.” She’s marching forward while feeling stuck, and in the meantime, making commitments with her friends about the world they want to help create.
Not everyone can wear their activism on their sleeves. Jenny Shank lives her activist life at night, after her anxious son is in bed. She writes, “While I strive to reduce stressors for my son at home, I’ll keep working secretly to reduce stressors in our country, in the hopes of ensuring that a portrait of America must be one that continues to includes all of our friends, family, and neighbors.”
For Margaret Corvid, observing recent politics has convinced her to potentially run for office next year in her adopted hometown in southwest England. “I do not need to avenge my wounded heart,” she writes. “I want to defend everyone.”
Meanwhile, North Carolina resident DeAndrea Salvador has taken her disillusionment and channeled it specifically into fighting for people living in “energy poverty.” She writes, “A solar panel should not be a physical representation of a glass ceiling, but it has become exactly that in North Carolina. I have watched the promise of clean energy first rise and then fall quickly to depths out of reach for most low-income families.”
Finally, Jackie Ashton took a step back and examined how today’s movement is being led and championed by women. She writes, “We need these little pebbles — all of the little daily texts, calls, signs, petitions, donations, and acts of kindness — to crack holes in the glass of discrimination and hate. But we will need gigantic, heaving bricks that will smash hatred into oblivion, too. And that will take time. Quite possibly a long time.
How are you channeling your emotions during this turbulent time ?Have any of these stories inspired you to become more civically engaged? Hit the respond button and let us know!
