Making Your Voice Heard
What I read: 25 ways to be politically active (whether you lean left or right) by AJ Willingham. Published by CNN on January 23, 2017.
One of the side projects I’ve been casually working on is a tiny book tentatively titled Activism For Lazy People: How you can be an activist from the comfort of your own home. It was inspired by my need to remain politically engaged during the contentious 2020 election cycle as my city was in lockdown due to the pandemic.
We’ll see if that book comes to fruition (I’m now undecided if it should be in book form), but I’m still passionate about political engagement and feel it important to encourage others to do the same. Despite the article’s 2017 publish date, it’s still quite relevant.
My history throughout my adult life has included various forms of activism. Activism for LGBTQ rights. Activism for better HIV care and prevention solutions. Activism for better public health services, especially for gay men, one the communities of which I am part. Activism for political candidates from my local city representatives to my state representatives to my national representatives including for the office of President. These days climate change and racial justice are front burner issues for me too.
Activism is part of my DNA. It is part of who I am. So, being confined to my home for months required me to adapt to being a different kind of activist. I jokingly tell my friends I was a lazy activist because what activism I undertook in 2020 and for much of 2021 has been almost entirely at home. Apart from me taking a calculated risk during the pandemic to march with Black Lives Matter protesters, all of my activism was done at home, most of it in front of my laptop or phone.
While we are beginning to emerge from the pandemic, I hope the lessons we learned that in addition to knocking on doors to register voters, marching in the streets to demand justice, or volunteering for a favored political candidate, there are many ways we can make our voices heard. Some of those ways can be done entirely from the comfort of your kitchen table or couch. Some of them require a boots on the ground approach. They’re all important.
Not everyone has the time, skill set, or physical ability to engage in some of the more vigorous, in-person forms of activism. Perhaps you are a person with a disability, older, or otherwise homebound. Perhaps you are a busy at-home parent with a few kids to oversee, not leaving you much time to leave the house. Perhaps you live in a remote, sparsely populated area without many activist organizations or groups with which you can align. Can you be an activist? Absolutely!
Everyone has something to contribute to a cause. If you can talk on the phone, you can be an activist. If you can write a letter, you can be an activist. If you have computer or other technical skills, you can be an activist. Just about everyone unless they have terribly difficult challenges can engage in some form of activism from the comfort of their home.
However, if you are physically able and your life situation allows it, showing up in person when it counts makes a huge statement that can’t be ignored. You can send a text to someone to try and convince them to vote but knocking on their door and having a one-on-one conversation is probably more effective. You can post about social justice on your social media but joining throngs of others who feel the same way in protest marches sends an undeniable, newsworthy message. Writing a letter to your legislative representative is important but showing up to their office to express your opinion has greater impact.
All that said, the article offers some great ideas on how you can make your voice heard regarding politics and causes, educate yourself on important issues, and engage in community outreach.
4. Attend town hall meetings
A town hall is where you, in person, can make your actual voice heard, in front of local politicians who can actually do something about it. Your congressperson will usually have a schedule of Town Hall meetings on their website, or you can check out your city’s website as well.
5. Attend City Council meetings
Alternately, attend a City Council meeting to get an up-close view of what’s important to your city’s legislators.
6. Get to know your local School Board
If you have kids in school, you probably need to know about your school board.
That said, here are a few of the things I now do that require little more than your time and occasionally a few bucks. These suggestions are all about encouraging voters to vote. But you can support people and causes you believe in at home other ways by phone banking, donating money, serving as technical support for in-person actions such as marches and protests, and so much more.
Write letters or postcards. During the 2020 election cycle I wrote more than 500 letters to registered voters urging them to vote. I signed up for the Vote Forward project that makes it easy for you to write letters to targeted voters to help increase election turnout. Another similar project is Postcards to Voters, a site that helps you write and send friendly, handwritten postcard reminders to specific voters to give Democrats a winning edge in close races nationwide.
Vote.org is a nonpartisan service that encourages United States citizens to register to vote, check their existing voter registration to ensure accuracy, vote by mail, get election reminders, and to remind underage voters to register so they can vote on their 18th birthday. Share this site on your social media and among your family and friends.
Another voter registration and empowerment organization is WhenWeAllVote.org. It’s a leading national, nonpartisan initiative on a mission to change the culture around voting and to increase participation in each and every election by helping to close the race and age gap.
Not everything is about voting and elections. There is so much else you can do to improve life on this planet. Here are some ideas from the article on how to do community outreach.
21. Volunteer at a place that benefits your community
Ideally, you can align your volunteer work with your most important causes. Volunteer at church, at the local VA hospital, at a homeless shelter or at a school. The possibilities are endless, but this website is a good place to start.
22. Volunteer at a museum, state or national park, cultural center or historical society
Volunteering isn’t just about serving others, it’s also about making sure the organizations that are important to you can continue to serve others.
23. Hell, GO to a museum, state or national park, or historical society
SUPPORT. EDUCATION. IN ALL. FORMS.
24. Donate
At the very least, let your wallet do the talking. If you’re looking at a specific charity, check Charity Watch to make sure your money is being well-used.
25. Get off the internet
Complaining on social media only gets you so far. Get out, meet people, use your hands and your time.
However you end up remaining politically active and bettering your communities and the world, do something. Anything is better than nothing. I consider continuing to work at improving life for everyone an imperative, especially for those of us lucky enough to have shelter, food, jobs, and a reasonable income. We owe it to the world to use our situation to assist others.