Activism 101 : The Activist's TOOLBOX
Like every kind of work, activism requires certain tools and skills - and also a certain learning curve, to be able to use them properly. Here's a quick look in the toolbox. We'll explore how to use these tools safely and effectively next.
Tool #1 : Communicate with Your ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES
We don't elect these people to rule us, but as the name states, represent our wishes and concerns. They sometimes forget this and need to be reminded. They also can't read minds, and if we don't communicate with them, they can't know. Like every communication process, this process will require that we be respectful, clear and direct.
Here's an excellent way to quickly find your elected representatives at any level of government - local, state or federal. Bookmark or otherwise save this resource, so you can find it when you need it !
Elected Officials | USAGov (for future reference : https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials)
Tool #2 : Communicate with PUBLIC OPINION MAKERS
Public media, whether broadcast, print or online, really can't know what troubles you - or even if your life
is in jeopardy - unless you tell them. Here's how to contact these people, to make your thoughts and
wishes known :
Public Media Contacts and Addresses
Use this directory to find contact information for reporters, editors, producers and executives of these media outlets. Staff positions at media outlets change frequently, so names may not always be listed, but at worst you'll find an email address, or place to make your comments. Usually, newspapers list this information on their editorial page. Take initiative, make your voice heard !
Tool #3 : Communicate with CORPORATIONS
In cases of harmful products and practices attributable to corporations, let them know directly. This is a approach not yet much attempted, but what is it after all that we hope to achieve ? At the heart of the matter, only safer products, and safer or less exploitative practices. Direct feedback, especially if heard from many sides, gives corporations information they can work with - if they're willing to. If they're not, you still have options #1 and 2 above, and you'll be steps ahead for having already organized our thoughts. You'll also have a paper trail of what you've tried to tell them, directly and with goodwill.
Tools like these will be effective if we use them ; and they need to be exercised not just by many people, but by massive numbers of people !
DIRECT Action : Up Close and Personal
1) Wherever you can, make personal contact with those who make decisions or have influence. Call AND email your elected representatives - and if possible, make a visit to their office. The same goes for contacts with corporate representatives. Start with a service department, and with supervisors above them. Escalate your concerns where possible, and always follow through with written materials.
A firm but respectful attitude creates openings for relationship - an intangible factor, but one that opens ears, minds and hearts.
2) Deal only in facts, the best you can find, and not in subjective speculation. Those who fight unfairly may call you a "conspiracy theorist", but don't give them an excuse to - and don't be an accuser yourself. It's fair to quote someone accurately and in context ; or to report on their provable actions. Beyond that, leave judgment to the facts and science themselves - and to the law.
3) It's been said that "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity". This is true for activism as well. Gather and organize your facts, and make a written outline. Besides facts, identify your own most important concerns and goals in the matter, and write these down too. Personal viewpoints are an intangible factor - but when backed with hard facts, it lends your voice weight.
4) Contribute what you have - and know that it will be enough. Every one of us has some gift or ability the world needs, and some issue closest to our own heart. To the extent you can bring these two things together, and act on them, you'll be surprised how effective you become.
5) Reach out to others with like concerns. Seek out people who have knowledge or skills you don't have yet, and can help you through your learning curve faster. You may be surprised to find this works both ways, and that your skills are needed too !
6) Share the good work of others. We sometimes forget how crucial this is. If someone is doing good
work, tell your friends about it, and share the work personally. Share links to it with your own comments
and recommendations. Not least, encourage friends to get on the mailing lists of people and groups you trust, and post links to help them do that.
At a time when aggressive censorship is increasing, we need to become our own "mainstream media". This is the sine qua non - the "without this, nothing" - of activism for the future, if we're to have a future at all.
7) Take the long view, and don't be discouraged by seeming defeats. We can't control the actions and attitudes of others - nor the outcomes of actions we ourselves take. But we can learn from "failures", and come back better and stronger from them. Live and work constantly for your intentions - your core concerns, values and goals - but don't try to force the timeline.
There are many ways to reach the same goal - and the goal is the important thing. Rethink, reconsider and revise. Don't let disappointments make you more discouraged, but rather more creative, thorough, flexible - and in the process, more free.
Keep sight of the big picture, but be willing to adapt and change.
8) Live with questions, in an ongoing way. This has to do with openness, and with alignment to truth. No matter the situation, there are actually just three possible questions :
"How can I best and rightly understand this information, this situation, these facts ?"
" How can I best and rightly deal with my feelings about these things ?"
"What is the best and most right thing I can do, in this moment and situation ?"
Situations change, new facts and perceptions come towards us constantly. To respond to these things rightly, we first need to take them in. Willingness to live with questions - open, ongoing ones - keeps this a process, rather than a loop of dogma or doctrine. Our insights and actions stay appropriate to the facts of situations, straying neither into fantasy nor compulsion. They anchor us in reality - which is crucial to progress, if we're ever to hope for it.
9) Attend to your own health and well being. We can be no good to others if we ourselves fall apart ; and even where true sacrifice is required of us, we need adequate forces to offer it.
Health also has three main aspects : namely the health of our bodies ; health in how we deal with our feelings and emotions ; and health in the way we think - again, not losing ourselves either to fantasy or compulsion (hasty judgments, fixed thoughts). Here's are some places to start :
Health Emotional Wellness The Spirit !
Treat your own health and well being as you would that of someone you love - a partner, friend or child in your life. You don't even need to tell anyone you're doing it. Just begin to practice self care - and if you should ever fall away from it, just go straight back to it !
10) Don't be tempted onto the path of power.
It's been said that in our modern times warfare is no longer a legitimate way to solve human conflicts. Obvious and naïve as this might seem, it shouldn't be lightly dismissed. The ways we make war have passed a certain tipping point, where economies and infrastructures of whole nations can be destroyed in a matter of days - even hours. These events burst with equal violence into social infrastructures, and into individual lives. Even victory multiplies chaos, hatred and cunning in the world, bleeding the economies and societies even of “victors” for years to come.
The appropriate form of warfare today, the saying continues, is spiritual warfare - the war of facts, of truth and ideas. In this realm thoughts, words, actions prevail not through violence, but through their truth and transparency, their appeal to reason, fairness and appropriateness to situations at hand.
As activists today we should be very clear - the forces that oppose us are expert at the warfare of weapons and power. It's fantasy to think of ourselves fighting back in that mode - we'd be outwitted, gunned and crushed. And If being drawn into "the warfare of power" is dangerous for us as activists, for the remainder of society it could be tragic.
Worst of all we'd have been diverted from the kind of fight we can win - the war of science, facts and justice. This war and victory are based in the realities of all life on earth - and are within our reach.
Like every kind of work, activism requires certain tools and skills - and also a certain learning curve, to be able to use them properly. Here's a quick look in the toolbox. We'll explore how to use these tools safely and effectively next.
Tool #1 : Communicate with Your ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES
We don't elect these people to rule us, but as the name states, represent our wishes and concerns. They sometimes forget this and need to be reminded. They also can't read minds, and if we don't communicate with them, they can't know. Like every communication process, this process will require that we be respectful, clear and direct.
Here's an excellent way to quickly find your elected representatives at any level of government - local, state or federal. Bookmark or otherwise save this resource, so you can find it when you need it !
Elected Officials | USAGov (for future reference : https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials)
Tool #2 : Communicate with PUBLIC OPINION MAKERS
Public media, whether broadcast, print or online, really can't know what troubles you - or even if your life
is in jeopardy - unless you tell them. Here's how to contact these people, to make your thoughts and
wishes known :
Public Media Contacts and Addresses
Use this directory to find contact information for reporters, editors, producers and executives of these media outlets. Staff positions at media outlets change frequently, so names may not always be listed, but at worst you'll find an email address, or place to make your comments. Usually, newspapers list this information on their editorial page. Take initiative, make your voice heard !
Tool #3 : Communicate with CORPORATIONS
In cases of harmful products and practices attributable to corporations, let them know directly. This is a approach not yet much attempted, but what is it after all that we hope to achieve ? At the heart of the matter, only safer products, and safer or less exploitative practices. Direct feedback, especially if heard from many sides, gives corporations information they can work with - if they're willing to. If they're not, you still have options #1 and 2 above, and you'll be steps ahead for having already organized our thoughts. You'll also have a paper trail of what you've tried to tell them, directly and with goodwill.
Tools like these will be effective if we use them ; and they need to be exercised not just by many people, but by massive numbers of people !
DIRECT Action : Up Close and Personal
1) Wherever you can, make personal contact with those who make decisions or have influence. Call AND email your elected representatives - and if possible, make a visit to their office. The same goes for contacts with corporate representatives. Start with a service department, and with supervisors above them. Escalate your concerns where possible, and always follow through with written materials.
A firm but respectful attitude creates openings for relationship - an intangible factor, but one that opens ears, minds and hearts.
2) Deal only in facts, the best you can find, and not in subjective speculation. Those who fight unfairly may call you a "conspiracy theorist", but don't give them an excuse to - and don't be an accuser yourself. It's fair to quote someone accurately and in context ; or to report on their provable actions. Beyond that, leave judgment to the facts and science themselves - and to the law.
3) It's been said that "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity". This is true for activism as well. Gather and organize your facts, and make a written outline. Besides facts, identify your own most important concerns and goals in the matter, and write these down too. Personal viewpoints are an intangible factor - but when backed with hard facts, it lends your voice weight.
4) Contribute what you have - and know that it will be enough. Every one of us has some gift or ability the world needs, and some issue closest to our own heart. To the extent you can bring these two things together, and act on them, you'll be surprised how effective you become.
5) Reach out to others with like concerns. Seek out people who have knowledge or skills you don't have yet, and can help you through your learning curve faster. You may be surprised to find this works both ways, and that your skills are needed too !
6) Share the good work of others. We sometimes forget how crucial this is. If someone is doing good
work, tell your friends about it, and share the work personally. Share links to it with your own comments
and recommendations. Not least, encourage friends to get on the mailing lists of people and groups you trust, and post links to help them do that.
At a time when aggressive censorship is increasing, we need to become our own "mainstream media". This is the sine qua non - the "without this, nothing" - of activism for the future, if we're to have a future at all.
7) Take the long view, and don't be discouraged by seeming defeats. We can't control the actions and attitudes of others - nor the outcomes of actions we ourselves take. But we can learn from "failures", and come back better and stronger from them. Live and work constantly for your intentions - your core concerns, values and goals - but don't try to force the timeline.
There are many ways to reach the same goal - and the goal is the important thing. Rethink, reconsider and revise. Don't let disappointments make you more discouraged, but rather more creative, thorough, flexible - and in the process, more free.
Keep sight of the big picture, but be willing to adapt and change.
8) Live with questions, in an ongoing way. This has to do with openness, and with alignment to truth. No matter the situation, there are actually just three possible questions :
"How can I best and rightly understand this information, this situation, these facts ?"
" How can I best and rightly deal with my feelings about these things ?"
"What is the best and most right thing I can do, in this moment and situation ?"
Situations change, new facts and perceptions come towards us constantly. To respond to these things rightly, we first need to take them in. Willingness to live with questions - open, ongoing ones - keeps this a process, rather than a loop of dogma or doctrine. Our insights and actions stay appropriate to the facts of situations, straying neither into fantasy nor compulsion. They anchor us in reality - which is crucial to progress, if we're ever to hope for it.
9) Attend to your own health and well being. We can be no good to others if we ourselves fall apart ; and even where true sacrifice is required of us, we need adequate forces to offer it.
Health also has three main aspects : namely the health of our bodies ; health in how we deal with our feelings and emotions ; and health in the way we think - again, not losing ourselves either to fantasy or compulsion (hasty judgments, fixed thoughts). Here's are some places to start :
Health Emotional Wellness The Spirit !
Treat your own health and well being as you would that of someone you love - a partner, friend or child in your life. You don't even need to tell anyone you're doing it. Just begin to practice self care - and if you should ever fall away from it, just go straight back to it !
10) Don't be tempted onto the path of power.
It's been said that in our modern times warfare is no longer a legitimate way to solve human conflicts. Obvious and naïve as this might seem, it shouldn't be lightly dismissed. The ways we make war have passed a certain tipping point, where economies and infrastructures of whole nations can be destroyed in a matter of days - even hours. These events burst with equal violence into social infrastructures, and into individual lives. Even victory multiplies chaos, hatred and cunning in the world, bleeding the economies and societies even of “victors” for years to come.
The appropriate form of warfare today, the saying continues, is spiritual warfare - the war of facts, of truth and ideas. In this realm thoughts, words, actions prevail not through violence, but through their truth and transparency, their appeal to reason, fairness and appropriateness to situations at hand.
As activists today we should be very clear - the forces that oppose us are expert at the warfare of weapons and power. It's fantasy to think of ourselves fighting back in that mode - we'd be outwitted, gunned and crushed. And If being drawn into "the warfare of power" is dangerous for us as activists, for the remainder of society it could be tragic.
Worst of all we'd have been diverted from the kind of fight we can win - the war of science, facts and justice. This war and victory are based in the realities of all life on earth - and are within our reach.
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