As a community organizer, one has to have a deep sense of identity. Everything about organizing is building relationships with people and inspiring others to take action on the issues that are affecting them, but this is incredibly difficult to do unless you are able to be vulnerable with people about why the issue is important to you too. You need to be able to share your story. You need to connect with people so that you can build the bond that will push everyone, including yourself, forward. This can be difficult for all sorts of reasons. A person might find it difficult to share things about their personal life because it is traumatic. Then again, a person also might find it difficult to share because they do not experience this issue first hand. I can relate mostly to the second. I feel passion and will to take action through second hand experiences. A family member, a friend, people in my community, or honestly any individual’s hardships are what make me feel so determined to make change. I have problems of my own, as we all do, but I am half white, light skinned, middle class, and I come home every day knowing that, for the most part, things will be alright for me when the sun rises in the morning. So how do I go speak to people who do not have this privilege and claim to know what they are feeling? First of all, I don’t claim to know what anyone is feeling because I will and have only ever known what I feel. I need to be grounded in who I am, where I come from, and know in which situations I can share my story and in which I should allow others to share their own. Although, this does not mean that I should try to hide or keep myself from connecting with anyone I hope to build a relationship with. Every person can find a way to empathize with another. We are all, at the core, human beings. We have emotions that we have all felt for different reasons. We have plenty of moments in our lives that we can share and find solidarity in. I love this about my workplace. Everyone at the ACLU comes from somewhere different, but we all have a common goal. As a teenager, I am still finding my identity. It is inspiring to be surrounded by so many people who know who they are, know what they want, but are always, at the core, human.
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What is this?Hi everyone! This is my junior year blog. Here you will find weekly reflections up until the completion of my junior internship. I hope you enjoy this inside look on my learning! Archives
June 2018
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