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The Influence Of Activism

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This class has taught me how to engage in strategic lifelong activism. Activism is an umbrella term referring to the promoting or campaigning of policy or social change on the cultural, structural, or national level. Activism has been developed and practiced throughout history by people like Jesus Buddha, Thoreau, and Dr. Martin Luther King (MLK). Thanks to these people over the years activism has developed a clear and effective structure which has proven effective in history and a number of cultures. In order to engage in effective lifelong activist one must be able to conceptualize social justice, understand how oppression affects the motivation of individuals, know the barriers to different activists, and develop and activism cycle, make …show more content…

Every activist is on a journey and will have different experiences and trials, but it's important to be aware of two major barriers people face when engaged in lifelong activism. The first one is the lack of funds. This is one of the most overwhelming and difficult to overcome for activists. For example if a group doesn’t have fund then said group won’t be able to afford things like speakers, sign and being able to pay people who do it full time so protests and supplementary and monetary aid can be distributed. Funding is pivotal to a movement but without it make it can dramatically hurt a movement. The second is treats on one’s life. This barrier can be a powerful motivator for others if used correctly. For example, the death threats and eventual assassination of Dr. MLK did hurt the movement but it helped strengthen and validate the importance of the cause. This is sadly not always avoidable, one must be strategic and smart about how, when, and where one protests. Like long activism can be difficult, but in the long run, taking this time can help one create real change that can improve people's lives now and in the …show more content…

This was done through a series of steps. The first step was to learn how to conceptualize social justice. Understanding social justice is more than just knowing statistics, social justice requires one to identify with others stories, develop a sense of motivation, and knowing barriers one will face in one's journey. The next thing important to my own journey as a white male was understanding how oppression affects the motivation of an individual. To me, this meant breaking oppression down into non-experiential and first-hand experiences. Next was developing an activism cycle this meant learning how to recognize the need for change, joining an organization, taking action and following up by learning what one can do better in the future. Lastly, I learned how to make my action as purposeful and as meaningful as possible. Developing the skills and practices to be effective in lifelong advocacy is important if one wants to succeed in achieving tangible change on the direct institutional or cultural

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