What Is an Activist

"What is an Activist?" I hear you asking as I am often asked by friends, family and complete strangers alike. This question may even come up in conversation with government officials who are clueless about the pressing need for change within our rapidly changing and evolving society. Too many Americans are turning to the streets for answers and I would suppose many would agree that without an educated perspective regarding how change works, nothing will ever really change. An informed perspective is one that brings forth not only hope but actual proven facts regarding what is an activist and what is an organizer.

"An Activist is someone who consistently and diligently works to bring about positive social change by creating meaningful, noticeable and attainable change in the world around them." what is stop line 3 , author of How We Do It: A Guide to Creating a Thriving Family and World. (Chances are you have heard of him and perhaps he inspired you to be a "birch woman" by reading and writing about it.) I find Mr. Powers quite inspiring in his belief that all humans can act to bring about positive change. I also agree wholeheartedly that education and understanding are key. However, I think what is an Activist should really be called an Organizer.

The Activist is the individual who makes major efforts to bring about change without expecting immediate results or holding any short term gain. They do not participate in politics, they do not wait for "The Man" to do something and they certainly do not sit on the sidelines and expect others to do their thinking for them. No, the Activist is active! An Activist is someone who gets out in the street, helps create Change, and makes personal decisions to make positive changes in their own life/lives.

So what is an activist? An Activist is someone who gets out in the street, helps create Change, and makes personal decisions to make positive changes in their own life/lives. A good example of an Activist could be a homeless person who has created awareness about getting the help they need to stay out of the cold and rain, rather than staying in a park where they will be subject to being pepper sprayed by other park users who feel threatened by the homeless person. An Activist is also the person who may have created a difference with their speech about something important that is happening in the world, such as the water/water filter movement which helped bring about the awareness about the damage of drinking unfiltered tap water.

Now, back to what is an Activist? Well, in some senses, I believe we can say that there are two types of activists. The first type of an Activist is someone who is very passionate about something, even if they are just part of something larger than themselves. For example, if the Activist is part of the environmental movements, they are an Activist whether they care about the overall goal or not. The second type of an Activist, is someone who is only passionate about one particular issue, such as animal rights, for example.

So now back to what is an Activist? Well, I believe we can define an Activist as a person who uses various tactics in order to make their voice heard. This could mean physical altercations with others who are part of the same organization, or it could mean writing widely distributed literature about an issue, or it could mean pressuring businesses to promote an issue, or even using various tactics to make their point known. Some Activists may use intimidation tactics, like hiring an army of foot soldiers to pose as customers and go to different businesses and speak with the management about the issues at hand. Others may decide to do everything in their power to have certain issues addressed in the media, in the form of petitions and possibly riots.

Now then, what is an Activist anyway, because that seems to be the question that has been bugging me for years? Well, first of la river history , let me give you my definition of an Activist. An Activist is someone who does something in order to make change happen, whether that change comes from changing something in the world around them, changing someone's mind, or changing someone's vote. Activism may come in many different forms, but there is one thing that all Activists have in common, and that is a desire to make a difference, to have a say, to be heard, to do something about the world we live in.

Some people would call this "idle" action, and they would be correct, because most of the time when you ask what is an Activist, you would hear, "I'm just doing my job". If that's the case, then all the meetings, marches, and other protests you see around the country are just his doing job. But what would be the point of that, if it didn't bring about change? You see, if there were no change to be made, then all those actions would be pointless, and no one would ever be an Activist, because there would be no Activist. But what would be the point in being an Activist if you never did anything to make a difference?