How to be a social activist? Things that you need to keep in mind.
Social activists are those people who feel the need for change in society and dedicate their lives to it. These are passionate people who have a vision of a bright future. Some people have the qualities of a social activist naturally, while others turn to social work as a result of some sad or happy event or experience. Whatever your reason for becoming a social activist, you can do it because people of any age, or background can enter this field. It is people like you who believe that they have the ability to change, who make changes in the world. Here are seven ways that you can get involved in the causes you care about:
1. Find your passion: Often the realization of this happens suddenly and it changes your whole life. When you realize this, that spark of doing social work is born in you which helps you to stay struggling even in bad times. Social activists are so full of passion that they believe that every problem has a solution. A common man often asks the question, “What can a single man do?” Social workers believe that a single person can bring about a change with hard work and dedication.
2. Review current efforts: Study what is happening at the local, regional, national and international level in the issue you have chosen. You can join any of these or you can try that separately. Ask yourself these questions:
1. Do you want to join an existing organization as a volunteer?
2. If you are working at the local level, can you use the resources of a national organization? Often you can get information, legal information, publicity and work-related guidance from a big organization.
3. If you don’t see any other effort in your area dealing with the problem, don’t panic, don’t think it’s an impossible task. Divide the work into small steps. Connect with like-minded people. For this, you can use Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Website. etc.
3. Educate yourself about social activism: To motivate yourself, read books related to social work, especially those written by prominent social activists in which they share their wisdom and personal experiences. To some extent, you can do this work yourself through the Internet, but there are many benefits of connecting with the media. Connect with people who know how to write press releases or editorials or who have a good rapport with people in the news sector.
4. Choose the mode of social work: Do you want to work alone? In today’s era, it is easy to be a lone social worker because you can reach out to people through the internet and social networking and can promote yourself. Or do you want to work together with other people? For this, you can join an existing organization or you can add other people with you. The advantage of joining the organization is that you increase your strength, resources and passion manifold. Would you like to do something for your social cause by writing, teaching, giving speeches, organizing events or through art? Or are you more interested in websites, blogs, podcasts, etc.? Assess your true talent.
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Be aware of discrimination against organizations associated with social work. Unfortunately, many people working on an issue misuse their privilege. For example, gender discrimination in organizations working on gay rights, and racial discrimination in white feminist organizations. Never allow race discrimination, gender discrimination, misogyny, homophobia, ableism to flourish in your organization. Take care of people’s needs, and listen to others with an open mind.
Get your events public and keep reading for ways to avoid any potential pitfalls along the way you use. If you violate any law, be prepared to face the consequences. Be sure to carry a lawyer’s business card with you. Licypriya Kangujam ( born 2 October 2011) is a child environmental activist from India. She is one of the youngest climate activists globally and has addressed world leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2019 (COP25) in Madrid, Spain asking them to take immediate climate action. Disha Ravi is also a climate activist.
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