Passion for issues, social causes and how to affect political and cultural change often begins with teenagers.
For Erin Banister Potter, the No Kings rallies held locally and national earlier this year were what spurred her to become involved in youth activism and organizing. Erin recently designed a curriculum based on how young people can organize and become active as part of her Activism in America class with instructor Randall Furash-Stewart.
Students in the first semester class designed and structured their lessons on activism around an issue they care about. Besides Erin’s No Kings topic, other students have explored the rising cost of fishing licenses, right to repair legislation and why it excludes tractors, suicide and bullying, gun violence and gun control, and other issues.
Furash-Stewart said the students will put into action the issue they focused on in whatever way they see fit in the second semester. Students will be guided by their teacher in how they can take action, but they’ll have a number of options.
Erin recruited activist Kylee Angell to come and speak to the class about her background in organizing and how the students could do it themselves.
Originally Erin asked the organizer of the No Kings Day event in Greenfield, which she participated in, if she would like to come to the class to discuss activism. The organizer declined, but gave Angell’s contact information to Erin.
“I wanted Kylee to talk to my class so we could have an understanding that it’s not hard to organize a protest and that it's important for people to speak their minds,” Erin said. “After I found out that Kylie had organized her own, I thought it'd be great to hear how she was able to organize her protest when she was in college.”
Angell organized against sexual assault on campus while she was a student at the University of Connecticut in 2011. She based her activism on an incident in Toronto after a police officer remarked during a crime prevention forum that “women should avoid dressing” provocatively to help prevent sexual assault. This effort to stop blaming the victim grew to become a worldwide event.
A survivor of sexual assault while in college, Angell experienced victim blaming firsthand. Because of the persistent activism of Angell and others, the State of Connecticut passed legislation that strengthened laws for sexual assault survivors.
Angell showed the class a video about young African-Americans who staged a series of sit-ins at drug stores and restaurants in the South to protest segregated lunch counters. It took years, but segregation was finally broken largely because of the persistence of the protestors.
“If you’re looking for things to change in the short-term you’ll be disappointed and become burnt out,” Angell said. “You have to keep a long-term view.”
Angell said the first step to becoming an activist is to find a cause or issue they are passionate about and do thorough research. The next step would be to build a base by finding people in your community who share common goals.
“You don’t have to agree with everyone on everything,” she said. “The best results come when you work with someone you don’t necessarily agree with but you both have a common goal.”
Building a team, finding a location, spreading the word, making signs, and de-escalation training are some of the other ways to prepare for a successful protest. Angell said, as a follow-up to the event, organizers should thank all who participated, focus on the long-term, delegate responsibilities, celebrate progress, and evolve focus as the movement grows.
“Sustained change requires new energy,” she said.
Erin hoped her classmates came away understanding the importance of standing up for a cause they believe in and how to organize a protest to make their voices heard if necessary.
“I really enjoyed Kylee’s presentation,” she said. “I found it covered a lot about what activism stands for and seeing that even young people can start their own protest to speak out. I’m hoping that my classmates got a better understanding of what activism is, how to organize a protest and knowing it takes a lot of time to be able to get a protest to start catching on, along with the understanding about the cause they want to speak out about.”