Can activist, more specifically community activists, successfully transition to a politician? – holding community interest over self interest and ensure the community is the creator and not object of policy. In the New York Times: Room for debate opinion section Bob Kerry, former governor of Nebraska and U.S. Senator, defines both terms activist and politician. “An activist is someone who organizes and acts for the purpose of changing a public policy or law. A politician is someone who seeks election to a public office on behalf of a general ideology and/or a specific agenda on which they promise to act. “Though separate terms, I would argue that the overarching theme in both is service to others, whether by way of a grassroots organizing approach
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To further expound on my analogy, activists are positioned directly in community- building trust and establishing relationships- in order to better understand and work with the folks they serve. In contrast, your average run of the mill politician has gained most of their knowledge and awareness through books that can only provide interpretation through imagination. Moreover, activist frame their work after the words in the Declaration of Independence, so they are working to construct a society that entails true …show more content…
Representative who continues to push the movement for equality. His parents were sharecroppers, who believed it was better to be seen and not heard in the Jim Crow South, but Lewis wanted more than to be seen or heard; he wanted action. As a result, after graduating college Lewis became an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). During his tenure at SNCC he participated in sit-ins and the “Freedom Rides- that challenged the segregation of Southern interstate bus terminals. He also headed SNCC`s efforts to register African- Americans voters and organized communities in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer project. After organizing and protesting with SNCC, Lewis moved to Atlanta, Georgia continuing to change and positively impact history. He became an Atlanta city councilman in 1981 and in 1986 began representing Atlanta in the U.S. House of Representatives. Since becoming a U.S. Representative Lewis has called for health care reform, measures to fight poverty and improvements in education, supported Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) rights. On June 12, 2016 Lewis led a sit-in in an attempt to bring attention and force congress to address gun violence by taking definitive legislative action. Representative
To further expound on my analogy, activists are positioned directly in community- building trust and establishing relationships- in order to better understand and work with the folks they serve. In contrast, your average run of the mill politician has gained most of their knowledge and awareness through books that can only provide interpretation through imagination. Moreover, activist frame their work after the words in the Declaration of Independence, so they are working to construct a society that entails true …show more content…
Representative who continues to push the movement for equality. His parents were sharecroppers, who believed it was better to be seen and not heard in the Jim Crow South, but Lewis wanted more than to be seen or heard; he wanted action. As a result, after graduating college Lewis became an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). During his tenure at SNCC he participated in sit-ins and the “Freedom Rides- that challenged the segregation of Southern interstate bus terminals. He also headed SNCC`s efforts to register African- Americans voters and organized communities in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer project. After organizing and protesting with SNCC, Lewis moved to Atlanta, Georgia continuing to change and positively impact history. He became an Atlanta city councilman in 1981 and in 1986 began representing Atlanta in the U.S. House of Representatives. Since becoming a U.S. Representative Lewis has called for health care reform, measures to fight poverty and improvements in education, supported Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) rights. On June 12, 2016 Lewis led a sit-in in an attempt to bring attention and force congress to address gun violence by taking definitive legislative action. Representative