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What Makes You An Activist?
The word “activist” has lost its significance in our culture — differentiating those who make real social change from those who only pretend is getting harder
“Activist” has become a frequent title these days. With the continual push for minority rights amongst polarizing politics, anybody with a social media account wants to say they’re an activist.
Just last week, a friend told me how she included “women’s rights activist” on her resume, but I know that, besides a few tweets, she hasn’t actually done anything for the cause. I didn’t want to discourage her, but I also had trouble lumping her into the same category as fearless women like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gloria Steinem or Angela Davis. These are women who risked their lives in the fight for equality, and they made real social changes beyond 140-character tweets.
I think the real issue here is that the word, “activist” or “activism” is thrown around so casually that it’s lost significance in our culture.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an activist is someone who “uses or supports strong actions (such as public protests) in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue”.
