Beyond Heroic Activism: 6 Pathways for Shaping Change
One of the most harmful myths at play in American culture is that it takes heroic acts to create substantial change.
In our classrooms, we lift up individual figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, while ignoring the contributions of the many, many folks who worked tirelessly alongside them. We create mythologies around specific people to almost divinize them, pushing aside or invisibilizing their at-times deeply harmful imperfections, transforming them into near-superhumans (We can see this in the recent revelations regarding Cesar Chavez.)
Not only does this myth of the "heroic activist" almost always disregard the change-shaping work of women and non-binary folks – opting instead to lift up the image of the leading-the-charge “powerful and charismatic man” – it completely misplaces where change actually comes from.
Change is always shaped within community – by all of us.
None of the near-superhumans we have created through our myths and stories would be in our history textbooks – or on our front pages – without the people around them.
For every person leading the charge – mythologized or not – there are always a multitude of what Dorcas Cheng-Tozun calls Connectors, Creatives, Record Keepers, Builders, Equippers, and Researchers alongside them.
Connectors: relational activists whose interactions and conversations build the social capital necessary for change
Creatives: artists and creators whose work inspires, sheds light, makes connections, and brings issues into the public consciousness
Record Keepers: archivists who preserve essential information and hold our collective memory and history
Builders: inventors, programmers, and engineers who center empathy as they develop society-changing products and technologies
Equippers: educators, mentors, and elders who build skills and knowledge within movements and shepherd the next generation of activists
Researchers: data-driven individuals who utilize information as a persuasive tool to effect change and propose options for improvement
This is what effective activism and movements are built upon – not the singular individuals whose names we know, but the hundreds and thousands of people who take up their place in the work, in large and small ways alike.
So today, I invite you to take an honest look at which of these activist pathways resonate with you and how you want to show up in your communities in this season of life.
Which feels most like a role that meets your skillset?
Which brings you energy? Which ones most certainly do not?
Which of these just feel right for you – like they honor who you are and how you want to be in your communities?
Rather than put people on pedestals – or worse, wait for a “hero from beyond” to appear and solve the crises we face – how might we become, to borrow a line from Grace Lee Boggs, the leaders we’ve been waiting for?
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