After reading about Kal Penn’s (bka Dr. Lawrence Kutner on House) most recent foray into civic duty, I thought I’d highlight this awesome program I heard about while I was in Washington, DC this past March. I met a super cool (fellow Chicagoan and Northwestern alum) who was in the program.
Her current assignment? Working within the Drug [...]
Writing. Work. Design.
Tag Archive: activism
Kumar Goes To Washington – Maybe You Can, Too!
Why Social Justice NPOs Need to Revamp Their Advocacy Strategies
It’s scary. And, it’s pathetic. Sometimes, NPOs act like doing business is a dirty word. The tendency to adopt an attitude of martydom towards their own campaigns sucks all the life out of advocacy work. If you are fund raising for women’s rights, peace or to end conflict – don’t act like that’s the only reasoning you need to provide potential (new) donors or advocates.
Actively Activist: Engaging (new) Audiences
Create awareness. Engage new audiences. Pursue and develop dialogue.
I think those steps get lost in the conversation of social justice. People get trapped in semantics (are you going to call it forced child labor or just child labor?) and the evidence of tangible results (what kind of result are you looking for?).
When tying advocacy with [...]
The Importance of Serendipity
During open gallery hours, L is talking to a woman about the Congo Women project. She came in after seeing a sign detailing our exhibit in one of the space’s windows.
L is telling her about all the other work she hopes to fund, specifically, our forced labor initiative.
The woman calls L a few days later. [...]
The Power of Telling of Other People’s Stories
Photo Credit: Lynsey Addario
Jimmy Briggs is telling a story about a Congolese woman he is interviewing.
The woman is describing how she was raped twice in one day.
In the interview, the woman explains that her brother, husband and children were present when she was first attacked in the morning by the Congolese government army.
When they were finished, the [...]
Activism’s Relationship with Social Media
Yesterday, in the Union Train Station, I met up with K, a fellow volunteer with the organization I’m working with to create exhibit tours on human rights.
L, the head of the organization, is looking for ways to increase her web presence as well as create avenues for contact besides the standard word-of-mouth and snail mail campaigns.
I [...]
