By Jessica Marie
This week I interviewed Madison Rose, anti-violence activist is Denver, Colorado. She helped create the March for Our Lives sister march in Denver in 2018. She had great advice for how to be an activist, how to stay safe when finding a place to get involved, and how to stay sane while being an activist. She has a wonderful heart and spirit for justice. She simply cannot allow bad things to happen unchecked. She stands up for what she believes and encourages those around her to do the same. I have been very lucky to know her, and she has inspired me to be more vocal about injustice and to stand up for what I believe in politically. Tell us a little about yourself, Madison. Hi, I’m Madison I’m a graduate of the University of Colorado and I consider myself an activist. I have been an activist in all different sorts of movements, but mostly in anti-gun violence. I have been involved in March For Our Lives, Never Again, Students Demand Action, and Every Town for Gun Safety. This has led me to many different places and spaces which is what I want to talk more about. How people can get involved in activism and civic engagement for young people especially. Activism has always felt like something I, as just a person, could never be involved in. How did you realize you could be an activist? I felt the same way growing up. Especially since activism is so tied to politics, and that is a huge realm. I am just a normal person. How do I step into that? But I got involved because of my passion. The passion that I had and still have for the anti-gun violence movement. After the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School there was the announcement for the March For Our Lives. I was living in Denver at the time, and I wanted to do a March For Our Lives in Denver. So, I put up a Facebook event and several others did the same, none of us knew each other at the time, we were all strangers. We called an organizer meeting for all of us to work together. I was shocked at how much of the community showed up to say they had all of our backs. I didn’t have any special connections, I was just a Criminology student. It really was that simple. There was no secret code or anything, I just made a Facebook group and teamed up with others who had the same mission. At that time there was a huge shift in views towards guns and gun violence that was happening, so that helped bring people together. What is the best way to be an activist? I think the answer is to just show up. Which is very cliché. But if you have a passion for something you have to get out there, try to find a space where you can have your voice heard. For me, I had enough passion that even if no one else cared and no one else showed up, I was still going to go to the state capital. I would stand out front with a sign all day to make my voice heard, and that carried into my activism. Plus, by your standing up and being vocal about what you will and won’t stand for you encourage others. You can encourage people to join, even if just one person joins that can make all the difference. How did people find out about the March? From a lot of different places. Lots of word of mouth, handing out fliers, we put fliers up around schools and other places. Some of us snuck into the library and put fliers inside the books for people to find. Some social media involvement but also a lot of face-to-face conversations. Which I prefer, I prefer talking to people one-on-one. What is the best way to talk to people about activism and things you stand for? It is possible to talk to people you don’t agree with. So often we live in an echo chamber, but just sitting down and talking with people one-on-one there is no audience. It is just you and them having a conversation. Many people will engage with that and you can learn so much from each other. You can see from a new perspective or point of view that you may never have thought of, and visa versa. This is so hard to do on social media as it becomes performative. You do it to be seen and praised, to gain followers, for confirmation bias. But when done privately a conversation can be far more raw and genuine. The ego goes away and you have nothing to lose or to gain. How would you suggest people get involved in activism now, during quarantine? Last summer I started working with Colorado Cease Fire and we started doing round table discussions virtually. So, you can still have those face-to-face conversations but it is safe for everyone. Round tables, town halls, contact and interact with your representatives, you can wear a mask and get vaccinated and go to marches. It takes some creativity, but there are still ways to get involved even now. Make sure your community knows that you are there to help them and uplift them. You can do small things too, like help them buy groceries or get things for them if they can’t leave the house. How do you know if a group is safe or genuine? I think it’s best to reach out beforehand. Send an email to the organization, let them know you are interested or curious, ask any questions you may have. A good organization will have a website, or a Facebook page, they will list their mission statements, and their various campaigns. Reach out to them and they will respond, because they are passionate and they want more people to be involved in some way. Reach out to multiple organizations to try and find the right fit. Some may be busy and may take more time to respond, others may be looking for volunteers, others may not. Especially right now with Covid, many are not taking volunteers to protect people. So, just reach out and see where you can fit in that works for both them and you. Do you have any advice for maintaining balance between your personal life and your activism? I at one time did not know this balance, and it is very detrimental to your mental health. When I was working with March For Our Lives and Vote For Our Lives, it was 12 hour work days. There was no work life balance at all. I would wake up in the morning and work until I fell asleep, through meals or exercise. You just have to set boundaries. Intentionally create a life that exists and runs outside of activism and don’t throw it to the wayside even when things are intense in the activism part of your life. I neglected hobbies and friendships outside of my activism. And people inside certain organizations would guilt me and others into working more and harder, guilt us for having any life or wanting to have any life outside of activism. That made it harder to balance and easier to neglect other hobbies and friends. Make activism a hobby, not your only hobby. Unless it is your paid for job where you can leave it at the office, you have to set your own boundaries. Which is hard, but so important. It is also hard to see the issues everywhere, in billboards, and movies, online. We can use that as fuel but we cannot let it dictate every moment of our lives. You need to have multiple hobbies, you need a life and friendships outside of activism. Turn off your phone notifications for Instagram or Twitter. Go for walks. Also, make friends with people who may disagree with you. How do you keep from burning out? You have to find the balance between being the most excited person in the world to the most pessimistic person in the whole world. Because a path is made by laying one brick at a time, we have to slow down and lay each brick. I’ve seen people get so excited and they just burn out. There is a place in the middle between the passion and the pessimism that actually gets things done. Part of this mindset comes from the activism life balance. A watched pot never boils, the same goes for activism. These things take a long time and if you spend all your time watching and waiting it will seem like we are never making any progress. But if you have other hobbies or other issues to follow and work towards you can come back refreshed and see any progress that has been made. It takes many years, it takes endurance to make change happen. You also need to celebrate little victories, to see any wins and celebrate them. From making it through a march, testifying on a bill, for everyone getting along during a meeting. We can celebrate these things in a humble way without being self-congratulatory. While still being happy and present in each moment and each win. How do we help as White Allies and not White Saviors? I cannot speak for all POC, I can only speak from what I have heard. But is important to be quiet and listen. There is no one experience, there are many, many experiences that you can hear and learn from. You can learn from different people and organizations. Most important is to listen and to ask, how can I help? Do you want my help? Is this a space you want a white person in? If they want help let them tell you how to help and then do what they say. Come from a perspective of, I am here to help, feel free to utilize me however would be most beneficial to you. What do you want to say to people who want to get involved or are already involved? Why are you doing it? Is it to be seen and heard as a good person, or to truly help the cause? What do you say and do when Twitter is logged off? Here is a challenge. Do one act of kindness or act of activism that you do not tell anyone about. You do not put it on social media, you don’t tell your friends, you just do it because you feel you need to. That is an incredible act of empathy and understanding, it removes ego and moves from the heart. We can easily get caught up in being seen as good, that people will think I am great and wonderful. But if no one sees, if no one congratulates you or thanks you, will you still do it? Who can be an activist? Anyone can be an activist. If anyone says you can’t for any reason whatsoever, do not work with that group. That is fake and not true, who knows what their goals are if they are not inclusive to you. Activism is inclusive. I have imposter syndrome all the time but it is okay for you to be involved, anyone can be involved. I hope you enjoyed and learned something from this interview with Madison Rose. You can follow her on Instagram @starringmadisonrose to learn more and follow her journey. She also suggested some books for people who may be interested in further reading. Book Recommendations: Walking with the Wind by John Lewis When We Rise by Cleve Jones Becoming by Michelle Obama The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander Walking in Daniel's Shoes by Tom Mauser Parkland by Dave Cullen Much Love, Jessica Marie
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AuthorJessica Marie Cunningham - Intentional lifestyle blogger, aspiring author, and podcast host. All things Slow Living, Books, Writing, Art, creativity, Christianity, and personal stories. Archives
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