Advice to a Young Activist - What Do I Tell Her?

[Stephanie]

My friend, still in college, was not politically engaged at all four years ago. This year she worked her ass off. She organized, she protested, she registered voters, she campaigned. When Kerry conceded she sobbed.

What do I tell her? I'm as devastated as she is. I have no words of hope to offer.

[YDogg]

1. Not to forget ...

... what motivated her to become involved. To channel her energies for positive local change, or at least within her sphere of influence (friends, family, fellow students). Not to forget that she can make a difference within those groups. To continually remind others what is at stake if the other party becomes further entrenched. To come out swinging next go 'round.

[southernlad]

2. I'm just like her.

I never particpated in an election except for voting until this year. And I must say I am extremely proud of my candidate and what I accomplished. With my help, our state from having no chance to narrowly going to Bush. So I figure next time, I'm going to start earlier. Those days that I'm tired and not going to do it that day because I want to watch Manhunt on Bravo, forget it - I'm going to do it anyway. Those times I pass up the opportunity to tell someone how wonderful candidate are, are over. I'm going to stop everybody and tell them whether they want to listen or not.

I was upset yesterday; but today I'm just determined. Democrats take back over the house and senate in 06 and we regain democracy in 08. Can't wait...

[DIKB]

3. Though we are down

we still live, and hope lives with us. Someday.

There are some days dark and bitter
Seems we haven't got a prayer
But a prayer for someday better
Is the one thing we all share

[enigma-e]

4. As much as I'd like to offer a few words of comfort,...

... I am all numb myself. I (figuratively and literally) feel the coldness creeping up on me.

[demokatgurrl]

5. First, thank her for all of us.

Tell her not to give up, we need her and, more importantly, the future needs her. Tell her to get involved with a strong group (with money and members) like MoveOn or Democracy For America. There is safety and power in numbers.

And tell her I, a 48 year old woman, sobbed too.

[Stephanie]

6. Will do, thanks

She's involved with a group but she's terrified.

[leftofthedial]

7. tell her to never stop fighting fascism

never

[pstokely]

8. don't give up

she can still register people for the Mid Terms in 2006

[MadHound]

9. Tell her this

Take some time off, time to destress and decompress. We all need to. Get out to nature, breathe deep. Play, laugh, enjoy herself, give herself a month. And then come on back, we'll need her. There is hope, there is light, and we can all get through the next four years and come out better in the end. I know this, for I was politically active during the Nixon and Reagan years, so I've been through this kind of wringer before. At first you're devestated, then your pissed, and then you want to get back to work getting rid of these bastards.

[Stephanie]

10. She is threatening to take up drinking

But of course she won't. :)

[noamnety]

11. Iron Jawed Angels

Get a copy for her.

[Meldread]

12. Tell her not to give up, to keep fighting.

Tell her the battle for America didn't end with the Election. We lost a major battle, but we didn't lose the war -- not as long as we are still alive and drawing breath. Tell her that we need her more now than we ever did before. Tell her that giving up and giving in isn't an option. Tell her that's not what the Founding Fathers of the Country would want, that isn't what all of the Iraqi's that have been murdered want, that isn't what all the Troops that were slain in Iraq want. Tell her that it is her duty not only to herself but to her country to stand up for injustice wherever it is preformed and especially if it is preformed by the President.

[Stephanie]

14. It's really tough

People are in a state of shock and disbelief. It's hard to overcome the feeling that it's all for nothing.

[ClassWarrior]

13. Never Give Up.

[IrateCitizen]

15. "The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice."

- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I can certainly empathize with your young friend's pain. I'm feeling it myself. At dark moments like this, it can seem utterly overwhelming.

But it's important to remember always that activists are the forgotten people whose work is the most important. Slavery wasn't conquered solely by the Civil War and Emancipation Proclimation -- its defeat was begun by the abolitionists of the 18th century who never lived to see their dreams come to fruition. Civil Rights were not won solely by the campaigns of MLK, but rather trace their foundation back to the struggles of blacks from Reconstruction forward. Labor rights didn't suddenly come into existence in the 1930's -- there were people starting the fight some 80 years prior who never saw the realization of their dreams.

There is no cause in history that comes quickly. All causes are borne out of several generations of blood, sweat and toil. The actions we take today may not be realized by us, but they WILL be realized by our children and grandchildren. It is for that reason alone that it is important to keep hope alive.

As Tim Robbins said in The Shawshank Redemption, "Hope is a good thing, the best of things." Embrace hope, and allow it to act as your liferaft when the skies seem darkest and the seas seem the roughest, because if you hold on the skies will lift and the seas will calm, eventually.

[Stephanie]

17. Thanks -

She made a special effort to register young voters of color. She was surprised when she met with resistance from young people who felt their vote would not matter. And right now it seems that they were right.

[RinaJ]

18. Dead on

History tells the tale. No great change in this country ever came easy. You can go back to the suffragist movement. The women who fought never knew if or when the change they were seeking would come in their lifetime, but they fought it for their daughters and other women to come. And it was the same thing with civil rights for African Americans. Sometimes they had to fight the fear amongst their own people and press on. Both of these movements took many years to get their goals accomplished, dealing with heartbreaking setbacks along the way.

[kittenpants]

16. tell her to look into plastics. I hear there's a real future there.

[snacker]

19. These words from Gandhi:

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall--think of it, always."