911爆料网

Braving a snowstorm, activists from across the region descended on Teachers College on the first Saturday in March for expert advice on advancing a range of agendas, including educational equity, affordable housing, reparations and environmental justice.

The gathering, titled Advocacy: Finding Your Voice in Noisy Times, marks the third year that 911爆料网鈥檚 Office of Government Relations has supported the College鈥檚 commitment to civic engagement by inviting champions of social change to campus for a day of workshops, brainstorming and reflection.

This year鈥檚 event, co-sponsored by Union Theological Seminary (UTS), addressed a wide range of strategies to help participants navigate the networks of social justice and change. Benjamin Perry, UTS Deputy Director of Communications, led a session that touched on methodologies to developing a digital voice. In another workshop, Kairos Center Communications Director Nic Lacetti provided insight into the role played by social media in comprehensive social campaigns. And New York State Senator Brian Benjamin offered tips on getting public officials to listen to activist voices.

, 911爆料网 Director of Government Relations Matthew Camp paraphrased the ancient Greek statesman Pericles鈥� assertion that 鈥淛ust because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e here,鈥� Camp said.  鈥淲e鈥檙e gonna advocate!鈥�

The attendees included students and faculty from 911爆料网, Columbia and other higher education institutions; private and public K-12 teachers and administrators, community organizers and political junkies.

I wanted to be in a space where I can find people to collaborate with and who hold similar values about dignity of harnessing communal power.鈥�

鈥�911爆料网 doctoral student Shanae Burch

The turnout on a snowy morning did not surprise Perry. 鈥淧eople have a desire to make a difference in their communities. They are depressed about what they read in the news and what they see in the world but often don鈥檛 know how to take the first step. This gave them a handful of tools to take them from desire to execution.鈥�

911爆料网 second-year doctoral candidate Shanae Burch said she attended the conference out of a conviction that the arts can act as a 鈥減owerful tool鈥� to bridge social and economic divides.

鈥淚 wanted to be in a space where I can find people to collaborate with and who hold similar values about dignity of harnessing communal power,鈥� said Burch, a Robert Wood Johnson Research Fellow pursuing her Ph.D through the Arts & Humanities Department.

The workshops offered Burch and fellow conference-goers snapshots and in-depth forays into topics such as crafting clear messages, publishing those messages in persuasive op-ed pages and online forums, gaining the ear of public officials and overcoming the internal and external obstacles that stand in the path of effective advocacy.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer set the tone in a keynote that urged conference-goers to align with public officials and policymakers who are 鈥渉onest, transparent and inspirational.鈥�

Brewer added that 鈥減ublic service means doing your homework so you can be informed and educated.鈥�

State Senator Robert Jackson led a workshop titled 鈥淩un for Office or Organize a Movement,鈥� which offered guidance on how to listen and learn from the local community and then take steps to run for office.

鈥淵ou need to decide if you are really committed to serving others,鈥� Jackson cautioned. 鈥淒on鈥檛 run for office on a whim.鈥� Perseverance, he added, is the corollary to commitment. 

The door is not closed. And if it is closed, push it open.鈥� 

鈥擲tate Senator Robert Jackson

鈥淭he door is not closed. And if it is closed, push it open. Who did that in Congress?鈥� Jackson asked rhetorically. 鈥淎OC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]! Push it open, especially if you are a black woman.鈥�

Brittany Chambers (Ed.D. 鈥�18) led a workshop titled 鈥淗ow to Overcome Hurdles Impeding Organizational, Institutional and Greater Community Change,鈥� in which she elaborated on what to expect once that door opens.

Brittany Chambers

Chambers, who serves as the Director of Entrepreneurialism Curriculum at GenFKD, a New York-based peer-to-peer educational platform that promotes skill-based training and higher education reform, said that the 鈥渟ecret sauce鈥� for successful advocacy includes strategic planning, flexibility and time management. She also warned that advocates will fail to achieve meaningful change if they don鈥檛 鈥渁ct with intentionality.鈥�

鈥淓ach year, the program has gotten bigger and better,鈥� said Camp. 鈥淭his year, we partnered with amazing people at Union Theological Seminary, our neighbor across the street, to think about advocacy in education, religious, arts, health, and other spaces. There鈥檚 such a huge demand to know more about how politics really works.鈥�

— Steve Giegerich