I went to an ACLU meeting and I’m ready to take action | Advocacy 101
I’ve always been an introverted person. I don’t like crowds, parties, social interaction, or confrontation. It was always easier to keep things to myself rather than describe how I truly feel. I don’t think anyone in my life would have described me as “outspoken” before November. But after all that has recently happened in the U.S. as well as my own personal experiences, I can’t avoid those interactions any longer. I even stood up and asked a question in a room of 100+ people at the ACLU meeting last Saturday, something that I couldn’t see myself doing in a million years. I wish I became aware and mobilized sooner, but now is a good time to start.
I keep oscillating between doomerism and activism, freezing and running, distracting and engaging, and I don’t think I’m alone in feeling like this. I don’t think the average person can be entrenched in activism 100% of the time, but I also think that anyone who wants to protect human rights needs to be doing a little bit of it every single day. It’s easy to sink into the couch after a long day at your 9-5 and turn your brain off with Netflix, TikTok, or video games. And while sometimes distraction can be the healthiest thing for you in a certain instance, it can’t be the only thing you’re doing. Burying your head in the sand is procrastinating the inevitable. This is our reality and there’s no completely escaping that.
Consume enough so that you can stay informed about policies and laws that will affect you, but try not to let the flurry of nonsense drown you in sorrow. It’s okay to take step away and take a breather. In order to keep up the good fight for human rights, we’re going to need to be well-rested (as much as we can be), so we can approach these things with the best we have. A week or two ago, after Meta unveiled their new anti-LGBTQIA+ policies, I decided to leave their platforms in a small act of protest after seeing one of my favorite creators announce that they were doing the same. While I still have accounts, I no longer post to them, have deleted the apps, and have no intention of returning even to delete my accounts (even though a cousin reached out to let me know that somehow the @noodlecatstudio Instagram account was suddenly following the current president and vice president. I just can’t go back to those platforms right now, but if you see this account following those, I DISAVOW IT!) I think I will eventually delete them, but I am currently so disgusted that I needed to disengage entirely.
The Meta protest was the first time since I attended the Women’s March in 2017 (with the encouragement of friends) that I felt I tried to take any sort of action. I have been subscribing to emails from organizations like the ACLU in an effort to stay informed, but a particular email about an ACLU event called “Advocacy 101” caught my attention enough for me to sign up and attend.
In a public library auditorium, so many people gathered to attend that I hunkered down in a small space on the floor. Almost everyone in attendance was taking notes to learn how a bill becomes a law and what we can do to intervene along the way. Here’s what I learned in a nutshell.
How a bill becomes a law:
- The bill is introduced and numbered. (Any representative or senator can introduce bills.)
- The bill is referred to a specific committee by the Speaker of the House, who holds a considerable measure of power. (Committees include things like Finance, Judiciary, Health & Human Services, etc. Representatives are assigned to committees.)
- The committee meets and considers the bill. (Committee hearings are posted in advance and are found on the RI General Assembly Website.)
- At the committee hearing, a few things could happen. (1. Recommended bill passed as introduced. 2. Amendments are made to the bill. 3. A substitute bill is passed. 4. Recommended to postpone the bill indefinitely or it is “held for further study,” where either the bill “dies” or they need to hear from people before deciding what to do.)
- The bill is debated on the floor. They can propose “floor amendments.”
- The bill is voted on. (Separate votes are taken on each amendment or change to the bill. If a bill gets to the floor, it is probably going to pass.)
- Repeat steps 1-6 in the opposite chamber.
- The Governor considers the bill. (For a bill to make it to the Governor’s desk, both chambers - the House and the Senate - must pass identical versions of the bill.) The Governor can: 1. Sign the bill into law. 2. Take no action (eventually, it will become law over time.) 3. Veto the bill/ return to legislatures, who can override the veto with more than majority vote.
Advocacy 101: What can I actually do as a random citizen to enact positive change and protect those who are most vulnerable?
- Focus on the state and local levels of government.
- Advocacy can happen at any and all stages of a bill.
- Talk to the sponsor of the bill.
- Talk to the members of the committee who are considering the bill.
- Attend meetings of organizations like the ACLU to stay connected with others who share your mission.
- Talk to the people in your life and get them to care and join you.
- Write to via email and call your state and local representatives. Create relationships with them. Urge them to vote to protect people. Urge them to oppose terrible bills and policies. They will listen.
- You can suggest ideas for bills as a citizen, but cannot introduce them. We should help each other do this and work with representatives to uplift good ideas.
- You can share personal stories and experiences that are relevant to bills and policies that has potential to influence the outcome of the voting. You can do this by providing written testimony or going in person to the State House. You only get 2 minutes to speak and it involves difficult parking, staying from 4pm to 12pm, and other barriers.
- There is a lot of bureaucratic red tape that makes testifying challenging and possibly humiliating. Do it anyway.
- Hold your representatives accountable.
- Work in coalitions like the ACLU.
- Build relationships.
- Write OP Eds & use social media. Local papers are always looking for content.
- Don’t lose hope when a bill is squashed as it can be reconsidered.
- Write letters to the editor.
- Chairs of committees have better support/ more resources and staff in order to answer your emails and concerns.
- Community meetings at libraries.
- Set up a meeting to talk about your legislative ideas with the reps.
- Attend school committee meetings.
- Don’t obey or capitulate in advance.
- Join local organizations at the state and town/city levels and volunteer in them.
Tips for testifying:
- Practice your elevator pitch with important bullets.
- Don’t repeat what others have already said. Say, “I agree with___”
- Keep it local, keep it personal and specific with specific, poignant and relevant stories.
- Sign up before the hearing. There is a sign up sheet in the committee room. Find where and when they are meeting.
- Remain calm and professional. Don’t get argumentative or yell.
- Thank the chair and introduce yourself.
- Speak plainly using simple, easy to understand words (without extra words or fluff), to get your point across.
- If you don’t know an answer, say “I don’t know, but I will be happy to find that answer for you.”
- Take a deep breath. It is designed to be nerve-wracking, but don’t lose your resolve.
This is just the beginning for me, and I hope it can be a beginning for you, too. Below are a few organizations that I have reached out to in order to get involved.
Organizations that support human rights (not exhaustive, just the ones I’ve found):
Other helpful links:
- Gaslit Nation Action Guide
- Ground News (See bias in the news)What a day podcast/ YouTube