Be the Change: Mistakes You MUST Avoid As an Activist

When you are someone who wants to illicit change in others, you must hold yourself to a higher standard. Today, we will be discussing mistakes that you simply must avoid as an activist. The life of an activist can be quite challenging. In order to become someone who can be trusted enough to boost or push a cause, you must first get yourself in order. The last thing that any cause needs to have is a liability. There are already too many naysayers out there that already shoot down any form of reasoning that is presented to them.

The last thing that any cause needs is to give any sort of ammunition to the opposition. In order to avoid this, consider these as a guide of what you must avoid:

Not fact checking

If there were any two words that would perfectly illustrate the theme of 2017, it would be fake news. This is a common tag that is attached to any report that is contrary or not in line with a person believes. It does not actually help that there are actually false and misleading reports out there.

As an activist, it is important to be responsible about the information that you share. If you ever see any new development about a cause that you care about, take the time to study the source. Are there other ways to check if the information you have is credible? Do not just be another person who reads the headline and automatically presses the “share” button on social media.

There is enough noise out in the world. Any self-respecting activist will make time to ensure that they are not just adding more pointless noise into the already frayed narrative.

Not picking your battles

Not every argument is something that you need to be part of. There are instances where engaging a person whether online or offline does not yield anything positive. It is pretty much like when a person who likes to spew garbage is headed your way. Do you stand there and let the filth pile over you or do you sidestep and just keep going?

Always consider if the person you are engaging can eventually lead into a teachable encounter. Activists aim to empower and to educate not humiliate and badger. If you do not pick your battles, you will end up with a lot of pent-up frustration and aggression.

Not having any consistency

When you are representing a cause, it is important to be consistent with how you portray yourself and what you are fighting for. It will do nothing for your credibility as an activist to claim that you are vegan one moment then be spotted craving for hamburgers the next moment. It also damages the cause that you have declared to be supporting.

Final Points

Avoiding mistakes is fine—what is better is making room for mistakes when they occur. Activism is an ever evolving process and being too rigid will mean that you will not grow. Look out for mistakes but do not be scared of making any yourself. Just be mindful of it all in the end.

Activism Heroes…? Celebrities Who Take on Social Issues in 2017

While it is great while the everyday person takes up a cause, it is better to see someone who is on a higher platform to bring awareness. Today, we take a look at the celebrities who use their privilege to fight for good causes.

A lot of people often dismiss celebs as shallow people who only ever care about getting featured in movies or magazines. However, there are a stellar bunch of individuals who take on societal issues that affect everyone. Here are some of them:

Mark Ruffalo

Currently more well-known as the green giant The Hulk for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this guy does more than turn green—he fights for green. Ruffalo constantly updates his followers and fans about the dangers of fracking and other critical environmental issues like oil spills. He is an advocate of clean energy and is a great supporter of The Solutions Project.

Angelina Jolie

An actress that was once no stranger to controversy, she has since been a beacon of strength and a pillar of light for darker issues that permeates the globe. She fights for the rights of children and women who are caught in the middle of war zones. If you catch her directorial debut film entitled In the Land of Blood and Honey, you will see faces to the cause she fights so passionately for.

She also brings awareness to the health issues of Breast Cancer.

Keanu Reeves

While most know him as the badass Neo or the just as awesome John Wick, Reeves has always been one to help others. Generally well-known as a simple man, he often gives away big portions of his lucrative movie paychecks to charity—his one stipulation is that he is not named as the donor as he feels that will take the attention away from the cause.

Emma Watson

A lot of us watch her grow up on the set of Harry Potter so it is an infinite delight that she grew up to be a fine individual. Her causes involve children in the UK and international ones like UNICEF. She is also an advocate for sustainable fashion—something that most large companies want nothing to do with as fast fashion means fast income.

Felix Kjellberg

More commonly known as the YouTube King Pewdiepie, he has had his share of controversy. However, what does not nearly get enough press time is the fact that he has raised millions of dollars for charity. He created a movement called Charity: Water to support locations that did not have access to clean drinking water.

He has also been known to donate large sums of money to the WWF and has used his celebrity status (and games) to bring awareness about AIDS.

Why celebrity activists matter:

They put a bigger spotlight on issues that are pertinent to all of us. As there is more coverage and public fascination with their lives, the issues that they care about get wider press as well. This truly helps to boost awareness and recruits more budding activists to the field.