A grim truth about being a marginalized person is that there will come a time in your life where you realize you have to advocate for your own humanity.
For me, this moment took place about a year ago when I was working as a communications manager in higher education.
In my efforts to tell the stories of Black and Brown students from underserved communities who fought insurmountable odds to achieve student success, my voice was suppressed. Somehow, me wanting to uplift the voices of marginalized communities in a predominantly white institution made my colleagues want to repress mine. Having storytelling stripped from me because I didn’t subscribe to the white gaze of elevating white mediocrity while subverting Black excellence is when I realized that my purpose transcended this diminutive work environment.
I deserved to be in a place where I was encouraged to advocate for these communities, not be punished for it. That place turned out to be Detroit Action, a grassroots, member-led organization which fights for Black and brown Detroit residents. When I first arrived at the organization, the term "organizer," foreign to me at the time, was thrown around a lot. Truthfully, I had no idea what it meant and even when I discovered its meaning, I still didn’t consider myself one.
The past few months have been filled with preparing my colleagues for interviews with major media outlets while also securing op-ed placements on stories that speak to our organization’s work. To say it's been hectic would be an understatement. But it's worth it.
Outside of the duties of my role, I was also called to be a part of the election protection team as a poll monitor to ensure that voters’ rights were not infringed upon and that they weren’t met with voter suppression or intimidation tactics. This involved a great deal of bouncing around the city from the east to the west for 16 hours. But I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I got to be out in the streets on the most important day of the year, doing my part to save democracy.
Georgia grassroots orgs got that and so did my home state of Michigan where groups like @Detroit_Action
@MILiberation and so many others door knocked and spoke to people who haven't been engaged since 2012.— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) November 6, 2020
Election week was a hailstorm in witnessing firsthand the impact of organizing efforts to mobilize voters ahead of Nov. 3. Detroit’s voter turnout is projected to be the highest it’s been in over 20 years, thanks in part to organizations like Detroit Action.
Our canvassing team made close to one million calls and reached 86,845 folks in an effort to mobilize them to vote. These are the efforts of Black and Brown organizers on the ground doing real work to combat white supremacy at every angle. I’m proud to be able to work alongside people who are truly invested in building power for people of color in my hometown and I’m proud of myself and my newly minted title as an organizer.
One year ago, organizing looked like me moving and mobilizing my white colleagues officials to care about telling the stories of students of color. Serving my hometown as a poll monitor for 16 hours ensuring that my people felt empowered to cast their vote is an experience that I’ll always cherish. This small yet integral experience in mobilizing folks is the start to a long journey of my continued organizing on behalf of working-class people of color. The work that was put in to flip this battleground state blue should solely be credited to organizations who build power for Black and Brown people that are oftentimes overlooked by both political parties.
What politicized you? If you haven’t had a pivotal moment that’s moved you to organize on behalf of our community, I suggest you start thinking deeply about how you can show up for Black people in the best way possible.
