How To Be an Everyday Activist
What is everyday activism?
Everyday activism is for everyone. Activism isn’t always about protest and civil disobedience. It can also be more than tweets and hashtags. There are little things each of us can do to make the world a more just and equitable place. Whether you have five minutes or five hours, you can make a difference.
At Everyday Activism Network, we believe everyone has something important to offer. We present a range of actions that empower you to help in ways that are right for you. Learn more about How It Works.
Everyday activism is a lifestyle choice.
When you commit to consistently taking action on the issues you care about, your activism becomes a daily practice rather than a crisis response.
Everyday Activism Network supports you to sharpen your activism skills by learning about various ways you can help and how to increase your impact when you do take action. Our goal is to help you gain confidence, focus your time and energy, maintain momentum, and maximize your efforts.
Here are a few tips on how to get started as an everyday activist.
Recognize and overcome your personal hurdles to everyday activism
Eliminate self-imposed barriers
Many people hesitate to engage in everyday activism because they feel their actions won’t make a difference. They may convince themselves that they don’t know how to help, or become anxious about doing the wrong thing. Others may feel that they are too busy, and that getting involved takes too much time. Some people may believe that if they don’t have the resources to donate financially, that there is nothing they can do. Still others may be overwhelmed by feelings of crisis fatigue or analysis paralysis, which causes them to disengage from issues they care about.
By doing the research and planning for you, Everyday Activism Network recommends purposeful and impactful opportunities for you to engage on the issues you care about, and to confidently make better use of your time, talent, and resources.
Increase your impact
Many people engage in forms of performative activism and/or allyship. These types of actions are popular, but they rarely make a long-term difference beyond raising awareness.
In contrast, very few people are engaged in actions that have the highest potential to create real and lasting change. This includes civic engagement at the local, district, or state level. There is a general lack of awareness regarding how governments function, and this makes it difficult to hold governments and politicians accountable, know who to contact, and how to most effectively use our voice and our vote to communicate our priorities and concerns.
Everyday Activism Network understands the complex connections between advocacy, civic engagement, direct action, organizing, movement building, politics, social services, and systems change. We know what levers to pull to effect change. We are familiar with the organizations doing the best work to create a more just and equitable world, and know how to identify those who aren’t. Based on that knowledge, we make recommendations that have the potential to create positive change.
Maintain the momentum
Recent events have spurred many everyday people into action and propelled high levels of social justice activism and grassroots organizing. We must harness this momentum. We cannot afford to be complacent. Much work remains to be done no matter who—or which party—is in power.
A step-by-step guide to becoming an everyday activist
Decide where you want to dedicate your efforts
Define your values. Identify what is important to you and why.
Identify your assets. Think about the time, talent, and resources you have to offer.
Align your values and interests with your time, talent, and ability. Then choose actions that match.
Choose actions that give you joy and hope
Find what feels good. Taking action should be a pleasurable experience, not an obligation. But that doesn’t mean it should be easy. Everyday activism can take you out of your comfort zone and push you to examine more meaningful ways to contribute.
Leverage privilege and power. We all hold some level of privilege and power based on race, ethnicity, social status, income level, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, ability, age, etc. It’s necessary to be aware of the privileges and power you hold to address power imbalances. It’s also important to learn to recognize areas where you might be able to use your privilege or relative position of power to amplify your impact.
Vet the actions you decide to take
Always do your research to make sure it’s an action you agree with when identifying actions independently. Everyday Activism Network vets all the actions and organizations that we recommend to ensure they align with progressive values.
Read the fine print. For example, suppose you are asked to sign a petition to end child trafficking. Of course, everyone is against child trafficking. This seems like a no-brainer, but upon reading the full text, you might discover that the petition is advocating for a solution that denies sex workers rights and/or could endanger them. We would recommend against signing this petition.
Maximize your impact. For example, sometimes no matter how many calls or letters a senator receives, they will not change their vote. What could you do differently to make your voice heard? Everyday Activism Network does our best to help you identify and carry out actions that have the highest probability of positive impact.
Turn your everyday activism into a practice
Start small. Our guides usually include fast actions that you can do in under five minutes. Pick one action that resonates with you, and just do it!
Make it part of your routine. Choose specific times that you can dedicate to taking action so that it becomes a natural part of your routine. When you do something often enough, it turns into a habit.
Expand your practice. Once your everyday activism is part of your routine, you can explore more time-intensive actions in order to deepen and sustain your activism.
Find like-minded people
Get involved in local efforts. Many of our guides offer ideas on how to get connected to local groups or become an everyday activist in your community.
Join our community of everyday activists by following us on Instagram and Facebook. Engage with like-minded people taking action on the issues you care about.
About Everyday Activism Network
Everyday Activism Network is a one-stop-shop where you can learn about and take action on a variety of social justice issues and causes. Each week, we publish new guides designed to support your everyday activism.
Take Action guides provide a variety of purposeful actions to choose from.
How To guides help you learn how to optimize an action for maximum impact.
Terminology guides educate you on terms and concepts related to social justice and taking action.
Inspiration guides spotlight organizations and changemakers doing great work and how to support them.
By doing the research and planning for you, we provide opportunities for you to easily engage on the issues you care about, making better use of your time, talent, and resources.
Read more about How It Works.
Learn & Take Action
Explore our archive to learn how to help on a variety of social justice issues and causes.
Follow & Engage
See this guide as a graphic slideshow and join a like-minded community of everyday activists.
