Are you wondering how to become an activist? Well, this is great as it means that you are probably motivated enough to fight for your cause, whether it is activism for human rights, activism for the environment, or activism for any other important topic. In this article, we are going to find out what activism actually is and provide you with our top tips to succeed as an activist.
Becoming an activist is not hard! But you need to be ready to allocate all of your time and passion into your cause. Also, you will first need to educate yourself about the cause that you are trying to make an impact for and connect with other activists. Other than that, it’s all about getting the experience to grow your impact even more in the future. Let’s take a closer look at what activism actually is!
What is Activism?
There is no clear definition of activism. In fact, there cannot be, since activism can be any action that addresses a certain issue of public interest, such as injustice or climate change. Thus, an activist is anyone who demands something to change and invests his time and effort into driving or pushing other to drive this change.
Activism calls for politial or social change and progress, and, as a result, is highly progressive as well as constructive. Sometimes activism can be annoying for some people, but by raising attention to problems that the public wouldn’t see or act on otherwise, activism contributes to transparency and democracy.
All in all, activism aims to make our world a better place!
How to Become an Activist?
Are you seeing something wrong in the world and want to change it? Are you interested in making a difference and working as an activist?
Here are the top 15 tips on how to become and activist!
1. Get educated on your cause
If you want to know how to become an activist, learn about your focus area first. When starting out as an activist, it is all about getting familiar with your cause and developing a deep knowledge-base for the topics you are most passionate about. Read articles, watch videos/documentaries, attend courses, and even consider enrolling in a study program that relates to your cause. Really! The more kowledge you have, the better will be your work as an activist, and the more powerful will be your impact. By educating yourself about your cause, you are going to become an expert in your topic and will develop good and well-funded arguments that you can use in discussions.
Knowledge is the base for everything you are going to do as an activist, so it’s THE most important point in this list. As it is so crucial to be educated as an activist, EcoCation has a whole library of articles that you can use as an educational resource as an activist. Also, make sure to read books about sustainability and stay up-to-date regarding your topic of concern by watching news regularly and inform yourself through credible media.
2. Join a local activist group & connect with peers
Activism is nothing without a network! After you’ve educated yourself on your cause, and even while doing so, try to connect with like-minded people. We know that this can be hard sometimes, especially when you feel like you are the only one within your community that wants to become an activist. The great news is that we live in a world where you can find and connect to like-minded peers online. It might even be that you’ve already come across an estalished group while gaining knowledge about your cause. Make sure to join an activist group or even start your own.
3. Attend protests & marches
After you’ve found a group of like-minded people, go out on the streets and join protests, strikes, or marches. This will not only make your voice heard in a powerful way, but it will also connect you to even more people who think the same way. Furthermore, before attending such protests, let your creativtity run wild and create a sign that includes your main message, for example something like: “save the planet, not the government”. It’s just a sign, but it will clearly communicate your point of view without the need for you to even say anything.
In addition, you can become a member of the organizing committee, so that you can take on more responsibilities and support your group, not only by protesting but by facilitating the protests itself.
4. Lead by example
If you want to become an activist, make sure to practice what you preach! This is really important because your critics will judge your authority based on your own behavior.
For example, let’s say you are demanding a ban of single-use plastics, but are drinking your coffee out of a single-use drinking cup. As soon as your critics will see this, they are going to use it as a powerful argument against you. That’s why you should always lead by example!
In more theoretical words, this is called “conscious activism”. Incorporating activism in your day-to-day life and showing others that it is totally possible to change their lifestyle too is one of the most powerful tools in your toolbox as an activist. Just check out how much power influencers can have on their communities when it comes to clothing or makeup. You can do the same for your cause!
5. Raise your voice about your cause
If you really want to become an activist, you will need to raise your voice about your cause and fight for it, no matter the situation or people that you are talking to. Discuss about it with your friends and family and develop good and valid arguments.
Ultimately, social media is another powerful tool that you have to increase your impact and make your message heard. It has never been easier to drive people’s attention to a certain topic as with social media. Thus, promoting your cause on social media is a great way to spread awareness about it, as well as connect with more activists.
6. Volunteer work
This one is quite obvious! One of the best ways to make a difference is by donating some of your time to support your cause. That way you can have a direct and quick impact. In fact, volunteering can make you feel incredibly good and gives you the opportunity to contribute your part to a bigger vision.
For example, if you are fighting against plastic pollution, you could join or even organize a local cleanup in your neighbourhood, park, forest, or beach.
7. Donate & invest money
We’ve all heared it before… Money is powerful! And hell yes, it is! If given to the right people, money can move mountains. By donating money to your local activist group, charity, or NGO that is supportuing your cause, you can increase your influence as an activist. In fact, these organizations depend on donations of people like you to continue to exist.
However, donating is only one option you have to support your cause financially. Did you know that you can do good and save money at the same time? Well, this is exactly what investing into green companies is all about. By investing into companies that are contributing to your cause, you cannot only get a return on your investment, but also increase your impact as an activist.
Finally, your bank account is just like an investment, so make sure to open a bank account with a bank that invests into companies which are contributing to your goal.
8. Commit to small actions
Rarely does a single, significant effort that overturns oppression and injustice lead to progress. Even significant changes that appear to occur suddenly are sometimes the outcome of years of meticulous and tenacious preparation. Becoming an activist requires you to realize that no effort is too modest. In order to start giving to charities, writing petitions, participating in protests, or volunteering, you don’t need to wait until you have wealth, power, or decades of experience. When compared to more seasoned campaigners, your efforts may seem little, but everyone has to start somewhere.
9. Put pressure on decision-makers & vote
As much as you are trying to have an impact individually, you will never have as much power as those that are able to make decisions. Put pressure on politicians by talking to them, or by critizising them publicly. Furthermore, vote for those politicians who share the same view on your cause. Of course, your vote will only be one of many thousands or even millions, but it can still make a difference.
10. Develop a personal mission statement & define your goals
Developing your personal mission statement allows you to reflect on yourself and your values & goals. When your efforts get tough or you face a crisis, a mission statement will help ground you and remind you about your goals. Furthermore, it is common for NGOs and charities to ask for your personal mission statement, so it will also help you to connect to these kind of organizations.
11. Maintain a support network & prevent burnout
Something that is closely related to developing your own mission statement to become an activist is the topic of burnout. In fact, burnout is unfortunately very common amongst actvists, so please take this serious! Being an activist can be quite overwhelming. Since you are trying to fight a problem that you cannot solve on your own, your level of influence is often very limited, which can make you feel powerless. Putting in huge efforts to support your cause, but not seeing any significant change can be very daunting and unmotivating.
In order to prevent burnout and high levels of stress, accept that your influence is limited and set SMART goals. SMART stands for “specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-based”. Based on your goals, you should then manage your time well by planning and preparing properly.
Finally, make sure to maintain a strong support network of people that you can turn to when times are getting though and you need somebody to talk to. Articulating your thoughts can do wonders and motivate you to continue the fight for your cause!
12. Get experience
For aspiring activists, practical experience is crucial in addition to courses and/or a degree in the field. Volunteering and internships are two ways you may get into the profession; they’re equally crucial as getting the correct education and reading the right books. As you get practical experience, you’ll develop vital relationships with groups and other activists, which will increase your capacity to influence people and pick up new skills. Experience is a need whether you want to work as a professional activist or contribute significantly as a volunteer.
13. Develop good communication skills
Communication is the most important skill to have as an activist. If you want to know how to become an activist, it is thus essential that you learn to communicate appropriately, whether it’s in a writen, verbal, or non-verbal form.
Tips for talking in front of a bigger audience / when giving a speech:
- Prepare & practice until you feel confident
- Don’t read notes
- Tell stories & use examples
- Keep it simple
- Let your body language support your words
Tips for giving an interview:
- Be punctual
- Anticipate questions & prepare yourself
- Be polite to your interviewer
- Make sure to communicate your main message (even when it’s not directly asked)
- Come up with examples & data that support your claim
Tips for participating in panel discussions:
- Understand your role and the panel (find out who else will participate)
- Be concise & use stories and examples to support your claim
- Be prepared for tough counter-arguments
- Talk directly to the other participants & listeners
- Don’t be shy to take the word
Something is important in each of the above situations is to know your audience and adapt your communication accordingly. For example, when talking to a younger audience, you will need to use simple words, whereas you can use more technical terms when talking to an older audience. This is because then an older audience will perceive you as an expert in your field, whereas a younger audience will probably fall asleep while you talk to them.
Finally, communication is about listening as much as talking, so make sure to sharpen your listening skills too.
14. Build self-confidence
If you want to become a successfull activist and have an imoact on your cause, you need to build self-confidence. Know your strengths and weaknesses and look at what you’ve achieved already. Find out what you are good at in your role as an activist and focus on that activity. In addition, something that can help a lot too is to write down all your achivements and strenthgs. Praise yourself for these!
15. Take on responsbility early
Finally, begin your activist career by taking on responsibility as early as possible. No matter how small your responsibility is at first, it gives you the chance to get experience in leadership positions and helps tremendeously in building a good base as an activist. One way to take on responsibility early is, for example, to become the sustainability representative of your high school.
How much Money Can You Earn as an Activist?
Typically, most activists don’t make much money! This is because “being an activist” is not an actual job. It rather is a passion and a “free service” to society that most activists do beside their full-time job. Those that are earning money from activism usually do so because of their “true” professions through which they operate, such blogging, social media management, NGO involvement, or legal jobs.
Of course, there are also examples for famous activists who make a decent living with their activities. However, these are not paid in the form of salaries, but rather based on each project they did. For example, Malaika Vaz (a famous wildlife filmmaker) isn’t paid for organizing marches about environmental protection, but she is paid for speeches that she gives and the documentaries that she creates with her production company.
The average yearly income of an activist in the US is around $40,000 to $50,000. This includes, but is not limited to income from speeches, blog posts, social media, interviews, and donations. This proves that you can make a decent living as an activist, as long as you can sell yourself and your expertise.
Types of Activism
Let’s be honest! There is more than only one problem in our world. Though, you simply cannot solve every single problem out there.
This means that, if you are wondering how to become an activist, you have to focus on the topic that is most important to you and choose for one type of activism. After you’ve done that, it’s all about becoming an expert in your field and developing a strong identity. So, what problem do you want to focus on as an activist?
Below you can find the most common types of activism. Simply choose one of them and go for it. Apply the tips above to become one of the following types of activists and fight for your cause!
Human Rights Activism
Human rights activists are involved in everything around civil rights, justice, and freedom. During the last centuries, human rights activists have heavily contributed to the abandoning of slavery, oppression, and segregation. Plus, they have been the main force that drove the development of women and minority rights. One of the most recent examples for human rights activism is the “Black Lives Matter” Movement, whose mission it is to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities”.
Environmental Activism
Environmental activists identify and address issues that threaten the planet’s health. Environmental issues can include, but are not limited to, global problems like climate change, plastic pollution, biodiversity loss and mass extinction, or local problems like wildfires or soil pollution. The goal of environmental activism is to create a sustainable environment that can be handed down from generation to generation without degrading in life quality due to poor human stewardship. Essentially, environmental activims aims to achieve a sustainable world. Examples for environmental activism include Extinction Rebellion, Sea Sherperd, and FridaysForFuture. All these movemens can help you become an activist.
Social Activism
Social activists fight against societal problems and aims to change institutions and behaviors in society. Social activists are fighting against issues such as corruption, poverty, religious conflicts, or weapon rights. Labor unions can be seen as a form of social activism too, as they are fighting for a common interest to large parts of the society by demanding, for example, higher wages. In turn, this prevents many workers from falling into poverty. Another example is the fight against weapon rights in the US.
Political Activism
Poltical activists aim to drive political and legal change by campaining, protesting, or striking against decisions that are (to be) made by governements. This type of activism is often closely connected to social & human rights activism, but tends to include an ideological component. An example for political activism is the fight for more abortion rights.
Community Activism
Community activism can be seen as a sub-category of human rights & social activism. It aims to protect local communities’ and minorities’ rights. For example, even though indigenous people are contributing the least to global carbon emssions, they are among the first to face the direct consequences of climate change. This is due to their dependence upon, and close relationship, with the environment and its resources. Climate change exacerbates the difficulties already faced by indigenous communities including political and economic marginalization, loss of land and resources, human rights violations, discrimination and unemployment.
Conclusion
All in all, knowing how to become an activist is crucial when you want to increase your impact and fight for your cause. There are plenty of types of activism, so make sure to choose and focus only on one of them. The work of activists is very complex and requires many different skills, such as communication, leadership, and self-cnfidence.
However, the most important skill you need to have as an activist is knowledge, because it is the base for everything you do. At EcoCation, it is our mission to provide you with exactly this knowledge that you need. So feel free to take a look at our numerous articles.
