Civics

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I observe it as a day of rest rather than a day of service, but I couldn't let the day go by without some words on engagement.

Remember two things,

#1: You choose your engagement style. Most people took a basic civics course in high school, but have no idea how to continue their education and engagement beyond voting. Maybe you're not the protest type. Maybe you are short on experience in dealing with policymakers. There are so many ways to engage. Find the one that works best for you, like Toni Morrison and Cicely Tyson.

"I’m not out on the street protesting. What can I do from where I am? I thought it was important for people to be in the streets but they couldn’t last. You needed a record. It would be my job to publish the voices, the ideas of African Americans. That would last."

Toni Morrison, The Pieces I Am

"Never once, during the billowing smoke of the Civil Rights Movement would I be spotted at a Woolworth lunch counter, braving a sit-in while hate-mongers hurled spit and spite. Never would I parade up and down the boulevards of Selma or Montgomery, a picket sign thrust high alongside my shouts. I admire the valiant freedom fighters who took to the streets, but it wasn't in my makeup to demonstrate in those ways. Nonetheless, I was set on speaking in the only place I felt courageous enough to do so - on the stage. I protested by using not my own words, but those of the characters I inhabited."

Cicely Tyson, Just As I Am

#2: You don’t have to make a public statement about anything. You don’t owe anyone proof of your advocacy.