I was recently challenged to come up with a working definition of what makes an activist.  And since my brain is far from rested or even working, I have just an abbreviated response.  This is to be continued.  This is not finished.  It is not inclusive of all my thoughts on this topic.  It’s huge, compelling, and much larger than a blog post.

What Is An Activist?

• a living person who decides to put action to their conscience (a dog marching in the Pride parade, or barking up a storm at an organization’s funding rally is not an activist because there is – to my knowledge – no conscious choice an animal makes to participate in these actions)
• engages in some sort of action, collaborates with a group or event whose mission is to disrupt, transform, heighten awareness of, or unlearn a practice, pedagogy, or agenda that seeks to oppress a marginalized group
• puts into practice new or newly founded ways of practicing love, relationship, community, and interdependence
• understands that liberation of all persons can not be and never will be on the backs of or forsake another person’s liberation
• organizes
• has a working and evolving understanding of the relationship of economics to discrimination/oppression and works to disrupt the destructive patterns