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Getting Active in Your Community
Across the nation, people are taking action in their communities to protect their freedoms. They are defending against racial profiling, religious discrimination and police abuse. They are fighting for equality and fairness. And the best thing is, they are often winning…. Yes, it is important that you fight for federal legislation that protects your freedoms, but you can also take concrete steps to protect these same freedoms in your own community. As a member of your community, you have more clout than you may realize. It's just a matter of standing up and making your voice heard! Besides, getting active in your community is a great way to directly improve your daily life and your neighborhood. First Steps
Make sure your elected officials hear from you and know where you stand on key issues. As a constituent, you can vote for them or against them, and need to keep them accountable. If they know that their actions are being carefully scrutinized, they are less likely to undertake bad initiatives or support detrimental legislation.
You can also write to your local newspaper. Letters to the Editor (LTE) are a great way to bring attention to an issue and reach people in your area.
Remember: Keep knowledgeable on local issues by subscribing to your local affiliate's mailing list and reading local newspapers. You can use the ACLU website to read up on the background on issues and get important talking points. By being well informed on an issue, your demands for action and accountability are more credible and forceful.
Getting Plugged In
It is possible that there is already a group of people in your community working on the issue you care about. You can find them by looking for events at your local community centers or coffeehouses, checking the ACLU affiliate website and asking around. You can also check if there is a Meetup, Yahoo Groups or Google Groups for this issue in your community.
Even if you don't find an existing group it doesn't mean that there aren't other people in the community who want to get involved. Chances are, if you care about an issue than there are other people who care too. Click here to find more ideas on identifying active people in your area.
Starting the Ball Rolling
You can help make others in your community aware of the issue and let them know what they can do about it. You can start by talking to your neighbors about your concerns and distribute materials that address the issue.
You might even start a discussion group to talk over the issues and gather together people who share your concerns. Be sure to publicize these meetings so other concerned individuals can get plugged in.
The ACLU Action Center has numerous materials that can be used for public education. For example, if you want to fight police abuse in your community, you can download flyers here.
Want to do More?
Congratulations! You've taken action and gathered a core group of folks who want to step up their level of involvement. There are a number of actions that you can take to bring your activism to the next level.
For example, if you want to raise awareness about the problems with the death penalty, why not host a movie night (showing Dead Man Walking or the Life of David Gale) and have a discussion about capital punishment afterwards?
Another good option is to set up an information table in a public place such as your library or farmer's market.
Remember to create a mailing list that people can subscribe to if they want to hear about news or upcoming events. You might also consider creating a quick website. A good tutorial to website creation can be found here.
You can also organize a lobby trip to the local office of your elected officials or to the state capital itself. These visits are a great way to build relationships with your representatives and give them important information about the issues.
Why not organize a public rally or have special speakers come talk about the different issues? The ACLU affiliate's staff will often be happy to speak about civil liberties issues. Keep in mind, the national ACLU also has a speaker's bureau.
As your involvement grows, you can take advantage of the experience of previous community organizers by reading the manuals they've produced. Two of the best organizing books are:
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The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country. Donate today.