Together we are more
You will think by the second week, I will be more settled and less lost, but it seems the longer I am in this city the more information I receive, the more things that interest me and the more awesome people I met. From two different events in my work (Democracy Initiative) and the organization where the office co-exists with (Common Couse) I have learned that getting out of your comfort zone is crucial in order to network. I love meeting new people, but it seems the methods I used at home to meet people does not quite apply the same way here. It might be because I still feel so naïve in politics, advocacy work and all the important jobs that are get done here in D.C., that when I am part of the networking conversations, I feel like a sponge trying to absorb as much information possible. Later on from what I can remember from the conversations I had, I did some research myself so that hopefully in the future I am better informed. However, not everything has been confusing. Fortunately for me, this week there has been a certain theme that has been repeated throughout the week: collectivism.
First, the organization that I am working for is a coalition of organizations working together for a brighter future, therefore collective action is so important in our organization. In fact, Wendy Fields, the executive director of DI, has this following phrase in a big post it in her office door: strategic collective action changes behavior. Pause, I need you to follow me on this. On Wednesday nights we have our bible study, and we talked about family, where Jesus in the book of Matthew says, who is my mother? Who are my brothers? Who are my sisters? Basically asking who is my family? And through our bible study we were asked the same question: who is my family? Who is my family in Christ? And yes, the most obvious answer is immediate blood-related family, but we explore the idea of how Jesus was calling everybody to be a part of his family. I know, now you are probably thinking what this all has to do with collective action, and please keep following me on my journey of these connecting dots.
Through this GBCS internship, we have been learning about social justice and the social principles that the Methodist church is based on. I was thinking to myself that a lot of the problems we have now is that the new regulations and reforms do not benefit everybody, and make no justice to the people that need it. Maybe I will be naïve for saying the following, but if our politicians and people designing the laws, the corporations, and every single individual thought of each other as family, maybe things will change. I know this is desiring a utopia, but if you think about it, what will the world look like if every time you do a decision that affects other people, you think of that people as the person you loved the most in your family?
For example, if I am undecided to wash the dishes of my roommates, and I think I will be willing to wash the dishes for my parents, why not for them? It will be the same for other things. If a reform was to hypothetically affect someone I love, will I still approve it? If we actually took those extra seconds when making a decision, we will see a change in our lifestyle, and if people see that, they might be more than likely to join us as well. Then, more people will join, and we will be doing it collectively as a big family. These actions will be changing our behaviors and our lifestyles, and it will be for good. I am probably not the first one to think this way, but this week was the first time I saw the powerful connection between family and collective action.
First, the organization that I am working for is a coalition of organizations working together for a brighter future, therefore collective action is so important in our organization. In fact, Wendy Fields, the executive director of DI, has this following phrase in a big post it in her office door: strategic collective action changes behavior. Pause, I need you to follow me on this. On Wednesday nights we have our bible study, and we talked about family, where Jesus in the book of Matthew says, who is my mother? Who are my brothers? Who are my sisters? Basically asking who is my family? And through our bible study we were asked the same question: who is my family? Who is my family in Christ? And yes, the most obvious answer is immediate blood-related family, but we explore the idea of how Jesus was calling everybody to be a part of his family. I know, now you are probably thinking what this all has to do with collective action, and please keep following me on my journey of these connecting dots.
Through this GBCS internship, we have been learning about social justice and the social principles that the Methodist church is based on. I was thinking to myself that a lot of the problems we have now is that the new regulations and reforms do not benefit everybody, and make no justice to the people that need it. Maybe I will be naïve for saying the following, but if our politicians and people designing the laws, the corporations, and every single individual thought of each other as family, maybe things will change. I know this is desiring a utopia, but if you think about it, what will the world look like if every time you do a decision that affects other people, you think of that people as the person you loved the most in your family?
For example, if I am undecided to wash the dishes of my roommates, and I think I will be willing to wash the dishes for my parents, why not for them? It will be the same for other things. If a reform was to hypothetically affect someone I love, will I still approve it? If we actually took those extra seconds when making a decision, we will see a change in our lifestyle, and if people see that, they might be more than likely to join us as well. Then, more people will join, and we will be doing it collectively as a big family. These actions will be changing our behaviors and our lifestyles, and it will be for good. I am probably not the first one to think this way, but this week was the first time I saw the powerful connection between family and collective action.
Raquel Resendiz
Blog Post 2
6/15/2018
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