Be The Change Challenge: 5 Years Later

TBT #BeTheChange So, it's been 5 years. Here's how I've followed through on this pledge! I have since mobilized and organized voters for the 2018 and 2020 national elections, state elections, city elections, and in 2020 I ran for Local School Council, was elected, and currently serve as our chair. After this post (below) organizing #BeTheChange #Challenge on social media, and through in-person rallies in Los Angeles and Chicago, I flew to DC to visit my sister and rallied at the first National Women’s March In 2017. We took our kids to support teachers on strike twice, to march and rally in protest of the horrific policy of separating families at the border, and we created public art installations and televised PSAs and elementary-aged school lessons fighting to stand with #blacklivesmatter, to support #Pride when LBGTQIA+ rights have come under attack. We were all part of the #WeStillTeach movement to bridge the digital divide during the pandemic, and we are all part of the #VaccinesSaveLives movement to end the pandemic, by helping folks get vaccinated throughout Chicago.

Holy moly, writing this is making me cry. It's been a horrifically difficult 5 years for so many of my friends and family, some of whom are no longer with us and whom I deeply miss, and I am so proud to be -- and to have been -- their ally in the ongoing fight for their freedom. I am especially proud of my kids and their friends, whose generation at even this young age is bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice. * * * * *

December 3, 2016 - Chicago

What changes do you want to see in the world? How can you make them happen? Take the #BeTheChangeChallenge and #BeTheChange... Pledge - Photo - Post! Tag 3 friends to do the same...

I've helped organize the Be The Change: Challenge for everyone that feels like they need a safe space to process what's going on in the world today in a proactive and positive way. I'm doing this because I feel like we only have this too brief a moment - right now - to make an impact.

What do you want your legacy to be?

I want mine to be the example I set for my children. I will not stand by as a silent witness to discrimination and oppression. I must stand up, speak up, and will use my very loud voice - and my words - to be heard and amplify the voices of others.

To do this, as a family, we are devoting more energy now and in 2017 and beyond to mobilizing our neighborhood to create a more unified community, and to engaging our elected officials. Change starts on our street, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, in our communities.

In doing this, we hope to teach our kids about privilege and civic responsibility. To show them what it means to have courage and fight for what's right. To empower our kids to be tomorrow's leaders.