Citizenship Toolkit

America In Solidarity’s Education Director Jeff Richardson has provide a “Citizen Toolkit” that every good activist should have. The media section is tailored for Jeff’s home area, but the rest is not area specific.

Introduction

Before I get into explaining why you need these things, I'd like to take a minute to congratulate you for getting involved. Trying to change your government is like trying to move a boulder up a hill. It's hard work, not a lot of people want to help you, and in the end, the boulder may just roll back down the hill if you fall down or get pushed out of the way by your opponents.

You are taking on a big challenge just by learning to be a better citizen. Citizenship is a very special thing that we all should cherish. Unfortunately, our 19th Century school system hasn't kept up with all the changes in our government, and has all but given up on teaching folks how to be good citizens.

First off, what is citizenship? Put simply, citizenship is the special responsibility of every member of this country. To be a good American is to be a good citizen, and the quality of your citizenship is basically defined by how well you get along with your neighbors and what you do to preserve and defend our democracy.

This country was founded by people who got off their duffs and did something. Some of them wrote pamphlets and stuck them onto trees with nails. Others ran their printing presses late into the night printing papers that detailed the corruption of the British government and the ruthless practices of the East India Company. Others took up arms and started the revolution by waging war on the British. In my opinion, whatever you can do to defend and extend the promise of democracy in this country, the better citizen you will be.

What does being a good citizen mean to you? Take a minute to write down a few good answers. Here's my list:

1. Taking care of my neighbors, co-workers and customers.
2. Taking care of my family.
3. Writing letters to the editor about stuff that makes me mad
4. Voting and helping out on progressive politicians' campaigns
5. Speaking out on behalf of the homeless and under-employed.
6. Writing my blog.
7. Attending anti-war protests and other outdoor events.
8. Organizing workers.
9. Organizing events to highlight the struggles facing America's working families.

What's on your list? Keep adding to it, and your commitment to your community will increase. The more you can do for your community, the better citizen you will be.

Now let's get into the toolkit:

Library Card

Why do you need a library card? Number one, the library is a great place to find information. You can access the Internet there for free, and use email at their computer stations. You can make cheap copies and get plenty of reference material. There are brilliant librarians handy to help you find any information you need. And last but not least, there are generally a few meeting rooms where you can attend meetings of local activist groups or political parties.

 Find your local library.

Dictionary

A lot of times when we're reading a book or reading the paper, we come across words that don't make sense. If we have a dictionary, it's easy to find a definition that fits in the context of the piece. I encourage anyone who reads to get a good dictionary, to ensure that you understand clearly what it is you're reading. Dictionaries are also a big help when you're writing, so you don't make silly spelling errors.

Encyclopedia

This is an awesome thing to have. It's really handy to be able to pull out an encyclopedia volume and get a quick overview of the subject you're researching. You can get encyclopedias for the computer now that are really cheap (much cheaper than buying the whole set). If you can't afford that, there's always wikipedia , which is often better and more extensive than a regular encyclopedia. Only problem with wikipedia is that anyone can come in and change things, so you want to make sure and check it periodically to make sure the thing you referenced has stood up to reader scrutiny.

Founding Documents

These are the documents that underpin everything we're trying to change, our laws, our community statutes, you name it. They can be as fundamental as the Declaration of Independence to as obscure as your union's bylaws. Whatever organization you're attempting to change, make sure you understand their fundamental structure and laws. I picked up a great book about the Constitution called "Your Rugged Constitution" and it is filled with useful information and pictures about what the different articles mean. Senator Byrd (D-WV) encourages all young people to carry a pocket-sized version of the US Constitution with them at all times. I think that's pretty good advice, especially in this time of warrantless government wiretapping and rampant abuses of consumer privacy.

By reading and rereading your founding documents, you can often gain inspiration by knowing that powerful positive changes can take place and may someday be enshrined into law. Just think, at one time African-Americans were considered three-fifths of a human being, until the agitation of the abolitionists and the slaves themselves encouraged the states to amend the Constitution, thereby making all people equal under the law. Imagine the kind of Amendment to the Constitution you would write. What would it do to improve the lives of all Americans?

Moral Documents

These are the writings that stir your soul and keep you grounded. Many folks draw inspiration from the Bible, the Koran, or the Talmud. Your moral documents can be anything that speaks to your heart and encourages you to be a better person. While the founding documents define the limits and the possibilities under the laws of the country in which you live, your moral documents define the proper relationship between you and the wider community of humanity and the world.

For me, no writings are more sacred than the speeches of our nation's greatest prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His last speech, "I Have Been to the Mountaintop", is the most important to me because he speaks on behalf of poor and struggling workers in Memphis as well as Vietnam. He draws parallels between the struggles of workers trying to form a union with workers struggling to win their country back from an imperialist invading army. He speaks to my heart and encourages me to look beyond the mountain, to the fertile valley of peace.

I also find wisdom in the religious texts of all the world's cultures, from the Bible to the Bhagavad Gita. To my mind, God speaks to all of us, whenever we speak to the needs of the poorest among us. That is why my favorite prophets are those who spoke out against the crimes of an out-of-control superstate that mixes politics and religion in its drive to consolidate wealth and exclude the poor. Some examples: Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jesus. They may have come from a certain time and place in religious history, but their lessons for us are universal.

Media

This can be anything from your local corporate paper to a radio show, a favorite blog or other website. Anything that you read, watch, or hear is media. I prefer the kind that doesn't have to hustle for advertising (PBS, NPR, and independent alternative media) but all of it is important, because it shapes the world in which we live.

Columnists, reporters and anchors have enormous sway on the public consensus. If you can get your message into the mainstream, either by whipping up such a huge public outcry that they have to cover it, or by creating your own media that supplants that of the big corporations, you have power. And that power is what drives the political will of the nation.

This is why you have to write letters to the editor. This is why you have to send out press releases about your groups' activities. This is why you have to put out newsletters and posters and stickers and signs and flyers. Getting your message into the public consciousness is key to making change.

But sometimes we aren't pushing our own message. A lot of times, we find ourselves disgusted by something we see in the news or the lack of substantive coverage of an issue we care about. That's what the letter to the editor is all about. When you contact a media source that has disappointed you or raised your hackles up on an issue they may decide to print your letter. If they do, that raises the issue again. The more people that do that, in more and more media outlets, the more an issue can resonate with the public consciousness, and thusly enter into the minds of the people that produce the media. Then, if you're very lucky, the bigtime media folks might cover the issue in a fairer and more substantive way. At the very least, you'll have done your part in advancing the causes you care about most.

What kind of media can you access in our area? Here's a short list:

Print Media:

The Tacoma News Tribune - owned by McClatchy
The Tacoma Weekly
Real Change - Seattle - distributed by homeless folks to help them earn an honest living
Street Pulse - Tacoma's own weekly homeless advocacy paper
Eat the State! - Geov Parrish's indie paper
Seattle PI/Seattle Times
The Olympian - Olympia - also owned by McClatchy
Peninsula Gateway - Gig Harbor - also owned by McClatchy
Washington Free Press - Seattle-based indie, comes out every couple of months
Works in Progress - awesome indie out of Olympia

Radio:

AM 1090 KPTK - Seattle's Progressive Talk
94.9 KUOW - NPR - Seattle
91.3 KBCS - Community Radio out of Bellevue Community College
710 KIRO - mainstream political talk plus other stuff - Seattle
Democracynow.org - Democracy Now's streaming audio/video website
90.3 KEXP - Seattle, they have a public interest block Saturday Mornings 6-10 PM

TV:

TV Tacoma - Channel 12 for Click! subscribers
CSPAN
TVW - Washington State's version of CSPAN
Free Speech TV - Satellite channel, carries Democracy Now!
LinkTV - satellite channel, carries Democracy Now!
plus all those mainstream channels like KIRO 7 and KING 5

Internet:

Your favorite blogs
CNN.com
google.com - check out news on any subject
yahoo.com - also gathers news
Democraticunderground.com
The American Peoples' Congress - Tahoma Chapter - bookmark it!

Newsletters:

Your union newsletter
any other publication that accepts reader submissions

Other media:

Blank walls in need of posters, stickers, graffiti, etc.
Bulletin boards around town and at work
Billboards, Bus-wrap signs, plus anything else people read while out and about.

Telephone

This is critical. Most politicians' staffs go through emails in a very haphazard way. The best way to get politicians and other influential people is to call their offices, or even better than that, by showing up. If you call their office, particularly the office in their home district (often in a city near where you live) the people there are much more likely to pass on the message without distortion. I can tell you that I have never once received a personal response from an email, but when I sent an actual letter in the mail and made a phone call, I did receive personal contact. If you're going to have an impact on public policy, whether it's getting the roads fixed in your neighborhood or getting our Senators to vote no on "free trade", you have to make your voice heard. And the phone works wonders.

If you don't have a home phone, or your parents won't let you make long distance calls, pick up a phone card at the nearest convenience store. Use your cellphone, if it doesn't charge for long distance. Use Toll-free numbers to call Washington, like 1(888)355-3588 and tell the operator your zip code. They'll connect you to your congressperson or your Senators, whichever you wish to speak to.

Also, the telephone is your best friend when trying to organize events, like protest marches and rallies. Call up friends, talk about the issues, direct folks to websites that talk about the issues, make the phone your most important tool in your quest for better government.

Your Writings

Save everything you write, either in a blog, or somewhere on your computer. If you get articles printed, or you receive responses from politicians on the issues, store that stuff in a special area so you have a record of your activity. Sometimes it's good to go back through your work and remind yourself that you have been working. Often when we're involved in a struggle we forget all the work we've done that had an impact. It's good to have a record of our achievements. Also, if you really like to write, having a blog is a great way of linking up with people in your community. Just by putting your city or county name somewhere in your blog, you can attract people to you who want to talk about issues from a local perspective. And then you can try to motivate those folks to get involved.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor are a vital part of our civic life. The Opinion page of your local newspaper is either the first or second-most likely read page of the paper. Your neighbors read the opinion page to find outwhat their neighbors are thinking. If you want to be a part of the debate in our society, you HAVE TO write these letters. Particularly when the issue you are passionate about isn't getting adequate news coverage, or ifother letter writers (or the paper's own editorial staff) are misrepresenting the facts, or providing an analysis that you disagree with.But I know what you're thinking: "how do I know they'll print my letter?" The easy answer: you don't.But even if they don't print your letter, just sending it to the editor may be enough to convince the editor to follow up on the story. It might be one of several on the same topic that convinces the editor to print theleast controversial response. It's even possible that your take on the issue encourages the editor to investigate the issue in greater detail. Whatever happens, whether the big corporate paper you send it to prints it or not, writing that letter is the simplest way for you to flex your civicmuscles and influence the thinking of your fellow citizens.A few hints to get your letter published:


• Keep it short and sweet. Preferably under 100 words. Less than fifty is even better.
• If possible, refer to the article or other letter you are responding to.
• Add something new to the conversation.
• Express how this issue personally effects you. 

Conclusion

So there you have it folks, the Citizenship Toolkit. All you have to do to customize this to your own area is swap out the media links for links to media in your area. Put it to use in your area, and let's teach our young people how to be strong and active citizen-activists! We can make this country truly amazing, if only we have the courage to do so. Let's get out there and have fun, and remember, if you send enough letters, eventually someone somewhere will print it.