Creating Activists by Building Community | Jen Cox | TEDxWaltonHigh
The speaker argues that creating community is a vital act of resistance, especially when institutional systems fail, illustrating this with her journey from feeling isolated in the Atlanta suburbs to building "Pave It Blue" from scratch, demonstrating the power of organized, localized action to sustain political engagement.
## Speakers & Context
- Speaker: Unnamed speaker addressing the audience on the anniversary of the Women's March.
- Context: Speaking about creating community, particularly in the wake of political and social disillusionment.
- Personal history: Grew up in a political family where discussions covered injustice, racism, and sexism.
- Civic duty: Felt it was her "civic duty to try to make a difference" due to her upbringing.
- Early political action: In high school in the 80s, she was among the seniors registered to vote after a group came to the school to register voters.
- Professional life: Worked for Approach with lobbyists in DC in her 20s and did a stint with AmeriCorps at age 30.
## Theses & Positions
- When a community cannot be found, one has the choice to "move somewhere where you think it exists or you can stay and create it yourself."
- Political discourse should not be confined by the belief that one must remain silent or conform to established groups ("it was the opposite" of the norm).
- The importance of civic participation is profound, exemplified by her father's excitement to serve on the jury.
- True community building requires overcoming feelings of isolation and the fear of being different.
- The model of effective community building involves providing tangible actions ("We were providing something for people so that they could actually feel like they were doing something") to combat anxiety and fear.
- Activism is not limited to traditional methods; it can involve creative actions like writing postcards or building online groups.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Institutionalized injustice:** Racism and sexism that become built into systems.
- **Advocacy (Georgia context):** The process of ensuring constituents are present at local political meetings to hold local politicians accountable, noted as being nonpartisan.
- **Earned media:** Media attention gained without having to pay for it, which became crucial for the community's visibility.
- **Canvassing:** Knocking on doors to engage voters; the process she found needed creative adaptation.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Community Formation Strategy:** Starting with small, often secretive groups (like the "secret Facebook group for liberal moms") and expanding the mandate when safety/privacy concerns could be overcome.
- **Pave It Blue Growth:** Initially starting with signs on street corners, growing to a large, visible presence at busy East Cobb intersections.
- **Sustainability/Expansion:** Moving from initial highly visible local acts (like street corner signs) to scalable digital platforms (social media) and ongoing direct engagement (hosting trainings in living rooms).
- **Delegating Action:** Engaging people by tapping into latent skills—asking, *"who's a marketer? 20 hands go up right? who loves to do print spreadsheets?"*—to allow ownership beyond traditional canvassing.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Middle School:** Learning about institutionalized injustice.
- **High School (80s):** Voter registration experience; deciding to register as Democrat despite surrounding "pack mentality."
- **2015:** Contemplating moving back to Denver after struggling for six years to find like-minded people in the northern suburbs of Atlanta.
- **Initial Community Building:** Finding the secret Facebook group for liberal moms.
- **2016:** Participating in the Presidential election cycle, leading to public visibility at East Cobb intersections.
- **Post-Election:** Forming "Pave It Blue" via social media, rapidly growing to 1,000 people in a month and 4,000 in six months.
- **Later:** Supporting the progressive candidate in the 6th district special election.
- **Ongoing:** Establishing routines for advocacy (attending local political meetings) even when major campaigns are not running.
## Named Entities
- **Tennessee to Washington:** The route taken by the speaker's parents/stepmom for the Women's March.
- **St. Pete, Florida:** Location where the speaker attended high school in the 1980s.
- **Atlanta (Northern suburbs):** Area where the speaker moved to and initially struggled to find community.
- **Boulder, Asheville, Denver:** Progressive places the speaker lived in prior to moving to Atlanta's northern suburbs.
- **East Cobb:** Specific location in East Cobb where initial signs were displayed.
- **Lucy Macbeth:** A woman mentioned who is part of a national spokesperson for Moms Demand Action and is running for office.
- **Planned Parenthood:** Organization referenced by one woman in the background.
## Numbers & Data
- Number of years ago the Women's March anniversary is: **One year**.
- Number of people who voted in high school: **All of the seniors who were 18**.
- Years spent in Atlanta suburbs struggling: **Six years**.
- Initial group formation: A **secret Facebook group**.
- People showing up at East Cobb intersections: **200 people** on a Sunday.
- Pave It Blue growth: **200 people** in 48 hours, **1,000** in a month, **4,000** in six months, exceeding **5,000**.
- Number of media outlets covered during the campaign: Mentioned as dozens, listing **The New York Times, CNN, CBS, MSNBC, The Atlantic, the Guardian**, plus international media (France, Germany, Japan).
## Examples & Cases
- **The family trip:** The speaker's dad and stepmom traveling on a bus from Tennessee to Washington for the Women's March.
- **Voting moment:** The choice in high school between registering Democrat or going along with the Republican pack mentality.
- **Community failure:** The period of "getting quieter and quieter" in her forties when seeking signs and coffee dates without success.
- **Successful community activation:** The display of signs on busy East Cobb corners, making the community visible and electrizing.
- **Activist creativity:** Using non-traditional acts like taking postcards or hosting postcard parties for participation.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Facebook:** Used for the initial formation of the group.
- **Social Media:** Crucial element enabling the rapid assembly and organization of people.
- **Twitter:** Used specifically to engage with media, candidates, and elected officials.
- **Signs:** Used as the initial, visible form of protest/support.
- **Postcards:** An alternative form of activism suggested for people who couldn't canvass.
- **Stickers and buttons:** Small, tangible forms of support that people started creating.
## References Cited
- **National spokesperson for Moms Demand Action:** Organization connected to Lucy Macbeth.
- **Sixth district:** Location of the special election supported by the group.
- **Capitol (Georgia):** The venue where advocacy efforts are directed after campaigns end.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Secret vs. Open:** The transition from a "secret" online community to an open one, which the speaker found necessary because "not everybody can be secret."
- **Activism methods:** Trade-off between the high effort of canvassing/door knocking vs. the low-effort, high-yield method of writing postcards from home.
- **Lobbying vs. Grassroots:** The shift from professional lobbying in D.C. to building sustained, localized political power in Georgia.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The initial premise that the community could remain "secret" was flawed because marginalized groups require visible action ("you don't have a choice").
- Early struggles reflected the difficulty of maintaining values when physically removed from a supportive peer group.
## Methodology
- **Community Building:** Started by identifying a shared core value (political engagement/resistance to injustice) among isolated individuals.
- **Tactical Deployment:** Utilized online platforms (Facebook/Twitter) for organization and visibility, followed by physical "flash-mob" style actions (street corner signs).
- **Resource Utilization:** Tapping into existing community skill sets (marketers, spreadsheet experts) to avoid hiring external help, thus keeping the operation highly decentralized.
- **Advocacy Training:** Teaching citizens how to engage in local politics, specifically attending local politician meetings to establish constituents' presence.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- Everyone should be able to find community or be empowered to build one, no matter where they are geographically located.
- The goal of organized civic action is not necessarily to "change anyone's mind" overnight, but to build solidarity ("just to feel that we were together and that we didn't have to be silent anymore").
- Continued participation in democracy is necessary by holding local officials accountable through consistent presence.
- The speaker remains committed to the effort: "I'm here to stay."
## Implications & Consequences
- The potential for local, grassroots organizing to gain national media attention and real political power ("earned media").
- The lasting impact of building community: the speaker explicitly states the changes made to her life and the "face of politics in Georgia."
- The demonstration that political dedication can provide structure and purpose even when major campaigns end.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"when you don't have a community you have a choice you can move somewhere where you think it exists or you can stay and create it yourself"*
- *"it was my civic duty to try to make a difference"*
- *"I said why register Democrat and it was like everything went black because there was a pack mentality"*
- *"I was raised to be conscious of that but it's my responsibility to talk about that"*
- *"I've never lived in the suburbs"*
- *"I was getting quieter and quieter and that was very unusual to be in your forties"*
- *"I didn't want my business affected I was a little bit worried that my kids social life would be affected if I were really open about what I believed in a culture that didn't seem to accept that"*
- *"It was an incredibly electrifying feeling that not only were we not the only ones people were pulling over with tears in their eyes saying I've lived here for 35 years and never thought I would see this thank you how can I join"*
- *"People were pulling over with tears in their eyes saying I've lived here for 35 years and never thought I would see this thank you how can I join"*
- *"we didn't think we were gonna change anyone's mind that was honorable our goal was to find each other"*
- *"we were providing something for people so that they could actually feel like they were doing something"*
- *"we said we'll train we'll train ourselves"*
- *"The point is to meet people where they are and give them lots of choices"*
- *"here in Georgia it's called advocacy not lobbying but means the same thing"*
- *"what I helped grow and the changes that I think I've made and certainly the changes to my life and hopefully the face of politics in Georgia made it worth it and I'm here to stay"*