Reflections of a First-Timer at a Provincial Rally: The Healing Power of Physical Presence and Bonding

Abstract

This chapter encompasses my journey of being an impoverished student in Ontario, Canada. In this chapter, I articulate my own struggles that have shaped my identity of becoming a “youth advocate.” To expand, I will also discuss the validation that is received through community building and shared experiences while at an activism event, such as the $15 and Fairness protest. My journey went from feeling isolated in my own fight, to wanting to make a difference and having a desire to see a positive change for future generations. I will also touch on my experiences as a youth advocate in both a provincial rally setting, as well as an international youth advocacy project setting. It was not until the Tikkun Youth Symposium that I personally identified as a youth advocate. Once I saw that there were people from all different areas of the world who were in the same generation as myself, fighting for social economic justice in our separate communities, did I truly find comfortability in identifying as such while meeting some of the most special people. As youths in modern day society, it is our responsibility to heal and repair the world in the ways we best know how and to positively fight against the struggles of our communities. It is essential that experiences be shared and articulated, as well as building identification processes to feel comfortable in one’s own skin as a youth advocate. Experiencing the emotion and validation that is attached to being physically present at an activism event for the first time is important as well. Reflections of a First-Timer at a Provincial Rally | 124 Experiences of modern youth advocates portray online presence in the activism world as important, but it is not the only way to participate in youth advocacy or activism. There is a sense of community and bonding that happens at events that evolve from community organizing. The $15 and Fairness movement is based on an anti-oppressive lens, meaning it was not led or fully supported by one group of people: various groups were fighting for the advancement of economic justice. The $15 and Fairness movement takes place both online and in physical assembly, which is an attribute not so often seen anymore. The atmosphere of bodies and spaces is something that cannot be achieved on a strictly online activist community. The sense of friendship, community building, networking, success, and shared experiences can be found online, but the physical atmosphere of being in the middle of all the action at a grassroots event is an experience of a lifetime and belonging. Online activism is not the only way that this generation of youth advocates can take part in having their voices expressed. We have seen the enormous potential of activism that grows out of online communities. For example, the international Occupy Movement was facilitated by online engagement, but took shape by local camps. The Occupy Movement first took place on Wall Street in October of 2011 (Democracy Now, 2011). It was a call for the nations to change the ways in which they think about and use money (Democracy Now, 2011). During this time, Wall Street was crashing, and tax payers’ dollars were being used to bail out billion-dollar companies while everyday citizens were struggling to find work, and afford food, housing, education, etc. (Democracy Now, 2011). This protest not only took place in New York City, but reached an international level through online forums as a movement against social and economic inequality and a lack of democracy around the world. This is important to note because the Occupy Movement illustrates that online communities are important, but that the intimacy and connection that developed in camps is what sustained activists’ commitment to the movement, so much so that they were willing to occupy spaces with their physical bodies. This point is not an argument of choosing to use one and not the other; it is about the importance of experiencing both. There is a responsibility of knowing what lights your activism on fire, and being involved in the repair of that in order to see change. My personal experiences speak to the intimacy derived through bodies and space which creates a sense of community, connection, and belonging. 125 | Reflections of a First-Timer at a Provincial Rally