All That Being Said…

by juliacsmith

There are obviously a zillion people out there who DO use their blogs to shake up the status quo and promote justice, peace, and progressive causes!

One is the Changeblogging community. I don’t think I’ll be in DC on October 15, but if I were, you bet I’d be at the inaugural Changemakers/Changebloggers meetup.

Who’s responsible for this, you ask? Britt Bravo is one of the catalysts, and she gives a nice little summary in this post. She recently started a Changebloggers social network. A bunch of my coworkers and I (who, shameless plug #1, produce and/or write everything in the sidebar links with the words “idealist” in the title) all created profiles yesterday and I’m looking forward to building new and/or deeper relationships with some of the dynamos who are already there.

One of those is Qui Diaz, who dreamed up the Changeblogging meme [what the heck is a meme? I can feel some of my less tech-geeky friends glazing over, but don't! In this case, it's like those fun surveys we used to take in 8th grade, except they requires a little less agonizing than "backstreet vs. n'sync?"]:

What is one change – big or small, local or global – you want to see in your lifetime?

I want to see DC Public Schools (and neighboring Prince George’s County Public Schools, of which I am a proud product) regarded as shining examples of quality education, with steady funding for the arts, nationally, even internationally. I want the dropout rate to be zero; I want every student to find their voice and to feel prepared to access and excel in higher education if they choose; and I want every teacher and administrator to be an appreciated (including well-paid) star.

Who is already working this issue that you think others should support?

A bunch of fabulous nonprofits, including (shameless plug #2) Capitol Letters Writing Center, which I co-founded with a group of writers, community leaders, and educators. If you’re in DC, come to our orientation Tuesday night or our happy hour on 9/16! If you’re not, join our mailing list, be our fan on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Not DC-specific but truly inspiring: I recently learned about The Teacher Salary project, a Roth-Calegari-Eggers collaboration. Watch the trailer. Right now.

How are you going to use your Web/tech/marcom* skills to further this cause? (Or, what are you already doing that works?)

Ooh. With the team, I’m going to keep building the support and volunteer base for Capitol Letters through online tools. (Did I mention you should be our fan on Facebook?)

Also, we’re going to do a workshop based on NPR’s This I Believe with 12 graders in the fall. I’m going to do my best to get those voices online so you, gentle reader, can listen to the podcast!

And and and…I am going to continue to stay in touch with one of my most influential teachers, Don Fear, the “Darkroom Monster” of Suitland High School, and use my blog and Facebook to get the word out about his upcoming show at Glen Echo. Because we all are who we are because of our best teachers.

*that’s marketing communications, for the glazed-over people. And yes, I had to look it up. We’re all at a different place on our journey.