Clicktivist to Activist

Cover
From Clicktivist
BY JANELLE COLLINS
Maybe you’ve seen
them—those Facebook
posts beseeching viewers
to read a story or
look at a picture. Most
of the time the photo or text evokes
empathy, and for a moment we are
moved to action—to donate by clicking
here or to offer a quick prayer before
scrolling further. Some causes even
send donors gift boxes that include
such items as T-shirts and bumper
stickers. Awareness and activism, however,
are not synonymous concepts.
In a time of information overload,
most of us are aware of the suffering
millions of people experience, both
locally and globally. While there are
some who have become comfortable
with the idea that texting a $10 donation
to a humanitarian organization
will suffice, Adventist young adults
today are taking the great commission
of “Go ye therefore” to heart.
Days of Our Youth
Steve Erich, a senior business administration
major at Andrews University,
felt a call to serve while in high school.
“During my senior year, Rio Lindo Academy
sent a group of students on a mission
trip to India. At the end of the trip
we spent a couple days in Kolkata. There
I was first introduced to International
Justice Mission—an organization that
works alongside local lawmakers and
police to enforce antihuman trafficking
laws in countries all around the world
that struggle with this issue,” Erich
recalled.
While Erich believes social media is
an ideal way to promote humanitarian
causes, he understands that it can also
hinder people from truly being active.
“It can give people the false impression
that they are helping. Recent terms such
as slacktivist or clicktivist have popped up
Photo: Courtesy of Luther Whiting
because of this. There’s been a rise in
organizations offering petitions that
can easily be signed online,” he
observed. “Now a petition with 1,000
signatures is seen as quite small and
weak, and it needs 50,000 or even
100,000 in order to be noticed.”
Erich, who currently serves as operations
manager for the Stoplight Project, 1
believes his opportunity to be an agent
for change starts while he is young. “The
past five years have shaped me and are
now propelling me outward. Without my
experiences volunteering and advocating
for justice during this time, I would not
have the opportunities I have now to do
what I love,” he says. “The important
thing is not to plan to do something in
the future, but to begin doing it now.”
Hands-on
Javier Melendez, also an Andrews
University student double-majoring in
social work and young adult ministry,
lives a similar hands-on philosophy. “I
don’t think any type of social media can
really convey the true reality people face
when swallowed up by injustice. It’s
something that we have to witness and
experience ourselves, which means
spending time with the people who are
being oppressed,” he says. Melendez is
18 (1042) | www.AdventistReview.org | November 21, 2013