Daley-Harris is the author of “Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’s Guide to Transformational Advocacy” and the founder of RESULTS and Civic Courage. This is part of a series focused on better understanding transformational advocacy: citizens awakening to their power.
I’ve been listening to Eva Cassidy a lot. I love the calm radiating from her version of “Fields of Gold” and I am in awe of her breathtaking rendition of “Over the Rainbow.” But at age 33, Eva Cassidy died of cancer — completely unknown to the millions who would later come to love her music. Just six weeks before her death, fellow artists held a benefit concert to raise funds to cover her health care costs. According to a Nightline profile, after taking additional morphine to ease the pain, Cassidy was helped on stage at the end of the evening and sang one song: “What a Wonderful World.”
Imagine. Instead of focusing on pain, suffering, debt or despair, she sang “What a Wonderful World” surrounded by her community of friends and supporters. What if our politics came from a similar place of grace? What if our activism sprang from such gratitude?
It could.
Transformational advocacy springs from these places as volunteers — rather than giving up in discouragement and despair — are trained to have breakthroughs and see themselves in a new light. Gratitude flows when citizens, awakened to their power, contribute to making our world a little more wonderful for all. But where do you start?
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When Citizens’ Climate Lobby Executive Director Mark Reynolds launches a chapter, he points to gratitude whereas n he reads this quote from E.B. White: "I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." Then Reynolds asks attendees to share something they love that is at risk because of climate change.
If transformational advocacy can offer such grace and gratitude, why do so few nonprofits provide it? For me, it’s the staff’s fear of making big asks of volunteers. You see, most organizations don’t believe that their members or staff are capable of really big things as advocates, so their expectations are small and so are their asks — like signing online petitions and email form letters.
Here’s what I mean by making a big ask: During a chapter launch workshop, we have volunteers start with a four-part new group training. That’s a big ask — but here’s why it matters.
I was helping a volunteer prepare to speak on his organization’s nationwide monthly webinar. During his chapter’s four-part new group training they had learned how to get a meeting with an elected official, how to plan for the meeting and what to ask for.
He told me that even though the chapter was only a few months old, it had already met with four state legislators. One legislator, the chair of the Environment and Energy Committee, asked the new chapter to brief him and his committee staff on carbon removal and to help push for legislative action. The training they received had paid off.
When he let me know that this was the first time he’d ever met with, written or called an elected official, I told him to put that in his presentation. If not, the others on the call might think: “He’s an expert. I’m not an expert. He could do this. I couldn’t.” Sharing that he too was a beginner allows the others to get a glimpse of the breakthroughs that await them and the gratitude that follows.
Imagine Eva Cassidy being helped onto the stage and singing to her community of support, “And I think to myself, What a wonderful world.” Then imagine being inspired to be an active citizen in our democracy and bring such grace and gratitude to your activism.
