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Unlike activists from the 1960s who marched in the streets against the establishment, rallied around protest signs, or took part in letter-writing campaigns to elected officials, many of today’s most effective activists work within organizations —whether they are nonprofits, churches, or governments—to influence change, Ranck said.
And while community immersion, data-driven analysis, and solution planning garner more attention by their kinetic nature, spiritual reflection is never far from most smart activists’ thoughts, Silva-Nolan said. After a 60-hour workweek punctuated by flashes of frustration brought on by the shortsightedness of some leaders, she often takes solace and finds renewed purpose in the Scriptures, Silva-Nolan said. A favorite passage is Isaiah 58:5-7.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
For Sharp, USF’s role in molding him into a smart activist is irrefutable. “In complete honesty, I don’t think I would be doing this type of work at all if it weren’t for USF,” he said. “When I was 18 years old, I really wanted to be a corporate lawyer and make a boatload of money, but my professors really went out of their way to show me that my skills could be put to greater use in the world of public policy.”
As an analyst of U.S. military policy, Sharp reads 1,000-page defense bills; consults with weapons experts; writes opinion pieces on arms sales for the New York Times; and keeps a Web log on the Iraq war.
“Whereas traditional activism was based on organizing like-minded individuals, the Internet lets smart activists reach different types of people all over the world,” said Sharp, who spends much of his time in front of a computer doing research and sending emails. “The Internet’s power allows smart activists to transcend the traditional strictures of geography, religion, education, income, race, gender, or sexual preference,” he said. “Broad-based coalition building is the name of the game for smart activists.”
“When I think of smart activism, I think of Fr. Privett explaining to me that the last thing we need are dumb people holding protest signs,” said Silva-Nolan, who helped found USF’s Peace and Justice Coalition in her sophomore year. Now with the San Francisco Organizing Project (SFOP)—a faith-based community group that educates congregations on how to influence politicians and institutions on matters of affordable housing, healthcare, violence prevention, and improved public education—Silva-Nolan looks back on Fr. Privett’s comments as a turning point, even a challenge to students and faculty that some immediately responded to.
“Educating minds and hearts is not an apologia for neglecting academic rigor,” Fr. Privett said in a 2003 convocation speech. “It bears repeating that we are about mind and heart, knowledge and love, intelligence and compassion together; we are not ceding pride of place to the latter component in each of those dyads. I repeatedly remind our students somewhat crudely, that the last thing the world needs is dumb activists.”
The daughter of a single mother, Silva-Nolan grew up in a low-income neighborhood in the farming town of Vado, N.M., well aware of the injustices around her. Like many in her situation she faced prejudice because she was poor, spoke Spanish, and had an absent father, Silva-Nolan said. Focused on her day-to-day struggles growing up, she never had a sense before coming to USF that change was possible. “I don’t want that to happen to others,” she said. “Instead of blaming ‘the man,’ I want to help teach people to use their power in an effective way.”
She brushes aside skepticism that organized communities can influence public policy at a fundamental level, because she has seen it happen. In San Francisco, officials recently allocated $8 million from “unexpected revenues” for violence prevention, something the SFOP had pursued under its “Avenues of Hope” campaign. More than $4 million went directly to employment programs for youth and young adults. Then there was the allocation of $20 million for affordable housing development and construction in San Francisco that SFOP leaders worked with advocates and elected officials to see approved, Silva-Nolan said.
Collaborating to solve problems by exercising the system’s levers—whether in the form of lobbying officials, forming a neighborhood watch, or researching statistics for public outreach—is what spurs her on, Silva-Nolan said. “I like putting officials on the hot seat,” she said, a grin spreading across her lips. “People demonstrating their power is the great equalizer.”
In fact, more and more USF alumni are following Sharp and Silva-Nolan’s lead, tapping into the existing power structure through civic engagement, including volunteerism and activism, Murphy said. And they aren’t alone. Universities across the country have begun adding service-learning requirements, living-learning communities, and other curriculum to stem the tide of criticism that they are failing to cultivate and educate citizens to play a fundamental role in democracy, said Caryn McTighe Musil, senior vice president for the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Indeed, one-time and ongoing service-learning and living-learning communities appear to promote an increased sense of civic engagement, according to a recent study published by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, The Contributions of Living-Learning Programs on Developing Sense of Civic Engagement in Undergraduate Students (2007).
Casey Farmer ’07, who majored in sociology with minors in public service and environmental studies, is a good example. Her Erasmus living-learning experience and the associated internship at St. Anthony’s Foundation—a San Francisco nonprofit that cares for the homeless—helped her to not only see the reality of homelessness, but develop a curriculum on the intersection of mental health and homelessness. “This experience showed me a world I clearly had not experienced during my suburban upbringing in Irvine, California,” Farmer said.
While learning the ins and outs of power politics, gaining the support of gatekeepers, and exposing unflattering voting or campaign contribution records can be frustrating at times in its two-steps-forward-one-step-backward approach to progress, having a bureaucracy to work with at all can be a luxury, comparatively. For some, it’s a lack of systems or profoundly broken systems that people are up against, Farmer said. In the first year of a two-year contract as a multi-subject, special education teacher in one of Oakland’s toughest neighborhoods with Teach for America, Farmer has already been startled by the gaps in special education law, the foster care system, and No Child Left Behind.
“Students need a system that works for them, not against them,” Farmer said. While acknowledging her relative greenness as a teacher, she points out that a dearth of qualified instructors and resources handicaps underserved learners from the start. “I’m not sure that a classroom full of students with reading levels ranging from second to 12th grade is the most successful way for them to learn,” she said, painting a picture of her classroom experience. Ultimately, Farmer hopes her work for Teach for America exposes her to the policy needs of the Bay Area, where she plans to pursue a career in public policy or social entrepreneurship.
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