Benjamin Franklin once said, "If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth the reading or do things worth the writing." For my first article for Odyssey, that’s exactly what I intended on doing. I wanted to make an impact, which in almost all cases is a very egotistical thought. Either way, I shuffled through ideas about feminism, politics, terrorism: all these topics that I not only cared about but knew they would be hot-button words that would grab a reader’s attention. But I've found myself struggling with the concept of being honest in this feat.

Did I want to talk about these topics solely because I truly believed in their importance, or did I just want to affect people with the words I wrote? This is a problem I found in a lot of conversations surrounding activism. Are we sharing our thoughts for awareness, or for the feeling of having one's attention?

I finally landed on the topic of how to approach activism in an inactive society, but still, the words that wrapped around my brain did not feel like my own. I will share an excerpt from my original draft about activism for example.

Activism is the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change. Today, it is easy to label yourself an activist (and I volley the ball into your court to argue if that is a good or bad thing). How many social movements have been brought to attention because they have trended on Twitter? Furthermore, how easy is it to type a hashtag from your phone from the comfort of your couch or bed? Clothing optional even? Many of the words we share no longer have weight; they merely get a “like” or “retweet” to show how successful the thought was. Activism has slowly morphed into vocal passivity. On one hand, the solidarity that the internet has provided for like-minded people is astounding, but are our words enough to warrant a change? Is raising awareness enough? Everything we need to know is at our fingertips, but our hands are not moving to build concrete concepts of change.

I will pause there. I felt like a projecting bobble-head as I wrote the above statements. It’s easy to criticize others, but it’s impossible to successfully do so without first examining yourself. I stand by the original thoughts I had, but I found it insincere for my first article to be a grumbling rant with no argument. A dog with no bite. I am sitting here, spilling my opinions to a screen, just as I had criticized before. But, there is a point to this.

There's a point to sharing every word in every medium, but our words need to start pointing to solutions. We can’t just continue to only point to the terrible things that everyone is already aware of. The tides are turning for things like rape culture, yes, but let’s not be satisfied with the trembling of water. I want a tsunami of action.

So, why do we do it? Why do we fight for issues like feminism, racism, police brutality, and sexual abuse through our words? Yes, we have impressive marches and we have speeches at events like the Golden Globes, where elites can wear black as if that is an active step towards anything other than publicity, but how can we bring about fruitful change? We ask for a change with banners and posts on Facebook, but many remain silent when they become face to face with the same issues that we are all trying to fight for.

In this video, an Asian-American man is being harassed by a racist white man. Instead of helping, the man sitting next to the Asian-American gets up and moves.

Near the end of the video, a woman steps in to stop the altercation before it becomes physical. The man walking away is merely a small example of a disconnect between values and actions today, but the woman reflects change. We cannot challenge the whole country or the president or whoever the oppressor may be for you, without first challenging neighbors, friends, family, and even strangers. Yes, gathering awareness is key to sharing morals, but we must take our values and wear them on our sleeves, not just our Twitter bios.

So, I ask all of you to never stop sharing your voices, but add teeth to your words. It doesn’t matter if what we say has a direct impact, or causes a whole movement. What matters is the steps towards change, no matter how small. Delve into global problems. Educate yourself about communal problems. Lend a hand when needed, and bring back the “active” in activism. I will work to do the same.