"What keeps me going is when I can look at someone who completely and utterly disagrees with everything I say, and I can still see them for who they are, which is a human being with dignity and worth," says Emma Meshell, spokesperson at Young Americans for Liberty.

She is working to get out the vote, especially with local campaigns.

Links:

Young Americans for Liberty

Tom Steyer has long campaigned to motivate Americans to address the climate emergency. He ran for President of the United States on a climate platform. That’s when most of us — outside of activist circles — heard the name Tom Steyer.

Even before his presidential run, Tom was an activist. In 2013, he started a national organization called NextGen Climate. It is now called NextGen America -- and it’s dedicated to helping young people take part in the political system by making it easier for them to become voters.

In this episode, Tom and Joe Hobbs talk about voting and how activism moving online in 2020 has changed activism forever.

Activate: Visit NextGen online at https://nextgenamerica.org/

The Future of Activism is produced by Lee Schneider for FutureX.

PETA brings a message of compassion to the streets, into corporate boardrooms, and into media -- sometimes in controversial ways. Jonathan Horn works in PETA’s Campaigns department and he focuses on grabbing media headlines for animals and bringing PETA’s message of total animal liberation to the streets. PETA views animal liberation and human liberation as one in the same. Joe Hobbs asks him about how PETA's campaigns are changing in the age of the pandemic and how the organization has found success delivering its message. The podcast is produced by Lee Schneider for FutureX.

There are many ways to become an activist, sometimes starting right in your inbox. Nivi Achanta is the founder and CEO of the Soapbox Project. It’s a website that she created with design director Malena Hansen to bridge the gap between the troubling information we see in the news and social impact we all can take. Nivi shares with Joe about how she has taken some of her IRL activism online, into her website, and a Substack newsletter.

Activate:

Check out Soapbox.org and subscribe to the newsletter.

Follow the Soapbox Project on Twitter

Ja’Mal tells host Joe Hobbs that he was galvanized into activism by the murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald who was shot by a White police officer in Chicago in 2014. In our interview, Green shares his journey, talks about what it was like to run for the office of mayor of Chicago, and draws a roadmap to activism that you can follow.

Activate

Follow Ja’Mal Green on social media.

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Joshua Wong was born in 1996 and he already has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and spent more than 100 days in jail. Until earlier this year, he was secretary-general of the pro-democracy party in Demosisto. The party used street activism in Hong Kong and elsewhere to promote progressive values and demand universal voting rights.

On June 30th, China passed a broad new national security law for Hong Kong, making public protest more dangerous than ever in the former British colony. Joshua Wong and the other founders of Demosisto disbanded the organization, but independently they keep up the fight for democracy.

In 2018, Joshua was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his leading role in the Umbrella Movement which was protesting for democracy in Hong Kong.

He has been arrested by the Chinese state many times for his activism and has served more than 100 days in jail. His first book Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act, Now has been published in nine languages.

Our interview with Joshua was recorded before June 30th, when he was still secretary-general of Demosisto.

Joe Hobbs interviews activists about why they fight for what's right and persist against powerful forces. Shannon Watts started Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America after the Sandy Hook School shooting in 2012. She is the author of Fight Like a Mother: How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women will Change the World.

Ryan Pascal is on the national Students Demand Action advisory board. She's hosted Students Demand Action leadership summits nationwide, and helped launch the diversity and inclusion initiative. She was honored as one of People Magazine's 25 women changing the world.

Everytown for Gun Safety: https://everytown.org/

Moms Demand Action: https://momsdemandaction.org/

Students Demand Action: https://studentsdemandaction.org/

Fight Like a Mother: https://fightlikeamother.org/