YOU! HAVE THE POWER | Dr. Ellen Brown

It’s up to us!

BY DR. ELLEN BROWN

“When you think about civil rights and suffrage, it was bottom-up — not top-down.”

This statement came from former Ohio governor and 2016 presidential candidate John Kasich, who was on CNN discussing his new book, “It’s Up to Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change.”

After watching the Kasich interview in October, I could not get this statement out of my mind. Thinking of struggles for change — both past and present — I had to agree: Change in America has always resulted from we the people standing up for what we believe in, and demanding attention and change. What are your change priorities? Which are you willing to begin or continue to fight?

This bottom-up call to action by the people has one significant and long-term advocate through the NAACP; but enactment still requires groups of people and various organizations to demand change.

Here is a list of current focus areas from the NAACP, which can be found at https://www.naacp.org/issues/

Federal Advocacy: Passing legislation that answers the call of the people. Examples include the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1968 Fair Housing Act, and 2002 Help America Vote Act. Criminal Justice: Addressing gun control, white supremacy, domestic violence, racial profiling, and voting privileges.

Education: Maintaining relationships with leaders to ensure all disadvantaged and students of color are guaranteed an equal path to a successful life.

Environmental/Climate Justice: Ending disproportionate placement of toxic facilities, along with addressing environmental and climate change and their effects on marginalized communities.

Health: Addressing racial and ethnic inequities within health care systems that undermine communities of color

Media Diversity: Fighting against negative portrayals of people of color and advocacy for civil rights protections.

Economic Opportunities: Empowering and advancing communities through actions that ensure resources and partnerships work toward sustainable economic models.

Power in these examples is defined as, “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.”

How can you use yours to ignite the flame of change?

Dr. Ellen Brown, an Affiliate Faculty member at Regis University, writes on political topics that encourage interest, discussion and action. Have a comment, question or idea? Contact Dr. Brown at ebrown.nci@gmail.com.