“It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” – Nelson Mandela, activist

I like to think of activism like a bike. You can put away your bike for years and never touch it. But once you sit on the seat and begin to peddle, it is natural and fluid. You don’t really forget how to ride a bike. Activism, for me, is something that can never be lost. However, it is a tool that we don’t get the chance to utilize everyday for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s the environment/setting, oppression, or exhaustion.

After having a conversation with a small group of students about activism, I realized that we need more people to proclaim themselves as activists. I think that if we do not value our actions as what they are, their meaning will decrease.  Nelson Mandela, said “”…our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” What if didn’t let a single identifier scare us? What if we liberated yourselves (and others) by not only living out  lives, but also seeing our efforts authentically? What if we started calling ourselves what we are? What if we owned our status as activists?

Not everyone in that room walked in as an activist, but everyone left one. I was told once by a club advisor at an early morning meeting that, “if you are here right now, you are an activist.” It was that simple, my physical presence was just enough to start a movement. In fact, it was all that was necessary. Activism is more than megaphones, moving speeches, or politics. It is in the everyday. Activism is calling out subtle racist and sexist behavior, it is resisting rape culture, it is befriending those that are on the fringes of society, and it is intersectionality.

Mandela again adds, “as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” I hope that my boldness and ability to identify as an activist in the midst of simply ‘showing up’ and ‘resisting’ is enough to permit others to take claim over their activism, regardless of how grand it may be.