Once You Decide to Become an Activist, You Never Leave It. It’s What You Do.
(Top row: Left- Presenting a workshop at the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists Conference in June 2013; Right- Being interviewed on Let Your Voice Be Heard Radio in March 2013. Bottom row: Left- Panelist on the Pro Choice & Millennials panel in February 2013; Right: Acceptance speech for the Excellence in Leadership award during the Choice USA Generation 2 Generation Awards in July 2013)
July 2013 marks 2 years since I began blogging my perspectives on sexual health reproductive justice and how various social justice issues (age, gender, race, safety, poverty, etc.) impact Black, Latina, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native/Indigenous women & girls. In fact, 2013 marks 10 years since I became involved in the reproductive justice and feminist movements, and throughout this year I’ve thought a lot about the various roles I serve in and how I’ve combined them to create a consulting business that’s in alignment with my vision and values.
This year has been a year of various transitions for me, both personally and professionally. Part of the transition has been recognizing the fact that I’m more comfortable labeling myself as an activist. It wasn’t until a year ago that I became comfortable with calling myself a social worker, and even recently I began referring to myself a program evaluator and a consultant. For a long time, I viewed my various roles as separate entities. However, they progressively build upon each other. My activism guided my decision to become a social worker. My social work studies led me to consider a career as a consultant, speaker, and program evaluator. My consulting business allows me to rely on the skills I developed as an activist and social worker to be as effective and engaging as possible.
However, if it weren’t for being an activist, I wouldn’t have been successful as a social worker, speaker, program evaluator and consultant. (more…)