What's the Right Way to Be an Activist?

Danielle Swift has been on a spiritual journey from the front lines of a Black Lives Matter protest, to the campaign trail for Saint Paul City Council, and finally to a life of community organizing. She’s here to tell us how we can all become an effective activist for change, whether your call is to the front or to the back.

This story is part of the digital storytelling project Racism Unveiled, which is funded by a grant from the Otto Bremer Trust.

In 1969, University of Minnesota students staged a 24-hour protest in Morrill Hall to fight for racial justice on campus. Their demands were specific: the support of Black students through scholarship funding, student support services and the creation of an African American Studies department. Get inspired by their fight and its lasting impact.

A surge of minority voices has responded to the police killing of George Floyd. In the weeks since Floyd uttered, “I can’t breathe,” as ex-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin pressed down on his neck, a new collective of individuals is taking action by running for office, engaging in politics and stirring change among youth. But is the momentum a movement or a moment?