Activism Log 9

Rachel Collins

Jeannina Perez

WST 3015

24 April 2010

Activism:

We tabled this week with UCF NOW to collect signatures on the petition. The first day (tuesday) that we tabled, we used a computer to let people sign the online petition. We got some people to sign this way, but we could only talk about it to people who came up to the table. The next day, we tried using actual paper petitions and had much more success, as we could each carry clipboards and go up to pedestrians and other people tabling and ask them to sign. We got to quite a few people in that day and the next, which was UCF's Earth Day. Kelly made a flyer with the information that I gather about Alice Paul, and we handed it out while tabling. The main downside to the physical petitions is that we need to input them one by one into the online one eventually.

Reflection:

Tabling was both encouraging and discouraging, since there were a fair few people who knew who Paul was, and seemed excited about the petition. However, there were probably more who didn't know. For those who didn't know, I was glad that our signature gathering was resulting in telling a few more people about it. I think the part of Seely's first chapter "The F word" where she talks about how "no act is too small" when it comes to activism is relevant here. Even though each individual action of this project didn't enact immediate national change, even the process of trying has resulted in the sharing of information and raising of awareness in our university community.

Reciprocity:

Overall, this week was a success. We gained a lot of signatures on the petition, learned the best ways to gather signatures, and had some great conversations with people about the need for this holiday.

Works Cited

Seely, Megan. "The F-word, An Introduction." Fight like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. 1. Print.