(from “Queer 101”, a theater piece I wrote for HS students. The character, Chad, ends the piece with this poem)
You wanna be an Activist?
Change the World?
Be yourself — without apology and without shame,
walking hand in hand in public with the one you love
knowing that is a loving act of
Protest.
You want people to change?
Laws to change?
A global trasfromation into a shimmering butterfly society?
Then You must change,
be yourself
be Real
Knowing that the most powerful activists in the world
are those people
who are
unashamedly
Themselves.
Yeah, I want to be an activist and change the world. Too bad I couldn’t do it all in a day or so. I want to go to political protests, UN summits, and talk to world leaders. I want to meet “The Hurricane” a.k.a. Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. I want to learn more about innocent people on death row. I want to learn how to keep the air, earth, and water clean so that people don’t keep getting cancers from things such as air pollution, fertilizers(?), and other environmental pollutants. I want to learn how to live forever so that I can see how my helping the world changes it in the long run. I want to get arrested for something that I strongly believe in, whether I agree or disagree about the specific issue. I want to do it all. I’m learning some from the wise ancient and modern muses of society. I’m learning how to stand up for something I believe in. I’m taking risks, and learning new things along the way.