How To Think Like an Activist by Wendy Syfret, is an amazing and motivating read. It would have been great to read this work in high school instead of Hamlet. From the start of the book, it mentions all the movements of feminists, and that immediately caught my attention. Syfret stated that all activist influence one another generations down without knowing it. One person can do something small, and people will see and join the cause. It’s another fact that the same issues are always fought for, LGBTQ+ rights, gender rights, black lives matter, Asian lives matter, climate change. These are all issues that continue to be fought for just in different ways. I really liked when Syfret mentioned the impact Covid-19 has had on the way activists share and fight for their cause. Syfret said, “Powered by the internet, nurtured by a vital network of mentors.” because of covid 19 society was forced to find new ways to reach their target groups, but because of social media people have been able to share their clauses worldwide. And everyone no matter the age can inspire and mentor the people that want to help them. When Black Lives Matter started it was because of a single post. I remember scrolling through Instagram and only sing black posts in honor of Black Lives Matter. The internet plays a huge part in the life of activists today because it allows them to access a larger span of people and allows protest without police brutality. Syfret also talks about how it’s because of the isolation we experience over the past year and a half that eyes have been opened more about the problems of the world. Because of covid 19 people have realized that to make the planet a better place change needs to happen and fast, especially when it come to climate change, non-binary issues, and women’s rights.

I also appreciated how this work is literally a step-by-step guide. First, it talks about finding what you want to stand for and how to go about it. this is something that would have really helped me as a kid. When I was in high school, I watched a movie about the women s suffrage moment in the 1920s, and after that day I knew I wanted to always fight for the rights of women. I did not know how to go about it and every one I tried to explain my clause to never wanted to hear it. Syfret mentions to mention a personal experience, that way people can easily relate and not feel like they are taking on the world’s problem. This is something I did not do when sharing my clause because I was afraid to tell my trauma to people. It was also the fact that when the older generation hear me talking about those issues with my friends, I would be told the “those issues are not in my hand so leave it alone. Syfret has a quote in the reading that reads, “Adults like us when we have strong test scores, but they hate us when we have strong opinions.” I have never related to a quote so much in my life growing up it was always a problem when I spoke about things that I found wrong with the world and the elders around me would try and invalidate my words by telling me to study things my age or you must not say certain things out loud cause people will target you. Hannah Nichols post explains exactly how I feel about the adults that would try to belittle my world. I would rather people have horrid opinions about me than belittle myself and not stand for what I believe in.