a call to action

The WEA Public Education Action Committee, 5:00 on a cloudy Thursday evening. We're gathered around enchiladas and Diet Coke, discussing strategies for getting more WEA members involved in political activism. I'm 27, five years in, and I'm the youngest, greenest person sitting at the table. I'm on the agenda. Gonna talk about blogging.

As I'm listening, I keep hearing threads of themes, mostly about communication, or its lack. Nobody knows who the WEA-endorsed candidates are until after the ballots are mailed or stuffed in a box, too late for the primary. Nobody's sure if I'm a WEA PAC member, even though I've paid my dues. There's some skepticism about top-down measures like Take the Lead, and a clamor for grassroots groundswell, if I may mix metaphors.

Then it's my turn.

Nothing's more bottom-up than a blog. It's a person, or people, taking extra minutes to digest the news, spread the word, rally the troops, protect the weak, smite the unjust. But a grassroots initiative requires more than one blade of grass, which is why I'm going to use whatever heft I have to muster a team of sharp thinkers and piquant writers to blog the truth to power.

It's not just a youth thing. Sure, 54% of bloggers are under 30, but that means 46% are 30+. We need a diverse spectrum of opinions, our own neighborhood grocery of ideas. We need a way to publish faster than leadership, truer than the media.

We need you. Join up. We can use your blogging might.