I used to believe that it was if your heart was touched, the whole world could change. In essence, it still is true, but I failed to see the big concrete mountain standing on the way of real change, better known as politics.

Last week, I was on my daily walk around my neighborhood and was listening to NPR news when WBUR’s On Point came on. It was about the modern day civil rights movement going on today about Black Lives Matter and police brutality. One of the guests was David Blight. He wrote an autobiography on Frederick Douglass called “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.” Douglass was born a slave but died as one of America’s most gifted orators of all time. 

Early on the radio program, Blight brings up that Douglass was not keen on politics at first. Douglass was all about believing that if you change people’s hearts and minds, that’s all you had to do to bring change. When I heard this, my heart dropped because it described exactly how I had been thinking about it. 

Douglass went on to become very involved in politics and tried to bring about real change. Blight also adds that history has shown us over and over that by turning strong emotions, such as rage and anger, into mobilization and political activism, we can bring about real change.

In early January, I received an agenda item for the City Council in the city I live in, Webster City. I scan through them because I’m curious as to what’s going on in the community. In it, I saw there was a sale for a property located at a park. I thought it was odd. I posted it on a social media page I run to see if anyone knew something. Later, I came to find out that, in fact, our City Council was trying to sell one of our parks to Dollar General.

At first, I was confused. From my little understanding of city governments, I thought the city had to ask its residents if such a sale was to be done. It turned out that wasn’t the case for this park and the Council had full control over when and where the sale could take place. Of course, they still had to let the public know about the meeting. The city manager’s secretary had sent out the agenda on Jan. 3, 2020. The meeting was to be at 6 p.m. Jan. 6, 2020.

As soon as other people in the community found out about this, people started to mobilize. I created a petition to stop the sale. I emailed every news station around Iowa and encouraged everyone to do the same. Groups were being created and individuals were mobilizing by taking signatures at local businesses. Many text messages and phone calls were exchanged. Someone suggested I call some lawyers to see if we could stop the Council from voting in the first place, but the only couple of lawyers in Iowa that could do this kind of work were out of town, and due to time constraints, it just wasn’t feasible. 

By the time the Council got the petition, it had well over 1,200 signatures, which for a small town in Iowa, is a lot. At the meeting, KCCI news showed up. The room was packed with people and emotions. My husband helped me livestream the meeting through my community social media page. We had tons of support and hundreds of people watched it from their devices.

Young to old people were represented. There were many passionate and emotional words spoken when we had the opportunity to address the Council during the public hearing part of the meeting. I had written something down because I didn’t want to fumble through my words (which I often do if I’m feeling strong emotions). I kept reminding myself just say what you believe to be true because the rest will take care of itself. No one in that room (besides council members) spoke in favor of selling the park.

In the process leading up to this meeting, Logan Welch, one of the Council members, had changed his stance on the sale. After listening to his constituents and having conversations about the issue with the community members, he decided it was not a good idea to sell the park. By the time I spoke to him, his first words were along the line of “Before you say anything, I just want you to know that I changed my mind.” Having him as an ally made things much better. 

I also talked with another City Council member and the mayor; I emailed a couple of other members since I did not have their phone numbers, but I never heard back from them. To be fair, I think they had the best intentions in their hearts, but intentions are sometimes not enough. Actions will always speak louder than words. 

During this whole ordeal, in that packed room full of people who wanted the exact opposite thing of those that sat in power, two emotions stood out: anger and outrage. 

How could it be possible for the City Council to make such a huge decision without asking its residents? Economic activity is great, but it should not come at the expense of the community’s residents. Parks are an essential part of a community. These are the places where, regardless of anything else, anyone is free to use. Well, at least in theory. Other businesses spoke up as well, saying that if the sale was to be made, they should also have the ability to bid on the property. The property sits on one of the main roads in the city and is considered prime real estate for any business. They were not in support of the sale but wanted it known that it’d only be fair to have them participate in it. 

At some point, the Council members wanted to table the motion, but some of the attendees realized this would mean pushing the agenda back and the moment to act was now. Welch also echoed this point by encouraging the Council to take action now. Action was taken that day. Unanimously the Council voted “No” to the sale, and the park was not sold.

It wasn’t until I heard David Blight’s words that the experience of mobilizing for the park sunk in. I have gone to protests before. I’ve called and emailed my representatives. I’ve made banners to take along with me and chanted along with the tune of the protests I’ve been a part of. I admit that I knew it was essential to show up but did not realize how important it is.

If we look out into the window of our country, we can see with our own eyes that real change does happen when people mobilize. Change can happen at any time. Yet, as humans, we experience change the deepest when we feel strongly about something like getting back in shape after your significant other dumped you or turning your life around after finding out you have a terminal illness. We don’t willingly want to change if we are comfortable.

Right now at this moment, millions of people have had enough of feeling pain and being oppressed. The catalyst that unleashed this moment was the murder of George Floyd by a police officer, even though countless other heinous crimes were committed against Black people in America for generations.

We are watching the whole world change in response to people supporting Black Lives Matter and changes in the police system.

By harnessing our strong emotions, we can mobilize and bring about real change. The policies that govern our lives are not set in stone. They are living and breathing organisms that should change as we evolve for the better. If you are angry and outraged, for whichever side, then do something. Start a rally, get a petition going, call your government representatives. We cannot sit behind our keyboards scrolling through social media and expect our snarky, mean-spirited comments and criticism to be the only action we take.