Manifesto, by Noemi Pacheco-Ramirez

As I ponder what to answer to these questions, I am reminded of the many
experiences and moments that have allowed me to be confident in my abilities as a
Chicana obtaining my Bachelor’s, and as someone who will be the first in her immediate
family to get here. I see this stepping stone as a way of continuing to honor the struggle,
endurance, and resilience of my Mexican family. My dad recently asked me a
condensed version of these same questions. Currently, he’s reading Malcolm X’s
autobiography and he too has been reflecting on what it means to be a change agent in
this age, in this country that clearly needs more people willing to be vessels of change.
I’ve come to believe that anyone can become an agent for social change. Aside
from experiencing struggle, I believe that the process also begins with an openness to
become an instrument for change to be dispersed into the world, whether that means
right there in your community, your state, or even your whole country. And yet, this
seems to be the reason for why people are so afraid of change- openness forces us,
first, to be vulnerable with ourselves, and then with others. Becoming these ‘mediums’
often takes us through a gnarly, painful, joyful path of elevating the consciousness of
our inner workings, and being conscious of the diverse experiences of those around us.
It is not a glamorous task at all; it takes a lot out of us and pushes us to understand our
strengths and limitations, our privilege and our inaccessibility. It is a continuous process,
but one that we must do so that we may continue the work of those before us and the
“reconstruction of broken selves and worlds” (hooks).

I’d like to believe that I am on the continuous path to developing my leadership
abilities and that I have taken as many opportunities as I can to be a servant to the
cause. As a young girl, I had been called “a leader” and was told that I would “achieve
big things”. Although this was very nice to hear, I began to feel a pressure to do
anything and everything I could for the betterment of the world. I became the community
service director of my high school. I would bring out and empty out the recycling bins of
my high school that didn’t have a recycling system. I would tell everyone about how
climate change is connected to what we eat. I became a vegetarian. I created a human
rights campaign at my high school. And I often found myself tired and frustrated.
Although these actions made me feel like I had control over some of these huge issues,
I now realize that I often lacked the empathy and the intersectionality when
communicating these catastrophes to others; this, in part, can be traced to the popular
narrative that the environmental movement has continued to communicate. It was not
until college when my identity as an environmentally conscious Chicana who also cares
for people was finally validated. An in-depth understanding of my agency and the
context that I exist in as a brown person living in the US has encouraged my hunger for
being a leader in issues that most affects my loved ones.

The power that I hold as an academically educated, legal citizen of the US that
will soon hold a Bachelor’s degree is still something that I have yet to fully understand. I
am able to speak out on the injustices I see and be a voice for the voiceless and the
marginalized communities within already marginalized groups. More than anything, I
pray that these powers that I hold give me access to those in even greater positions of
power, and that I am able to elevate the voices of the communities I represent and give
credit to those who’ve rarely been given even that. I hope that from this access comes
physical and spiritual change that is tangible for communities that have mostly become
accustomed to the effects of this capitalist world. Many of us choose to cry, others
choose to laugh bitterly, while others thank the Lord that we’re still alive and kickin’ in
spite of all the demonizing. I look forward to continue leading in my spheres of influence
and wherever life takes me after graduating and be intentional in scattering my “seeds”,
knowing that some will die and other will germinate, but that the process is not futile

Manifesto, by Kevin Fulgencio

The 2017 spring semester is already at the halfway mark and this means that for some of us, like myself, graduation is upon us. Although I will be walking across a stage and accepting that piece of paper that signifies one of my greatest accomplishments, I will be returning for one more semester in the fall. It is crazy to think that my ride on this crazy train of the Environmental Studies program is almost coming to an end, but I cannot wait to see what is in store for my future. Over the course of this program, we have critically analyzed various types of social injustice issues that are very hard to digest, which at sometimes makes myself and others in this program feel as if the weight of these existing problems is too much to handle. The readings we have read and discussed thus far this semester have definitely made me feel better about the work that I am going to be doing in the future as a social change agent. Just seeing the various different ways that individuals can use to serve as a social change agent is so inspiring that it almost propels me away from the narrative of despair.

Sometimes the negativity of real-world problems can be unbearable and tough for one to wrap his or her mind around the subject. A big thing I realized when I joined this major was that the systems in power are constantly treading over the world, leaving the most vulnerable groups of people at the most harm. I have to admit I felt betrayed and disappointed that the man sitting in office today is who it is. When I am feeling like I am not having the immediate change that I want to see for the world, I always refer back to the Maniates chapter, “Teaching for Turbulence”. He writes, “To battle this despair and to create opportunities for interdisciplinary integration of course material, ESS programs turn to applied research and hands-on problem solving”(257). This reading always reminds me why I joined the Environmental Studies program here at Humboldt State University and the solutions that this major strives to achieve. This is a main reason as to why I believe the service-learning project for this capstone class is important for students because it gives us an opportunity to go out in the real world and act as a social change agent. This major has a lot of ups and downs, but it is important to realize that we cannot let this “turbulence” deter us off of our path of social change.

The film, Occupy Love, was very inspiring to see and how there are so many different ways of acting as a social change agent for the world. It was very enlightening to see that there were so many different groups of people that came together as one group to fight for what is right for all. The power of love is astonishing to me because there is so much positivity that can result from it. The systems of power in place today are creating social inequalities that have led us to this age of crisis. “I have decided to stick to love… Hate is too great of a burden to bear”-Martin Luther King Jr. This quote always speaks to me because in my opinion, there is nothing beneficial that can come out of hatred. I feel like the power of love and unity can combat any pressuring force that affects the everyday lives of the people.  

In my personal life, I can say that me pursuing my degree within Environmental Studies and being a student is a way I can be an agent of social change. Understanding my own positionality and identity was vital in realizing I am very privileged to be able to have the opportunity to receive a college education. My parents and three sisters are huge spheres of influence for myself because their actions and experiences always remind myself that hard work and perseverance always pays off. My parents moved to California in the 1970’s from the Philippines in order to give my sisters and I an opportunity for a better life, so I kind of use that idea into convincing myself that I can have an impact with others in my work. Some individuals do not even get the opportunity to go to college due to various different environmental and social issues. For my service-learning project, I am hoping that I can serve as an agent of social change for the youth by showing them the importance of education and the places it can take you if you take advantage of it. Becoming aware of the systemic problems within the education system is a huge reason why I wanted to educate children because sometimes I feel that these problems are why students do not have the drive to finish high school or to even go to college. I am hoping that that showing the younger students the fun side of school will open their eyes and see where education can take you.

In light of everything that has happened since the recent election, all of the readings revolving around agency, hope, and love could not seem more relevant than right now. For me, I believe it is important to use themes as a way to motivate myself in taking action. I know there is always some piece of depressing news everyday with President Chump in office, but we should not feel powerless. When I feel as if some of my small actions are not doing anything beneficial for the world, I think of the “snowball effect”. Our small actions may seem like they are not having an impact as fast as we want to see, but eventually they will add up. It just takes time and I think this is one of the many problems that students face in this major. In the chapter, “Political Paralysis” Goska points out that our heroes did not shake the world overnight. “And yet when we study the biographies of our heroes, we learn that they spent years in preparation doing tiny, decent things before one historical moment propelled them to center stage” (64). There is no doubt in my mind that students in this major will soon be propelled onto that center stage, but we just have to understand that time is a factor in this process of social change.      

Manifesto, by Jack Davis

This is not my full manifesto and I plan to give myself more time to create this document into a framework that I will take note of through my life journey. I say this isn’t my full manifesto because I did not make enough time to write this because honestly I need more time to fully center myself to answer these questions. I have been drifting in the water as the ship full of change agents goes beyond the horizon. I have just awoken from a state of mental chaos and swimming for my comrades. I am finding my own path along the way, meeting others who have also fallen from the ship.

What does it mean to be a social change agent, for you?  

            When thinking about what it means to be a social change agent, I find that there is no straightforward answer. This idea has transformed over the course of my undergrad and at this point, I argue that social change agent is split into two general camps of thought; one camp is agency for the world and people while the other camp is based around the self. I find that in this major, or in the way I have interpreted agency, is often about assisting others through volunteering and advocacy similar to what service learning has geared us students towards. The other camp of thought that I have reached is that of being ones own agent of change within the self. For too long I have neglected to amply care about myself and do what is the best for me. To reflect on my initial perspective on environmental studies, I saw it as an escape from my personal problems because I could displace those energies and in place put them towards helping/ being present for those that sought assistance. Being an agent of change has taken a new form as this camp of thought has only increased in the past weeks of conversations with peers and classmates. In the dominant western culture, taking care of the self is not a discourse that is entirely adopted and becoming the self has slowly drifted from us as more distractions can fit the distresses that block the path to the self. Being a change agent is about recognizing the little things that make the world a better place and embrace them with open arms. A change agent takes time for the self to reflect and not let the machine run over the soul. Change agency takes up a number of forms but I believe now that I cannot help the world if I cannot confront the sludge that I have shoved off my back.

What have you done in your life already to be a “leader” or an agent of social change?  

    From my initial days in Environmental Studies I felt like an agent of change as I joined the environmental studies club to participate in the Oakland climate march. I felt driven from the moment I stepped into ENST 295 to become someone that was ready to take on the world head on and battle for justice. Even with declaring my major I felt energy to go volunteer and put myself out there to the community and world with helping, passionate hands. From volunteering for golden years at the Y.E.S. House to traveling to South Africa to help build and refurbish classrooms I have felt like an agent of change. I am privileged to have put my time and energies abroad and domestically. I have done more than I give myself credit for which is something I need to work on. I can sit here and make a list but feel that may be unnecessary.

    I have taken leadership in workshops and activities that have helped me become more confident with the work I provide. It is inspiring, for example, when working with kids how inspired they became when observing/ listening to someone older or different. In Africa I was privileged to assist in a village clean up and watched as the young kids followed me like little ducks picking up trash. No one told them to but they must have had some understanding of the importance of what we as volunteers were doing. What is important when thinking about this question is the mindful acts each person can take upon themselves to critically understand themselves as agents. I recently have been thinking about, for instance, my agency in the world because when this semester started I felt like a worthless person. Being mindful of the past and where I have been is what will help me stay clear of the dark patches that have been tripping me up recently.

How do you make sense of all our readings around agency, hope, love, in light of your degree in this moment?

The materials on agency, hope, and love have centered me back to a place I have been searching for. The Bell Hook’s piece spoke to me in so many ways that I began to crack this shell of isolation to see the bright light that is agency. When she gives her definition of love and basically moves beyond any romanticized idea of love I was brought back down to myself. I say this because as I mentioned before I have not taken the time for myself or to love myself fully. This reading helped me restructure my core values and what it means to love and care. This idea of spiritual communalism that she mentioned has helped me make sense of the larger community that exist to help make this world a better place. No victory is as immediate as Hollywood has depicted it, however by centering ourselves and embracing patience I think that a victory within us is pretty amazing. This is my perspective as I am able to do this during these times and I am aware that this is not a path that everyone can take to remove him or herself from a toxic environment that doesn’t allow such peace to flow through them. For starters I need to do this constantly so that I can join with others to help those who need warm and loving energy. Love is a power tool and by redefining love we can use it to rebuild those who have become fragmented.

            At the end of the day, I have seen the importance of caring for the self and as a change agent I shall embrace this along my path. Life is challenging, shaping me as the character I am today. I shall get through this semester and move beyond the scopes that have held me back. Love and the imagination will steer me through the dark waters I have placed myself in. Love for myself, my class, community, and planet is what will keep the pep in my step. I know I can do this because if I got through all that I have from the past I can only become stronger and capable of what my path holds.

Manifesto, by Sarah Cooper

Personally, being a social change agent to me means being someone who is trying to achieve positive social change through their actions. A “social change agent” sounds like a relatively daunting task to me. It feels like a role with a great amount of responsible to one’s community as well as one’s self that I feel a little overwhelmed with.

            I used to think that I didn’t have much power when it came to being someone who could make a change in the world. And some days I still do compare myself to others who have made a significant positive change way too much. I felt like to have power to make a change you had to be someone that was a great speaker, or someone that was an extrovert, or someone with already a great sphere of influence. But as I come more into myself, as well understand the different types of power people can have, I’m beginning to see that some of my strengths in life can also be a form of power for social change. My biggest strength, or form of power as I like to see it, is my empathetic nature. I used to think being empathetic was somewhat of a curse. I cry at almost everything - from seeing a homeless person asking for change or a lost pet on the streets or even another person crying. Sometimes even things that don’t make me sad bring out the waterworks. Hearing someone talk deeply and passionately in class almost always makes me well up!

Instead of seeing that as something that brings me down, I’m beginning to see that this can be something that can instead help me understand and feel for others. It brings me closer to the situation at hand and helps me form a bond to my surroundings (i.e. the people/any other living things in it.)

One of the biggest resources I have to manage the anguish and anxiety about graduation as well as all the emotions and feelings this major entails, is coming together and hearing from different classmates and friends in the ENST major about all of this. It’s kind of paradoxical how hearing the concerns and hopeless feelings from others in the major somehow doesn’t make me scared, but rather even more hopeful and excited for the future. Hearing that others have the same concerns as you that sometimes keep you up for hours during the night is something that makes me feel much more settled that I’m not the only one who feels like what is facing us is discouraging.

Almost all of our readings this semester have connected to me in some sort of way. Everything we’ve read so far has led me to ask more questions about the kinds of goals I want to achieve in this major, how to go about achieving these things in a manner that is most beneficial to society, and how to achieve these things without completely losing my mind. I never want to be the type of person who stops asking questions. I always want to be inquisitive and curious, because with this type I’ve mindset, I’ve learned the most about others as well as myself and the value I have. With that being said, I’m grateful that these articles continue to make me question the framework I’ve built my life around, even though there’s been many times this semester where I’ve been exhausted with asking questions and wishing there was just a straight answer to an issue. Obviously I’m far enough into this major to know there isn’t a straight answer to everything. Social and environmental disparities are part of a larger structure that would require breaking down a huge dominion of power that has controlled us for centuries and isn’t as simple as fitting the solution into one little sentence. But wow, I would be so much less stressed if there were!

            One of the most memorable week of readings was our week on “love.” Or more so, the discussions surrounding the topic of love. It was really beautiful watching many of the people in class realizing that the root of much of their anger and sadness and frustration was out of pure love for this planet and the people on it. It was also really great seeing people come to terms with the fact that it’s okay to feel anger and sadness over these things, and we shouldn’t feel guilty for having those reactions. Another conversation we had was about hope. I remember someone in class discussing how they were feeling pretty hopeless in the face of all of the crises we are facing, and someone responding “We need to have hope so other people can come to us with their hopelessness.” They also said that although the other person may feel hopeless, there is still some part of them that is optimistic or else they wouldn’t be here in class right now. Both those comments really stuck with me and reminded me that first of all, my success in this major is a reflection of the continuous hope I carry with me that social and environmental change is possible. Even though some days I may say I feel hopeless, obviously there is still a part of me that thinks otherwise or else I would’ve dropped out long ago. Secondly, it showed me another really important aspect of being a social change agent – the act of giving discouraged people hope that things have the potential to get better. 

Overall, the fact of my imminent graduation frightens me quite a bit. In one sense, I’m incredibly excited to get out of school and start exploring my options that will present myself after I get that piece of paper. On the other hand, I’m pretty frightened to be thrown out into the “real world” and try to begin making a change without someone holding my hand through it (or giving me thought provoking articles on how to handle situations that come my way!) I’m quite confident, however, that the tools I’ve learned over the past four years will help carry me through the rough and sometimes scary challenges that being a social change agent may throw my way.

Manifesto, by Jenna Batchelder

“If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse,” (Hawken). This is beautifully written and a wonderful way to view the world. It also reminds me of something Jesse would say to us in Ecofem all the time, “whenever there is violence and oppression, there is always resistance.” There is a lot of “data” and information out there about the state of the world. Environmentally it seems like “we’re fucked,” (Jensen).  And actually it seems like everything is fucked. But the dialog around the idea of hope has been stirring up more and more since the election. The discussions in class around the idea of hope have been interesting to say the least as well. Last week I ended up at the table with all of the quotes from the readings and I remember talking with a few of my other classmates about how we were a little upset that people wrote down a couple of the quotes from the Jensen piece. The quotes we did not agree with all had to do with Jensen kind of dissing hope all together. But why were we so bothered by this? Why did some of our peers write these quotes down? They must have had a good reason.

I think a reason why we didn’t agree with a few of the quotes others choose was because we believe in hope; we don’t want to hear about it in a negative context, and when we do maybe we get defensive. But we were not critically thinking about the Jensen reading either. When I first read this one I did not like it. I still don’t like this one very much when compared to the others but I think my first time reading through I missed a key point Jensen was trying to argue. Going back, doing a closer reading of the text, and talking to others made me realize that at a first surface level read it seems like he is saying how hope is not important and how we don’t need it, or should get rid of it all together. However, I think he is arguing that we should not just rely on hope and that it can be a powerful tool if we use it in a way that is not crippling. Hope should not be “crippling” in the sense that it becomes paralyzing to the point where you just sit back and hope things will change instead of going out and changing them. While I agree that we should use all of our “tools in our tool box” to start creating change now, I think hope is one of my main tools.

I think we wouldn’t be in this major if we didn’t have some level of hope that we could make a difference in the world. Maybe some of us have different levels of hope but I think we all have hope on some level or at least I would like to think so. The small nonprofit I volunteered for in Croatia last summer was small but mighty. They talked about having hope all the time. Hope that they can save the last dolphin species in this region of the Adriatic Sea and hope that they could reach out into the community, and teach others. It was such an interesting perspective to see and hear them talk about how America has so many resources and power to make things happen and yet a lot of times I feel hopeless. Granted when I was in Croatia we were only talking about and joking around about hypothetical scenarios where Trump became president. And now it seems like nothing is going right. However, hearing other people from different countries around the world talk to me about how much power and privilege I have living in the U.S. and how much potential there is for environmental change still sticks with me. It was really a moment that made me think about my own positionality before I even knew what that was. These lovely people I met, pushing to save another species not only based on the “scientific” reasons why but also because they truly believed that this other species has intrinsic value and worth, and people who have such an optimistic outlook on life give me hope.

I guess I’m still figuring out how much of a social change agent I am currently but I know would like to be one throughout my life. Right now there aren’t any skills that I feel like I am desperately missing or need to know right now. I feel pretty prepared after everything I have learned from these last ~4 years. I believe that I will continue to learn after school and I will continue to learn throughout my life however, one thing I want to obtain is just being able to see or know that I making social change. I think this is something all of us are seeking through our different journeys. We learn about all of these terrible systems and institutions of power, privilege, and oppression and I just want to know I am making a difference in breaking these down.

I think just being in this major learning about the things we do can be seen as a social change agent. It seems like we learn about things that most people don’t. We learn about the systems and institutions in society that most people don’t learn about, don’t know about, or don’t care about. I think just acquiring this knowledge can be an agent for social change. We have this knowledge. Now we need to do something with it.