{"id":103552,"date":"2017-05-05T08:55:30","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T12:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?p=103552"},"modified":"2020-09-17T10:25:35","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T14:25:35","slug":"activism-in-a-box","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2017\/activism-in-a-box\/","title":{"rendered":"Activism in a Box"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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May 5, 2017<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\tTwitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\tFacebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\"ActivateUsThe box arrives every month. In it is a stack of themed postcards and stamps, with a guide for which policymakers to write to or call on an issue, and a basic script to help get the points across. A box also includes inspiration, like the picture book Rad Women Worldwide<\/em> or Rachel Carlson\u2019s Silent Spring<\/em>, or a \u201cResist\u201d patch.<\/p>\n

This is ActivateUs<\/a>, \u201cactivism delivered to your doorstep, made easy and accessible,\u201d says Sera Bonds (SPH\u201904)<\/a>, who launched the initiative\u00a0in March.<\/p>\n

Bonds is founder and executive director of Circle of Health International (COHI)<\/a>, which provides reproductive, maternal, and newborn health care in crisis settings around the world, from Syria to the Texas-Mexico border. The activism kit subscription service funds all go to COHI.<\/p>\n

While Bonds understands the appeal of organizations sending thank-you gifts to regular donors, \u201cI don\u2019t need another tote bag or travel mug,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to come up with something that people will actually use.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was a desire she says donors were also expressing. \u201cWe were hearing, \u2018I want to do more than write a check. I want more opportunities to engage, but I\u2019m not getting on a plane and going to Syria, because I\u2019m a graphic designer or a kindergarten teacher or an accountant, so what are the things I can do\u2014what are the things I need to do\u2014in my community besides writing a check?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonds got the idea for the subscription service from her chapter of Solidarity Sundays<\/a> in Austin. The group meets on the same Sunday of each month to call and write to legislators about different issues, and to amplify different activist actions. \u201cI was noticing that on any given Sunday, 30 or 40 people would RSVP but then a significantly lower number would show up,\u201d Bonds says. Between errands and small children and other Sunday commitments, \u201cthey really wanted to engage, but they needed it to be as accessible as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Sunday, \u201cI bundled up the leftover postcards and scripts and\u2014after my kids had gone to bed\u2014and I brought them around to everybody\u2019s houses. I just dropped it off in the mailbox and texted them to let them know.\u201d By the end of the next day, Bonds says, she heard back from everyone. \u201cThey were like, \u2018Thank you so much, that made it so easy for me. We did it today when my kids got home from school,\u2019 or \u2018I was able to do it while sitting in the parking lot at soccer practice.\u2019 I thought, hey, hold up a second.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that, the idea for ActiviateUs was born, bringing together monthly, home-delivered activism and a useable thank-you gift for COHI donors.<\/p>\n

The \u201cBasics\u201d kit ($25) sticks to the postcards, phone numbers, and scripts, while the \u201cMotivation\u201d ($50) and \u201cInspiration\u201d ($100) kits include books, patches, and other objects to learn more and keep up the activism energy.<\/p>\n

To keep it fresh, Bonds says, the issues are gathered together right before the boxes go out. Each month also focuses on a different theme: The first box went out on International Women\u2019s Day and the day millions marched on Washington and around the world for gender equity, so the issues were around gender equity and reproductive health. April was about environmental justice; May, the month of both Mother\u2019s Day and May Day, focuses on women in the workplace and paid family leave. June, with Father\u2019s Day, will be about men\u2019s involvement in feminism. And so on into the future.<\/p>\n

\u2014Michelle Samuels<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumna Sera Bonds launches ActivateUs, activism kit subscription service funding reproductive healthcare crisis response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10989,"featured_media":103560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[2013,2059],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3517,3519,3520,3531,3541],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/103552"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10989"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103552"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/103552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173870,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/103552\/revisions\/173870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103552"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=103552"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=103552"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=103552"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=103552"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=103552"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=103552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}