Time to Run is seeking to democratize access to our Democracy
"The knowledge and ability to run for office is a non-partisan issue. It should be available to all. These resources should be a public good."
"The knowledge and ability to run for office is a non-partisan issue,” said Corey Jones to me when we met outside the Rochambeau Library to talk about his new organization, Time to Run. “It should be available to all. These resources should be a public good. And it's not just running for office, it's also about accessing what you called, 'the levers of power.' That's where Time to Advocate comes in."
Time to Run/Time to Advocate is holding its first Annual Fall Voter Registration Gala on Wednesday, September 20th at Farm Fresh Island from 6 to 9 pm. Tickets are available at this link. The public is encouraged to attend.
Time to Run and Time to Advocate seek to democratize democracy, that is, provide the lessons and the information people need to run for office and to advocate for issues important to them. “Part of Time to Run's mission is to expand the kind of people who run for office,” said Jones. “We needed to build a way for a more diverse field of candidates to step up."
Shortly after assembling his Time to Run board, Jones was surprised when they came to him with an expanded vision. “Shortly after pulling together Time to Run, my board came up with a second group: Time to Advocate. Time to Advocate seeks to teach people how to testify and how to persuade elected and non-elected boards and commissions to take action based on what the public is calling for.”
I spoke to co-executive directors Logan Danker and Susanna Yim. Danker is a senior at Brown University studying public policy and history. He comes from a low-income family in Maryland. Yim is a first-generation Cambodian and political activist.
"I come from a low-income family in Maryland. I've seen firsthand a lot of systems failing the people in my community,” said Danker. “I'm the first person in my family and the only person in my neighborhood who was able to go to college. I've learned that the institutions are not designed to help and support my community members.”
Danker has worked in constituent services in the United States Senate, helping Marylanders on diverse issues such as getting repairs to their apartment or helping them with their immigration status.
“I see the stakes when elected officials aren't serving their communities, but I also see the power of that office and the ways that that can be transformative to people,” said Danker. “I got involved with this organization because I see how important it is to have elected officials that come from the community and can represent the community effectively. I see the importance of getting folks involved in the conversation, whether that's actively voting, advocating for issues, or testifying.
“Time To Advocate is about exercising agency. How can you use your voice in your community? How can you access the resources that are available to you? How do you interact with elected officials? How do you talk to them about legislation that you want to see passed? How can you testify for bills? How can you engage with board meetings and community meetings, and how can you make change in your community through the existing avenues that are available to everyone?”
Yim agreed, adding that, “politics was never really discussed in my household. I've come to learn that there's this intergenerational trauma around politics because my family lived through and survived a genocide, the Khmer Rouge. It took me a long time to be able to develop political consciousness after working through my intergenerational PTSD.
“I spent a few years of trying to find my political home here in Rhode Island, and that was doing the work with Sunrise and DSA, and co-founding a BIPOC caucus. The question I grappled with was, ‘How do we make politics accessible? How do we make sure that people can get access to government agencies that can help them with welfare, food stamps, social security, and so on? How do we make that accessible to everyone and anyone, no matter what your educational background is, no matter what languages you speak, no matter what ethnicity or race you are? We want to be able to reach those people.”
What unites the vision of all three people I spoke with about Time to Run and Time to Advocate is that Rhode Island is full of people ready to organize.
“Rhode Island has a diaspora of activists and experts who have been doing deep work, whether it’s around a criminal reform, climate change, or the treatment of BIPOC women in hospitals. Building partnerships with these organizations is my vision. I want to show people that there are so many ways to advocate and exercise their agency. This information should not be privileged. It should be public information for everyone. And that's what gets me excited about this because, for me, it's about dismantling these archaic systems. To become politicized is to take back your power and recognize that while we are all subject to these political systems, through community, collective action, and education, we can build relationships in politics and help people recognize where they fit in a movement.”
“Local politics is so important,” I suggested. “We have this perception in America that the presidential race is the race to vote for the race to vote in, and it's the most important race when in actuality, your vote has the least impact in the presidential election.”
“Local and state government is often downplayed, but it is really important to be engaged in local politics. Decisions are being made that affect all of us, but we have the agency to push back on certain things being decided for us, to advocate for things that are about us, and to build relationships with people.”
Over time, Time to Run and Time to Advocate will build a library of instructional videos, narrated by local activists and animated by Brenda Clement. Here’s one:
“Our first set of videos is going to tackle some key issues that we think are fundamental, like how to register to vote, how to testify for legislation you're passionate about, or how to contact your elected officials. We’re developing starting points for folks if they're looking to advocate on an issue or are just trying to find help. That's another point. Learning to advocate is not just about your community, it's about how to advocate better for yourself. How do you find the resources you need? Often those resources are available, but they're just as often hard to access.”
Time to Run/Time to Advocate is holding its first Annual Fall Voter Registration Gala on Wednesday, September 20th at Farm Fresh Island from 6 to 9 pm. Tickets are available at this link. The public is encouraged to attend.