Thrill-Seeking for Nerds (who want to change the world)

"Do more than just sharing an Instagram post. Don't be a performance activist." A student I follow on Instagram shared this on her story, along with a screenshot of  https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ . You can find places to donate, petitions, and other resources there to take action.  Another advocate's Instagram story, in a different state. Let's look at some of those actions! Since you're reading this, I assume you've already decided to stand against racist acts of violence and the widespread complacency and apathy that lets them keep happening. So this post will focus less on the why , because we already have that from our social media feeds, and more on how  we respond. Fundraising, online advocacy, and protests aren't my usual tactics, personally. I usually stick to  volunteering in election campaigns or lobbying members of Congress directly over months and years. But that's when I'm looking for a long-term, legislative response.  Tod...

Let’s talk about a health and justice issue (that isn’t a virus). Let’s talk about period poverty. This will be a three-part blog, with this first post explaining the issue. The second part is an interview with a local teen organizer who helped put on a tampon drive and presented it at the United Nations, and the third part is about nationwide advocacy. Let’s get into it! Credit @jbs.geo on Instagram I didn’t know about period poverty until middle school. One day, the Gender Equity Organization (GEO) club put up signs all over campus with statistics about period poverty. Since we rarely see infographics centered on a clip-art uterus, they grabbed attention. Period poverty is the inability to afford menstrual hygiene products. Over 1.2 billion women around the world lack access to basic sanitation and hygiene, so this is on a massive global scale. This is an issue of gender equality because most menstruators are women, and also trans rights because not all menstruators are women and no...

I’m not just a global health nerd. I'm also a huge fan of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series. This week brought some VERY exciting news to fans of these books. How is this advocacy-related? I’m getting to that, just hang tight.  In 4th grade, these books helped me calm down when I was stressed about my new school or about to lobby my members of Congress, like in this photo from my mom! Rick Riordan, author of the beloved book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians (plus so many, even more awesome spinoffs) announced on Twitter with his wife Becky that Percy is coming to Disney+! This is especially exciting because the Riordans will have a lot more input, hopefully resulting in an adaptation faithful to the books. The title of this post is misleading because we already know Percy Jackson is a hero. This post is actually about taking inspiration from the fans of his story. Putting it diplomatically, the first attempt to make Percy Jackson movies was a disappointment to ...