Assessing The Four Roles of Social Activism

Activism is more than just working towards a change in the negative aspects of society. It is essential that activists must be aware of the roles that they and their social groups or organizations are playing in a larger social movement.

Typically, social movements and activists need to play four types of roles to successfully bring about a social change.

Citizens

Activists from social movements must first be seen by their society as responsible citizens. They need to win the acceptance and respect of ordinary citizens in order for their approaches to succeed. Consequently, activists must be able to say ‘yes’ to those fundamental values, principles, and symbols that are also accepted by the public.

Other ideal ways to play these roles include being grounded within the center of society and becoming an active citizen as they are the source of legitimate political power.

Rebels

At the same time, activists must also be able to say ‘No and protest against institutional policies, practices and social conditions that violate the core of societal principles and values.

Rebels also need to have a non-violent direct attitude and action while putting policies and issues in the public spotlight. They also need to be courageous risk-takers with strong strategies and tactics to back them up.

Change Agents

Change agent activists need to work, educate, organize, and get involved in the general public to actively retaliate against present policies and seek a better, constructive, and positive solution.

They are also the people who educate and involve a large number of citizens and the whole society over important issues. Their jobs also revolve around countering new powerholder strategies and promoting alternatives and paradigm shifts.

Reformers

Reformers are activists who work with official judicial and political structures in order to incorporate solutions into the new laws, including the practices and policies of the society’s private and public institutions.

They use official mainstream institutions to reach the end goals of their movement and watchdog the successes of activist movements to assure enforcement and protect them against any backlash.

Currently, Angelo Ricardo Pinto is one of the most revered Columbian-American entrepreneurs, activists, educators, and much more. He is working towards a better future for everyone through his contribution to the general public.

He currently stands as the founder and leading strategist at Justice League NYC, which is a task force of juvenile justice and criminal justice advocates, artists and experts, and formerly incarcerated individuals. Additionally, he also worked with Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, designing health disparities-based interventions for formerly incarcerated men in Central Brooklyn. He also teaches social justice education from elementary school through high school and will soon be teaching at Yale as well.

Furthermore, he will soon be named one of the Legislative Directors of the National Bar Association and all the work he is doing with his co-founded establishment, Until Freedom – which is an intersectional social justice organization with activists like Tamika Mallory, Mysonne Linen, and Linda Sarsour working together.