Punk is Political. Punk is Community.

The last year has me thinking a lot about community, civic engagement, and politics - a lot more than I usually do. And I think about these things a lot. You see these three three things make up my career and a large part of my personal life. As a grassroots organizer and sometime lobbyist, 40 - 60 hours of my week is spent thinking about these things.

My job is to bring together a community of people, connect them with the tools and resources to make change, and work collectively to bring about said change. It’s exhausting, challenging, subject to burn out, and I love it so much. But this year, the immense, urgent need for change, community, and justice has me thinking about it in a different way. This year has raised awareness in previously civically disengaged people who are now looking for ways to get involved. Get out the vote efforts brought more people to the polls than ever before. What was it like for many of these folks voting for the first time? If they are a frequent voter, did the political and societal crisis of this year motivate them to find ways to get involved beyond voting? These quest