Community Organizing Lens
As a personably responsible citizen, one might buy bottled water and donate it to those affected by the Flint Water Crisis. They do their part in lending a hand in a time of crisis, but they do not go above and rally any other support. A personally responsible citizen mainly focuses on self-betterment and improving his or her own actions. A participatory citizen, on the other hand, takes a role of leadership in his or her community. In the case of the Flint Water Crisis, this kind of citizen would organize donation banks to collect bottle water for those in need. In fact, many people from Flint have stepped up and done this. Members of the Flint Community have started water drives, clinics, and water testing for those affected. The core assumption for a participatory citizen is that one can solve social problems by taking a leadership role in their community. While this is a step up from simply being a personally responsible citizen, it just helps solve the problem for now rather than finding a viable solution to prevent the issue from arising in the future. Thus, the best a person can do is be a social-justice oriented citizen. This type of citizen looks at the political, social, and economic systems that are in place, and how they can change these to their advantage. A social-justice oriented citizen would look into why the Flint Water Crisis occurred, and how they could prevent this from happening again. They would find that this was an issue of governmental oversight, and restructuring of national and local government in conjunction with social movement efforts could prove very effective. If one could find like-minded people (for instance people from Flint, Michigan) who are passionate about the issue of the transportation of municipal water, they could move the issue closer to the forefront of the political agenda. This could include writing letters to representatives, speaking to representatives, or posting about the issue over social media. In addition, a social-justice oriented citizen could encourage the government to create localized committees to review budget cuts and decisions about changes to the source of tap water.
Cubby’s, a local sports bar, is a good example of the second tier of the citizen model- “participatory citizen”. For every point the Jackrabbits (basketball team) scored in the postseason, Cubby’s donated a case of water. They also accepted donations for gas money to drive the water to Flint. This was a good example of how someone could use their business for good. In return, they receive advertising and free press, so it is in their best interest to be participatory citizens. What I’ve learned between this video and the speaker and video from class is that it’s not difficult to be a personally responsible citizen, and with a little more work anyone can be a participatory citizen. It is more difficult to be a social-justice oriented citizen: one would have to dedicate much of their time and brainpower to learning about and solving environmental issues.