Join the Movement
Are you a concerned citizen that wants to help, but doesn’t know how? If so, this page was designed for you. Whether you are someone that works better by yourself or are interested in starting your our network of activists, here you will find a step by step guideline to help you join the campaign to save Syrian Hellenism.
(If you are more inclined to work on your own, feel free to skip the first 3 steps)
Step 1: Form your own Activist Network.
This is a lot easier than you may believe. Reach out to those in your life that may have the same concerns as you. Start by talking to friends and family. Even if you are only able to find one other person in your personal circle interested, you’ve created your Activist group.
Step 2: Organize Weekly Gatherings
Set aside an hour a week to meet with those inside your Activist Network. Try opening it up to others in your local community by creating a “Meetup.com” group. This is an excellent way to expand your circle of Activists.
Divide your weekly gatherings into organized blocks. Try starting your meetings with a few minutes for participants to socialize. Once everyone has arrived move on to current events. This is a great way to pool everyone’s knowledge together. This will also keep everyone up-to-date with what’s going on in Syria. Next, get down to business. The majority of your time should then focus on what specific issue you are working towards. This could be discussing your network’s plan of action or actual work like writing letters.
Step 3: Find your Network’s purpose
After several meetings you and your friends should start to focus on a particular goal. Maybe those in your Network are interested in rallying support from our cause through the local church community or community organizations. Perhaps you’re more interested in collecting aid for those in need. Or maybe you want to help change policy, like lobbying your local politicians to stop aid to the Syrian Opposition. Whatever your network’s purpose, you need to come to some kind of consensus that way you can better focus your time and energy on effecting change.
Step 4: Get Active
Depending on your local network’s mission is, get involved. Maybe you’ve decided to give a helping hand to one of the many humanitarian groups operating inside Syria. Perhaps you’ve decided you’ve had enough of your government’s arming of radical extremists. Either way get involved. Try to meet with community leaders to build a coalition or go out on your own and start a petition. Don’t be afraid to call your congressman, senator, or parliamentarian to voice your concerns and opinions.
Here are several ideas of actions that you and your network could try:
1.
Start a Petition
Petitions are a great first step for your network. However, try to avoid online
petitions. They may be popular these days because of the internet and social
networking, but they really aren’t that effective. If you’re
interested in starting a petition please visit our Activism Center to download
a free copy of a starter petition. If you want your petition to be affective,
try focusing on getting local signatures. People that all live in the same politician’s
district. This way when you hand in your petition to the particular politician
you are trying to persuade he will see just how many people in his district are
for this issue.
2.
Letters to the Editor
Writing letters to local newspapers is a great way to stop the flow of
disinformation. Many people don’t realize just how important it is to write a
letter to the editor. Most mainstream media outlets, national and local, are
not going to cover your position unless you take the initiative to make the
public aware of your side. Take notice
of what types of stories your local paper is writing about the Syrian conflict.
If you notice something you don’t agree with, let them know.
3.
Write your local Congressman/Senator
Writing to your local Congressman/Senator (Parliamentarian) is an excellent
way to let them know that people in their district are concerned about the
Syrian conflict. If you don’t know who your local representative is, don’t worry.
When in doubt, just Google it! Now you are most likely to receive a standard
written letter concerning the specific issue you are contacting them about, but
don’t let this bother you. This is just another way to learn what your representative’s
position is. The more letters they receive the greater chance that they may
reexamine their position in order to better represent the stance of their constituents.
4.
Get a meeting with your local Congressman/Senator
As a constituent you have the right to meet with your local representative.
Call their office and let them know that you represent a collection of
constituents that would like to meet with your representative concerning the
ongoing Syrian Conflict. Now before you visit, be sure to discuss how you’d
like the meeting to go with your network. Choose one person to lead the
conversation, this way you look organized and serious. Bring Pamphlets and other
materials. This is actually a great way
to hand in your petition directly to your representative.Now if you’ve reached out to your established community organizations they may want to come with you to meet your representative. DO NOT LET THEM JOIN YOU. Time and again many of our community organizations have turned such meetings into merely photo-opts to add to their prestige inside the community. They are more likely to hijack the meeting and water down the message just to get a few pictures taken of them looking good. Therefore, you are better off “going it alone” and suggesting to these groups to make their own appointments with officials.
Step 5: When in doubt, Just Google it!
Remember these steps are merely a guideline, feel free to use them or come up with your own ideas. Just remember to always be creative. If you have question concerning anything that was said in this guideline or if you want to learn more about activism don’t be afraid to Google it. There is plenty of information on the internet that will help you.
