The first thing any young person itching to get political has
to realize is this: The masses are not poised to lose their chains
thanks to you. You’re not going to change the world overnight. However,
you can and should get political because you can make a
difference.
The way to do it is to get out of the theoretical world of college
radicalism—spare yourself and your friends the Marxist
phase—and get into the tangible world of local candidates and
political organizations.
College readings got your feminism percolating for the first time?
Translate it into action: There is always a young woman, with a smart
feminist bent, running for office around here. Right now, it’s Darcy
Burner (www.darcyburner.com).
She’s running for U.S. Congress to unseat male chauvinist pig GOP
incumbent, Representative Dave Reichert. At the Seattle City Council
level—a great way to get up to speed on local issues like
fighting for an affordable city with some damn transit
options—check out Venus Velazquez (www.venus4seattle.com), who’s
running for an open seat against an ex-UW-football jock.
The presidential election is right around the corner and the local
Democratic organization (www.wa-democrats.org) is fueled by
college-age volunteers. It will be a busy, buzzing office this year as
the Democrats fight to take back the White House. Call 583-0664 and
hand your ass over. You can also have a say in who that nominee is.
Barack Obama? Hillary Clinton? John Edwards? Find out what your
precinct is—you University District kids are in the 43rd
District; go to its website (www.43rddems.org) and contact it to find
your precinct—and get involved at the caucus level come
February.
If you’re still smitten with Foucault and Fanon and this Democrat
shit is too mainstream for you, there are local groups that are
pushing, albeit practically, for radical change at the local level. If
you want to make the city affordable for working people, check out the
Seattle Displacement Coalition (www.zipcon.net/~jvf4119/). If you
want to fight global warming at home, check out Seattle’s radicalized
local chapter of the Sierra Club (www.cascade.sierraclub.org/directory/groups/seattle).
Finally, there are some good blogs that will plug you into local
issues: Northwest Progressive Institute (www.nwprogressive.org) and
HorsesAss (www.horsesass.org)
are great places to start. And, some final words of advice: Know your
enemy. Stay tuned to what the local right wing is saying at Sound
Politics (www.soundpolitics.org). 
