Angie Clevinger – Connecting and Reflecting, Changemaker Interview Part II

The theme of advocacy threads through Angie’s personal and professional lives as an adult.

In contrast to her own early childhood where she was carted around to marches to promote a racist agenda,  Angie now speaks up and attends marches for quality education, civil rights and justice for all.  She uses her poetry as a kind of activism as well.  While Angie’s poems often celebrate her Appalachian heritage from an insider’s perspective, she brings a reflective voice that illustrates a capacity to view her life from both her inside lived experience and an outside philosopher’s wisdom. 

Her willingness to stand up for what is right has at times put her in the hot seat. 

She cites one example when someone sent an inflammatory email making a generalized comment about the Muslim religion. When she called out the comment, she was “called on the carpet”. But that didn’t stop her.

I remember saying the problem isn't that somebody shared something. The problem is that when I spoke up about it, now I'm in trouble…

This doesn’t sit well with Angie.  The Pulaski County schools she knows, have taught her to stand strong in the knowledge that schools must be safe places where there is love and access to resources for all.  

That's a tall order. Before there were all these labels about trauma-informed care or anything, it was happening in Pulaski County Public Schools way back in the eighties and I think it still happens.

Once again, she uses her fifth grade teacher, Mr. Hocker as an example. 

My relationship with Mr. Hocker led me to try to have more interactions with people who were different than me by just being very inquisitive and asking about people's experience.

What she’s learned has taught her to stand up for people different from herself and has made her a strong advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement and other movements supporting diverse groups.

I do not have the worries and the same experiences happening to me, but as a fellow human being, I can be supportive. I can be kind. I can show love and I can get involved.

Whatever the need, whatever the group, Angie says

Our work is to listen to the stories and make the relationship strong.

She talks about the importance of investing emotionally in those relationships.  Humans need to be cared for and invested in. At the very least, there can be sympathy, but real change comes with EMPATHY.

To be empathetic means that you invest. And when you invest, then you become part of the solution. You become a part of the way…You can say, I am an ally. I am here. I am listening.

You have to be open for somebody to challenge your thought processes. I've seen over the last few weeks that I have continued my journey as I learn more and more, my eyes have been opened at the depth of the racism that is here. Because it wasn't affecting me personally. So how would I know? But now that I know I can do better. I can be a part of the solution.

Angie talks about how the way we use language is an important part of the necessary change.  While some in her advocacy work have wearied of conversations around identifying language such as “Native American vs. Native Peoples vs. Indigenous Peoples,” Angie sees the conversation itself as important.

Words matter so much.  

She cites examples from her own life when she was bullied by children making fun of her eating habits. Empathy calls upon us to remember that each student is “somebody’s child.” Those are people who are depending on you.