Changing the World

Last night I went to a gathering to meet the new educational director (John Lee) of the Larchmont Charter Schools: the original, and the new one (Larchmont Charter West Hollywood). He is a dynamo. He has done Teach For America, run the California Charter Association, been a teacher and principal in an urban charter school. Now he is here to help us grow into a movement, a chain, a middle school and a high school. He is here to help us find a site, use our volunteer hours effectively, and get lots of grant money for the future. He wants to send his kids to our school.

At the meeting I ran into two old friends from the Los Angeles Times. This morning one wrote to me: i feel like you're part of a Che Guevara-esque movement - and all for your children. so noble and inspiring!

Well, who wouldn't want to be compared to Che. How cool!

And it does feel like a revolution. Not a bloody revolution, but a quiet stealth revolution for good.

But most of all I realized that I am ready for activism. I became a journalist because I believe in activism. The job of a great journalist is to find the problems in society, tell those stories, and help bring about change. At least that is why I became a journalist. But after awhile it is tiring to be a journalist. You are not doing. You are observing. And after years and years you long to be able to state your political party, to declare your affiliations, to shout from the rooftops what you care about, and why. It becomes exhausting to pretend you are unbiased and objective. I never took that pledge, nor believed in it. But what a relief to be able to throw yourself into something wholeheartedly. To be an actor, an agent for change, and not just writing about it.

It feels good.