Notes on Anima LaVoy and Swing Semester

Published October 29, 2008 @ 10:11AM PT

A few days back, I wrote a piece about Anima LaVoy and her work with Swing Semester. She has since expressed appreciation for spicing the piece up a bit, but I cant help but to feel like she was sort of bummed by my posting about the fact that she had said that the Universalist Unitarians, Quakers, and Jews are on the cutting edge of progressive political action - keeping it real, as it were. I posted it because I thought it was hilarious and it was this beautifully unguarded nugget of truth (not in the there-is-only-one-truth sort of way; more in from-the-heart sort of way) that is nearly impossible to find an a cautious edited and re-edited social media sphere. The comment made her absolutely lovable, irresistible, and that's why I felt it important to post. This Millennial generation that I am trying so desperately to track is [supposedly] obsessed with the concept of authenticity and I couldn't help but to record and report her most unguarded moments.

Further, despite not actually meeting Anima face to face, she is certainly one of the last people I have met who just makes me feel like I am alive and aspire to be much more organized and driven. It's fair to note that there are cultural biases here - she's a white, liberal Christian struggling not only to understand the phenomenon of the undecided voter, but also to educate accordingly. I am a white, liberal-Christian-culture-enthusiast who has long been fascinated by the ignorant insistence of my fellow liberals to embrace a rhetorical dogmatism that creates an anti-dialog between what remains of the two American political polls. Admitted biases aside, Anima's likability and drive is rather undeniable.

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Author

Alex is a freelance journalist, activist, and online community management consultant based in Boston and Portland, Maine. He currently serves as executive editor of MakeSomethingHappen.net, where he writes about online organizing and the power of collective action.