The Change Report™: Omkari Williams
On what activism can look like and how to rise to the occasion, no matter the occasion.
Welcome to The Change Report™, an interview series exploring and explaining change from people who are making a difference in the world. This interview series is free but def consider supporting The Trend Report™ however you can, either by sharing this story or upgrading to a paid subscription 💚
We know these times are changing and, as flooding the zone has proven, keeping up and keeping connected with progress is an ever exhausting task. It’s easy to feel helpless, it’s easy to feel frustrated, it’s easy to tap out: we know this well. But that doesn’t mean change stops. Like any force of energy, change takes new shapes and new forms. We’re very much in a moment where the playbook of the past decade — and beyond — simply does not work: it’s outdated, it’s small, and it’s perhaps a bit too fantastical. These are tough times and the change we make — and measures we take to make change — have to be tough too.
In speaking with and Latham Thomas of Mama Glow (and technically my mother, , before them), a clear theme is the need to stick with it — and to change too, adapting to circumstances and adapting to those around you. To take a step back, to understand on a root level what change can be on a day like Earth Day, I wanted to get some advice from someone well versed in the subject: Omkari Williams, an author, coach, and activist who wrote the 2023 book Micro Activism. I chatted with Omkari to explore the subject on a granular level, to understand how we can tackle times like these one step at a time. Whether you’re an active organizer or still figuring out involvement, hopefully there’s a takeaway or two in Omkari’s advice.
We chat about thinking about what’s happening literally outside of your door, why staying in reality versus indulging fantasy helps, and the books that have helped her (and me) stay the course.
KRF: How do you define change?
OW: Aligning systems with how things are in nature. We typically don't see hoarding or wanton destruction in our other systems of living things. Humans are uniquely destructive as we've largely separated ourselves from nature. We even talk about "nature" as if it's something outside of us. For me, making change is helping people to come into alignment with natural systems and the dignity inherent in those systems. We take what we need, not more. We treat others with the kindness we would want for ourselves. We don't look at people as "the other" just because they don't look, sound, pray, or live like us.
KRF: This is very not-radical but, in these times, is so extremely radical, which gets at how consumerism and consumption kneecap progress. What, then, is essential to make change?
OW: I think an essential quality for change is to be curious rather than judgmental. When we are curious we are withholding judgement and are willing to entertain ideas that may be foreign to us. If change were a meal it would be taking the contents of 10 different refrigerators and, as a group, feeding those we are in community with.
KRF: Again: it’s easy to be judgemental when forces like the internet require judgement in order to react to anything, which brings to mind the constant in-fighting within progressive spaces. And that’s why tech is so bad in this phase of its existence! How do you express change, given such forces?
OW: In my book, Micro Activism: How You Can Make a Difference in the World (Without a Bullhorn), I push back against our "More is better," "Go big or go home" culture by bringing human-size scale to our work of change-making. I don't think that most people can go for long-term large actions. Life gets in the way and inertia sets in. When, instead, we aim for taking small, sustainable action we are better positioned to stay in the work because we avoid burnout and are more likely to be able to scale up in a natural way so that we're not fighting against our own capacity.
KRF: That’s so…practical! And useful. Who do you look to, to better understand change?
OW: One of the people whose work I really admire is the historian and author Timothy Snyder. His books, especially On Tyranny and On Freedom, inspire me. He writes about what we want to fight against and, as importantly, what we want to fight for. Also, I was a history major in college so I look at his work in that context and it helps me see the larger patterns and that gives me hope for defeating the fascistic tendencies we see on the rise globally.
KRF: That reminds me: I recently read King: A Life and found that to be, while obvious, so inspiring as it really highlighted both the importance of faith and the importance of radical though in this equation of change. Especially when we think about someone like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it’s easy to fall back on myth versus reality. That book did a great job of showing how change happens on a really granular level — and how intersectional, nimble, and radical movements have to be. Beyond such books, how did you learn about change?
OW: My parents were the primary source of my thinking about change-making. Dad was a relief worker and diplomat, and he worked in some of the worst conflict zones, including the Balkan states during the war and Rwanda during the genocide. Despite seeing the worst of people and the horrifying impacts of conflict, he believed things could be made better. Watching him, I learned that you needed to do what you could, no matter what.
Also, my mom gave me a book as a young child, maybe I was 10. It was titled Karen and was the true story of the family of a child with cerebral palsy and the obstacles they faced trying to get care for their daughter and how they never gave up. They ultimately were founders of United Cerebral Palsy, helping many families affected by CP. That book made me realize that anyone could make a difference.
KRF: I love that latter example, which…I am adding to my reading list. The power of books! If only people, um, read more — but that’s a whole other issue. What’s an admirable expression of change in your mind?
OW: I think that the model of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission established in South Africa after apartheid is an excellent example of a project that made, and continues to make change both in South Africa and in other places around the world. The restorative justice model is so much healthier than the common punitive model.
KRF: I’m not familiar but that sounds incredible. These are, um, rough times. What do you think someone can do now to make change? There’s a lot of noise so it seems like an increasingly tough challenge.
OW: Don't turn away from the issues that you see right where you live. If, for example, there is a problem with a great number of unhoused people in your town, pay attention. Find out who in your community is working to get people into homes and find out what you can do. Go to your city council meeting and make sure that they understand that this is a concern for the community.
KRF: Start small! I’m sensing a “micro” activist theme because…you literally wrote the book on that! What does action look like now? Do you think it’s different in any way?
OW: We, too often, think of change as a positive thing but that isn't always the case. Now, here in the U.S., we're deep into an administration that will continue undoing many of the positive changes of several decades in service of greater wealth for a tiny number of people. So, action can be positive or negative. It's up to us.
KRF: How does action relate to community then?
OW: I think that community is one of our greatest weapons for fighting back against regressive policies. When we come together we find that we have more in common than we may have previously realized. We also realize that we have more power as a group than as individuals. If nothing else, we get to know our neighbors and that in itself is important. It's hard to not find some redeeming quality in people when we are working towards a common goal, even if we have wildly different views in other respects. Taking action in service of the people we have proximity to, our neighbors, builds our sense of connectedness to where we live and those we share a town or city with.
KRF: Size matters, again. Given how flooded the zone is, what issues are you considering most now? What’s on your mind?
OW: My main focus is on getting people to get off the couch, off their phones, and get into action in their own communities. To steal a line from The West Wing, "Decisions are made by those who show up." I want people to take back their power to make change. It doesn't have to be huge change, ending world hunger would be nice, but feeding one hungry person counts. I'm focused on taking the idea of activism from the realm of being something that few do into being something we all do, in our unique ways, regularly.
KRF: That seems to be really relevant now. Are there any examples of change that feel particularly relevant? Or inspiring?
OW: I know a woman in Savannah, GA who started a program to fill the gap that was created when funds for arts education were cut. She created a program that brings art to school children in underserved communities. It's changed the lives of hundreds of kids.
KRF: Obsessed with that. A great example, again, of small change. What “has to” change in order to make change?
OW: I think the biggest thing that needs to change is the awareness of citizens around the world of their power. I think people need to stop waiting for permission and start working on the issues they care about now. We've gotten out of the habit of engaging with our governments as participatory partners and ceded too much power to them when, in fact, we, the people, should be the source of power.
KRF: How do you define hope?
OW: I don't think you can have change without hope. Hope is what allows one to believe that something different is possible. If you can't believe that then what's the point? But hope isn't this airy-fairy thing. It is the thing sitting there behind the scenes that motivates the action but there needs to be action taking or it's not even hope, it's just a wish.
KRF: In the past decade and beyond, hope sort of got a bad name as, say, Democrat or progressive idealism lost its roots in reality. When we think about it as motivation instead of idealism, it actually metastasizes into action versus “a dream.” Do you think change will change? What might it look like in the future?
OW: I can't answer this in the abstract. Each area of activism has its own unique set of challenges and needs. One of the things that is critically important is to consistently evaluate where a movement is and whether it's meeting the needs as they exist now, not what was needed last year or 10 years ago. Asking whether we're staying connected to the shifts and evolving demands of the causes we're advocating for has to be a regular question.
KRF: That’s fair — and a very good assessment. How do you maintain momentum in your work?
OW: I stay connected to the past and look to the future. I think about the work that so many who came before me did knowing they would not see the fulfillment of the goal and I feel an obligation to continue what they started. I think of my young nephews and want to do what I can to leave them a better world.
KRF: What’s next?
OW: Doing my part to protect democracy is the main thing on my plate right now because democracy is the bedrock upon which the causes I care about exist. No democracy, no women's reproductive rights, no environmental care, no racial justice, and the list goes on.
What the future looks like will depend on what people decide is important and whether we are willing to put in the effort to make things function as they should. It's really up to each of us to decide that we are willing to be a little bit uncomfortable in service of a larger good. Pushing back against authority can be intimidating, but it's the only way that beneficial change has ever come about. From the 40-hour work week to clean water, it's always been a battle against those who make money by maintaining the status quo no matter the harm to the vast majority of people.
It's our responsibility to not look away from that reality and to do what we can to bring forth a world where all people live lives of dignity.
For more on Omkari, follow her on Instagram, explore her podcast, and be sure to check out her book. For more stories on making changes and culture, be sure to subscribe to The Trend Report™.