Member-only story
Maybe We’re the Problem
Don’t say “I Believe Women” but do nothing about the people terrorizing them
In the spring of 2016, during my first month as a full-time staff member of Citizen Action of New York, I traveled up to Albany for a lobby day. Before I shifted to politics, I was the team’s Communications Associate. On that day, my job was to amplify member stories on social media and introduce myself to the Legislative Correspondents Association (LCA). The people at the LCA were friendly but not very interested in getting to know a temp communications associate when budget negotiations were taking place. With nothing to do there, I ended up spending most of the day with Citizen Action and Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) members.
I followed them to their lobby visits, lunch breaks, and then a rally that took place on the million-dollar staircase. When the rally was over, a few of us stayed back to catch our breath and recap the events. The energy was calm but optimistic, as community members and leaders recalled their favorite moments and talked about the next steps. Our easy conversation was halted, when one of our younger members started to raise her voice. It’s been a couple of years, so I don’t remember the sister’s name, but she couldn’t have been any older than 19 years old, and according to her a random guy in a suit had walked up to her and squeezed her butt. When she confronted him, he…
