My time on various campaigns have fostered my newer interest in campaign communications and press, so Professor Dan Schnur’s comprehensive discussion on being an effective messenger in the context of political campaigns was an especially informative session. Reframing our understanding of persuading voters or simply your audience, he reminds us that people may never find what’s important to us as equally important to them. He, instead, encourages us to understand the goal of effective communications to push people to care just more than they already do.
We’ve all heard fiery political rhetoric from elected officials that serve as soundbites for the press and quick videos for their campaigns. These elected officials appear charismatic, passionate, and fired up about the issues their constituents care about. But, as Professor Schnur reminds us, the best leaders are good listeners. Though the issues we care about are not to take a back seat, effective politicking to pass a meaningful agenda entails understanding what’s important to our audiences and being able to frame our goals in our audience’s context to establish a shared mission.
Stepping out of the world of political communications, in the afternoon, our cohort spent the afternoon on a walking tour led by Kristin Fukushima, learning about the history and community of Little Tokyo. Beyond hidden treasures and fun traditions, I left the tour feeling most surprised at the number of times Kristin casually dropped the number of times the Little Tokyo community had lost pieces of itself in the name of city development and urban renewal, ultimately resulting in displacement, eviction, banishment. These developments and subsequent dispossessions engineer the removal of communities with the working class and low-income groups always suffering first and foremost.
CLA Interns during their tour of Little Tokyo.
Walking through various alleys and looking on to different parking lots, Kristin shares the often decades-long fights to achieve the most seemingly mundane forms of city planning and building — raising the question of why it takes such extensive organizing to gain the attention of states like municipal governments and convince them of the need for basic forms of public safety and living. Community work can be unglamorous and challenging, but ultimately, it’s the alleys and parking lots that are the meaningful results of the hard work, led by community leaders and meant to preserve communities from destruction and gentrification.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by Emma Chen, Leadership Academy 2023 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.