Now’s a good time for a refresher on defiance, making change and finding new and novel ways for people to dislike you. I’m speaking here of community activism, the bedrock of our democracy. If you master these Five Rules for Change, you can go on to challenge Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin or your partner of three years who’s driving you crazy with ultimatums about Fritos in bed.
Rule No. 1
Pick a cause that really riles you.
You will live with this issue for a while, so if your passion gauge doesn’t spin off into the Red Zone, skip it. Ask yourself: (a) Have I lost too much sleep over this? (b) Have I ruined one too many dinner parties with my rants about this? (c) Is this why I’m stuffing my face with Fritos?
Case Study: The November–April parking ban in my town of Rockport, Massachusetts, doesn’t make sense. For ease of snow removal, we weren’t allowed to park our cars on the street overnight, even when it was warm and sunny. I couldn’t get off my high horse about the illogic of this ancient bylaw, so I decided to do something.
Rule No. 1
Pick a cause that really riles you.
You will live with this issue for a while, so if your passion gauge doesn’t spin off into the Red Zone, skip it. Ask yourself: (a) Have I lost too much sleep over this? (b) Have I ruined one too many dinner parties with my rants about this? (c) Is this why I’m stuffing my face with Fritos?
Case Study: The November–April parking ban in my town of Rockport, Massachusetts, doesn’t make sense. For ease of snow removal, we weren’t allowed to park our cars on the street overnight, even when it was warm and sunny. I couldn’t get off my high horse about the illogic of this ancient bylaw, so I decided to do something.

Rockport looks like a ghost town once the winter parking ban goes into effect. Snow or no snow, we were required to move our cars off the streets at night from November through April 1. Changing this bylaw required two years of agitating, speaking at town meetings and going door to door to get petitions signed.
Rule No. 2
Find cohorts.
You can ignite a cause but you need others to move forward.
Case Study: I took my parking amendment to Rockport’s annual Town Meeting. My support group consisted of two friends and two family members. Four selectmen stood and spoke in opposition. One accused me of lying, which reminds me: activism is really painful. They marked the warrant article “Not Recommended” and tabled the proposal for further study. The subsequent martini felt justified.
Rule No. 3
Put it in writing.
Write your cause on the top of a piece of paper. Keep it short and persuasive. Draw 25 lines underneath it. Make several copies. Go get a slew of signatures.
Case Study: I ferried my petition around town. I canvassed, talked and lobbied. One hundred zealous advocates signed on. One dissenter admonished me for buying a house without a parking space. Another dissenter, a favorite shopkeeper, abstained, fearing retribution. Highly committed to my cause, I now deprive myself of the shop’s luscious 95 cent caramels from England.
Rule No. 4
Agitate.
You cannot win if you don’t state your case with unflinching candor and irritating frequency.
Case Study: When the Parking Committee Task Force nominated me for Taker of Minutes, I said: “No thank you. I have to be free to agitate.” Fair warning, then, since I argued with the Police Chief, the Fire Chief, the head of Department of Public Works — the very people I would normally want on my side. Sometimes the hardest thing I do as an activist is stand my ground.
Rule No. 5
Don’t gloat.
Have faith. Persistence pays off. Be gracious for whatever baby steps you make, but never back off a victory or give an inch in the aftermath.
Case Study: The selectmen voted to approve our task force’s proposal of a modified ban. We can park on the street overnight till the first major snowstorm. We had some flurries last week and they called a meeting. Sorry, but no. A dusting, dispatched by a stiff breeze, is hands off. In February our task force meets to draft a complete revocation of the ban.
Find cohorts.
You can ignite a cause but you need others to move forward.
Case Study: I took my parking amendment to Rockport’s annual Town Meeting. My support group consisted of two friends and two family members. Four selectmen stood and spoke in opposition. One accused me of lying, which reminds me: activism is really painful. They marked the warrant article “Not Recommended” and tabled the proposal for further study. The subsequent martini felt justified.
Rule No. 3
Put it in writing.
Write your cause on the top of a piece of paper. Keep it short and persuasive. Draw 25 lines underneath it. Make several copies. Go get a slew of signatures.
Case Study: I ferried my petition around town. I canvassed, talked and lobbied. One hundred zealous advocates signed on. One dissenter admonished me for buying a house without a parking space. Another dissenter, a favorite shopkeeper, abstained, fearing retribution. Highly committed to my cause, I now deprive myself of the shop’s luscious 95 cent caramels from England.
Rule No. 4
Agitate.
You cannot win if you don’t state your case with unflinching candor and irritating frequency.
Case Study: When the Parking Committee Task Force nominated me for Taker of Minutes, I said: “No thank you. I have to be free to agitate.” Fair warning, then, since I argued with the Police Chief, the Fire Chief, the head of Department of Public Works — the very people I would normally want on my side. Sometimes the hardest thing I do as an activist is stand my ground.
Rule No. 5
Don’t gloat.
Have faith. Persistence pays off. Be gracious for whatever baby steps you make, but never back off a victory or give an inch in the aftermath.
Case Study: The selectmen voted to approve our task force’s proposal of a modified ban. We can park on the street overnight till the first major snowstorm. We had some flurries last week and they called a meeting. Sorry, but no. A dusting, dispatched by a stiff breeze, is hands off. In February our task force meets to draft a complete revocation of the ban.

For years, the winter parking ban In Rockport, Massachusetts, prohibited anyone from parking on the streets overnight between November and April, even when there was no snow. Most towns and cities invoke a ban during snow emergencies like this one — viewed from my office that overlooks Main Street in downtown Rockport.
A Brief Post Mortem
Voting:
Only about 300 of our 7,500 residents attended Town Meeting in 2016, which is sadly typical. The meetings are long and residents sit on aluminum chairs. The whole thing is physically debilitating and psychically draining. In most towns with the Town Meeting form of government, there are a small handful of people — agitators — that challenge every single warrant article. The tedium is close to unbearable. But consider this: Town Meeting is where the budget is set and, thereby, the tax rate. It’s where all big issues are brought up and where many important decisions are made. In towns like Rockport, a few hundred residents decide.
Communication:
After the selectmen finally approved our proposal, I got permission to put up a flier around town and post it on Rockport’s social media pages. Rockport’s paper of record was not regularly covering Rockport events. People weren’t informed and Facebook became the main venue for information. I read Facebook notifications in response to my postings that said, “It’s about time.”
Civic responsibility:
It’s about time? As if the change happened by magic. As if displeased by the interminable wait. Was this entitlement, generalized agitation and lack of engagement I was sensing? Some rudeness? Who knows. It’s hard to take a read on the tone of a social media post.
Nothing happens by magic. You are responsible for the quality of life in your community.
One of the most contentious actions I ever took on was getting a leash law. Many were opposed. “Dogs should run fee,” the hippie contingent asserted. But 15 years ago we had a more engaged, older citizenry that better understood civic responsibility. They seemed to remember the meaning of 1776. Many of those people, now deceased, spoke out at selectmen’s meetings and circulated petitions. Town Meeting was standing-room-only back then. We got a leash law passed and my life as a runner and walker is much safer and more serene. And the sidewalks are cleaner. Rockport is a better place to live now that dogs are leashed.
You can make a difference
Years ago, as a reporter for the Portsmouth Herald, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, I researched and wrote a piece about the bills currently under consideration. My state rep, Patti Blanchette, said, “If people knew how much a single phone call or letter to a legislator could impact a vote, I’d be inundated. If you’re behind an issue, call me and tell me why. There are many bills I know almost nothing about. Most of us don’t have the time to research every one of them.”
Patti Blanchette’s words made a lasting impression on me. She handed me the most precious tool to my democracy that I could have hoped for. She gave me my voice and told me that if I used it, I would be heard.
Her lesson rings louder now than ever. Step up. Speak out. Start local. Many of us believe we in America are on the brink of calamitous change. The environment, torture, health care, immigration, women’s issues and education are all on the table and subject to new laws or injurious treatment.
The same voice we use to demand more compassionate parking rules is the voice we will use to demand that our immigrant neighbor be treated as our Constitution and Bill of Rights assert. There can be no recalcitrant carping from the sidelines. “It’s about time” is passive and relinquishes control. Each one of us must pick our battles, organize our thoughts, muster our voice and step forward.
Begin in your own backyard.
Plant flowers at the town dump. Pick up trash at the beach. Tell your mayor you want to know why the chief of police lost his job. Write letters to the editor demanding coverage of your city council meetings. Lobby for zoning laws that permit solar panels in historic districts. Speak up. Vote. And don’t quit.
That’s democracy in action. To sustain it we must use it.
Voting:
Only about 300 of our 7,500 residents attended Town Meeting in 2016, which is sadly typical. The meetings are long and residents sit on aluminum chairs. The whole thing is physically debilitating and psychically draining. In most towns with the Town Meeting form of government, there are a small handful of people — agitators — that challenge every single warrant article. The tedium is close to unbearable. But consider this: Town Meeting is where the budget is set and, thereby, the tax rate. It’s where all big issues are brought up and where many important decisions are made. In towns like Rockport, a few hundred residents decide.
Communication:
After the selectmen finally approved our proposal, I got permission to put up a flier around town and post it on Rockport’s social media pages. Rockport’s paper of record was not regularly covering Rockport events. People weren’t informed and Facebook became the main venue for information. I read Facebook notifications in response to my postings that said, “It’s about time.”
Civic responsibility:
It’s about time? As if the change happened by magic. As if displeased by the interminable wait. Was this entitlement, generalized agitation and lack of engagement I was sensing? Some rudeness? Who knows. It’s hard to take a read on the tone of a social media post.
Nothing happens by magic. You are responsible for the quality of life in your community.
One of the most contentious actions I ever took on was getting a leash law. Many were opposed. “Dogs should run fee,” the hippie contingent asserted. But 15 years ago we had a more engaged, older citizenry that better understood civic responsibility. They seemed to remember the meaning of 1776. Many of those people, now deceased, spoke out at selectmen’s meetings and circulated petitions. Town Meeting was standing-room-only back then. We got a leash law passed and my life as a runner and walker is much safer and more serene. And the sidewalks are cleaner. Rockport is a better place to live now that dogs are leashed.
You can make a difference
Years ago, as a reporter for the Portsmouth Herald, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, I researched and wrote a piece about the bills currently under consideration. My state rep, Patti Blanchette, said, “If people knew how much a single phone call or letter to a legislator could impact a vote, I’d be inundated. If you’re behind an issue, call me and tell me why. There are many bills I know almost nothing about. Most of us don’t have the time to research every one of them.”
Patti Blanchette’s words made a lasting impression on me. She handed me the most precious tool to my democracy that I could have hoped for. She gave me my voice and told me that if I used it, I would be heard.
Her lesson rings louder now than ever. Step up. Speak out. Start local. Many of us believe we in America are on the brink of calamitous change. The environment, torture, health care, immigration, women’s issues and education are all on the table and subject to new laws or injurious treatment.
The same voice we use to demand more compassionate parking rules is the voice we will use to demand that our immigrant neighbor be treated as our Constitution and Bill of Rights assert. There can be no recalcitrant carping from the sidelines. “It’s about time” is passive and relinquishes control. Each one of us must pick our battles, organize our thoughts, muster our voice and step forward.
Begin in your own backyard.
Plant flowers at the town dump. Pick up trash at the beach. Tell your mayor you want to know why the chief of police lost his job. Write letters to the editor demanding coverage of your city council meetings. Lobby for zoning laws that permit solar panels in historic districts. Speak up. Vote. And don’t quit.
That’s democracy in action. To sustain it we must use it.
All photos by the author.
Header art by M. Guzzio & T. Guzzio.
Header art by M. Guzzio & T. Guzzio.
CONNECT WITH RAE:
Rae Padilla Francoeur published Free Fall: A Late-in-Life Love Affair with Seal Press. She publishes fiction and nonfiction, and works as a journalist and book reviewer. Her weekly book reviews run in GateHouse Media papers around the country. Rae is creative director in her arts/tourism marketing business New Arts Collaborative. She was creative services director at the Peabody Essex Museum and editorial manager at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She started her writing career as a journalist. Later she managed several magazines and the Sunday Portsmouth Herald. Learn more about Rae and her work at her blog. Rae splits her time between Rockport, Massachusetts and Manhattan.
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