The job titles and roles of activists may differ, but a good activist can be spotted by their passion and dedication to their work. Most of us choose our paths of activism based on the impact we want to have or life sort of decides for us by placing us in social locations where the only path that makes sense is one of resistance. High levels of recognition are typically reserved for men, the wealthy, or those who have been doing this for so long that their fame is an accumulated fame. This blog series is not a remedy to this situation, but rather designed as a way to highlight activists and their justice work through brief interviews.

This installment is an interview with Ashli Bolden, the Civic Engagement Director at Missouri Jobs with Justice. Responses were provided during a one-on-one phone interview, and this interview was reviewed and approved by the interviewee prior to publication.

What issue(s) did you initially organize around when you became an activist?

When I became an activist, I spent most of my time locally in St. Louis educating Black voters that voting was important beyond voting for the president. In fact, most people fail to understand how local-level politics generate the policies that determine our most immediate circumstances. The decisions our state representatives and senators make have a greater impact on our everyday lives. My work on the national level looked, and continues to be grounded in questions about how I’m shaping voter plans that engage all bases. So when I think about the ways in which I employ my civic engagement, I have to think beyond basic questions of how to engage with voters in swing turf, but also how my messages are going to reach Black and women voters. A lot of my time goes into figuring out how I’m delivering messages that get progressive voters to the polls to vote.

Are there any preconceived notions you had coming into your activism that have since been shattered?

I have a few: that progressive white people aren’t racist; that people who fight for workers understand that their work must be intersectional; and that everyone who claims to be progressive cares about reproductive justice. I have to constantly inform people who claim to be progressive that they are not really progressive.

Do you have an organizing philosophy? Is there something you came in with or learned along the way that informs how you go about your work?

I foundationally believe we do everything through relationships. A big part pertaining to my work is that we should engage with voters even when it is not election time. I think we’re losing because we’re only talking to people when it’s time to vote. We miss opportunities to talk with them about how issues impact their daily lives. We fail to engage with them past elections. We need to be figuring out how to convince funders that civic engagement extends beyond election season. It would also be great if we could get people in general to understand that our plans have to go beyond the election. I mean the name of the game is ‘civic engagement,’ so we should be looking for ways to do that more effectively.

You have various roles in your activist community, and those roles illustrate that you’re multifaceted, so why have you chosen to not only organize, but organize in so many different spaces?

I like to change people’s lives and a major key to that is helping community members and  organizational leaders understand that there is power in numbers. There is no shortage of community members who need help. There’s no shortage of organizational leaders who want their organizations to grow. There is a shortage on people who understand that building people power requires building the capacity to do so. I come across organizational leaders too often who expect new, smaller organizations to somehow “know” what they need to do. Newer organizations are expected to show up to coalition spaces fully funded and ready to go. There’s a lack of guidance from more seasoned and better funded organizations, so you end up with a poorly funded organization left fending for itself. I often hear criticism from larger, older organizational leaders on why newer organizations aren’t doing more. It’s as if they don’t understand that newer organizations often times do not know how to grow their capacity. I want to see organizations working together, building together, so I try to be the catalyst for that.

How do you choose which organizations to work for and/or with?

I choose based on how I think I can get organizations to work together. I intentionally go in with the goal of figuring out ways what organizations are doing overlap and intersect. A lot of these organizations don’t work together even if we they have a common goal, so I’m trying to push organizational leaders to see how reproductive rights show up in different facets, how making a living wage is a part of reproductive justice, how education is a reproductive justice. I’m also thinking of ways faith-based organizations or church groups can rethink their reluctance to work with reproductive rights organizations. Much of this is getting people to see reproductive health as more than just abortion, but also in drawing clear lines between abortion rights and morality. All of our issues are rooted in the same systems of oppression.

Your most prominent role is with what some might refer to as an economic justice organization. How do you engage intersectionally with your work as an economic justice organizer?

I think about varying political dynamics and ideologies in different districts while pushing my organization to think more critically about issues like abortion. Abortion is women’s rights;  it’s healthcare; it’s a moral issue. I feel like I’m on a crusade for people to stop using abortion as a strategy to divert the attention of voters from the array of issues that need attention. I want to reach a point where no candidates are even politicizing abortion. Politicians currently focus more energy on abortion — which honestly is none of their business — than talking about the need to raise wages. There are kids being charged as adults. Tax codes need to be reformed. Police need to stop killing us. People are trying to figure out how they are going to send their children to college. Meanwhile, we are stuck with politicians who insist on wielding their stance on abortion as the sole reason they deserve your vote. If they are going to insist on talking about abortion, it would be great if folks didn’t act like abortion has nothing to do with right to work.

The whole issue of not supporting candidates or organizations because they are pro-choice just makes very little sense to me. I see labor rights as a reproductive justice issue because if people don’t have a job that compensates them with a living wage and adequate benefits then they won’t have the financial resources to raise their children. It’s obvious to me that the underlying goal of anti-abortion folks is in telling a woman what to do, but I find myself going back and forth with organizational leaders about that.

Are there any obstacles that make you working intersectionally difficult? What makes your work most frustrating? 

Funding and religious views of faith-based leaders rooted in patriarchal notions. St. Louis is a traditionally Catholic city so anything you say about abortion tends to make people run. There is this constant fear that funders might pull their support if you work on abortion.

It’s really frustrating when people say they want to see more Black-led and intersectional movements, because people either don’t understand what those concepts entail or do not want to fully engage with them because they fear it might impact some of their funding or how some of their base might respond. They should be thinking more critically about the base they have built and if it’s the right base to get them to the world they want to see! A similar contradiction that surfaces is when leaders from larger or better funded organizations do not want to mentor or coach Black organizers. This is mostly due to progressive whites failing to acknowledge that they participate in the shame and oppression Black organizers face. Organizational leaders will say they want to partner with Black-led organizations, but won’t help build Black leaders. They tokenize and gate-keep. I see too many self-identified white progressives implementing the master’s tools instead of teaching or acknowledging that Black leaders have the tools do it.

Being supported in our work is so very important. Who has been or who is your biggest supporter? From where do you receive most of your support?

I have a group of friends that I meet with on a regular basis that help keep the vision going, so I have a dream and scheme team. This work is exhausting, especially if you only do it independently within your organization. Having a cohort of Black people who have been doing this work, whether as mentors or peers, has been very important to my ability to continue my work. It’s a really good form of checks and balances, because whenever we see things differently, there’s a friendly space where we can challenge and support each other. It’s a good way for us to think things through and work out the logistics for different things we are working on. It’s also a good way to check in with each other mentally and emotionally. We can evaluate the normalcy of things we may experiencing. We can ask each other questions like, ‘Is this normal?’ or, ‘Has this been done?’ and even, ‘Have we challenged this before?’

Asking activists what they do for self care has become a staple question, so I have to pose this question to you: what do you do for self care?

I make sure to do my practices — meditation, remembering to breathe throughout the day, fighting this sense of urgency that is materialized off someone else’s sense of urgency when it’s not really urgent, which means I’m not checking emails when I’m home, my phone notifications are off. I want to have a peace of mind. Oh, and vacations are a must, especially to the beach once a year … preferably in the winter months.

Activism or advocacy of any kind is taxing, so it’s common for people to look at me in awe, but I rarely feel like I’m doing enough. Is this feeling something you share? If so, how do you overcome this feeling?

Helping organizations build their capacity and connecting organizational leaders is how I get through it. I also sit on boards or help people organize projects or events I think are needed. I like to encourage people to lead needed projects or initiatives that I can’t lead myself.

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A brief bio for the interviewee is below:

Ashli Bolden, Civic Engagement Director at Missouri Jobs with Justice

She has worked on a variety of campaigns in social justice movements over the course of her career. She served as Civic Engagement Coordinator at Missouri Progressive Vote (2008- 2011), registering over 30,000 Missourians. She was also the Field Manager for the St. Louis Metrolink light rail system sales tax campaign and the St Louis Coordinator for the Decline to Sign Campaign on a ballot initiative that sought to eliminate the city’s critical Earnings Tax. With the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Ashli worked as the COPE fund blitz coordinator and as the 2010 Member to Member Voter Engagement Coordinator. In 2012, she worked as the AFL-CIO Unity Table organizer against anti-labor legislation during the state legislative session. She also worked that year with Missouri Jobs with Justice in its partnership with the Fight for a Fair Economy campaign, doing outreach to low wage workers about raising the federal minimum wage. In 2014 Ashli increased voter turnout among seniors in Missouri Senate District 24 around the issue of long-term care. In 2016 Ashli led a team at Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action in its C4 civic engagement program to contact over 109,000 voters in Missouri around the issues of Minimum Wage and Photo ID. In 2017 Ashli was named Chair of the Organization for Black Struggle. and elected Vice President of the St. Louis Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute. Recently, Ashli joined the Board of Directors of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri PAC.