Through the use of her writing, senior Brenda Galvan is able to advocate and elevate alongside  national organization Women2Women in order to report on combating hate in Orange County. 

Galvan was a delegate at the Women2Women conference the summer before her sophomore year, and became an intern there the following summer. Next year she became an intern at OC Human Relations continuing to learn about the injustices that are too frequent in the world and educating herself on the issues. 

“I was never an outspoken person, so it wasn’t until my involvement with Empowerment Peace that I really began to learn more about the injustices that many people must endure frequently. I went from being very oblivious to what was happening to all of a sudden having so much empathy and wanting to make a difference,” said Galvan. 

The organization then reached out to her once again to be a part of their new project Team Harmony which would have a student reporter from California to interview groups on what they were doing to combat hate in Orange County. 

Galvan not only got to network and learn more about all the local issues, but even got to interview Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. 

“It was so empowering to see a female in power passionately advocating for minorities and willingly discussing with youth from around the world,” said Galvan.

Galvan has been able to not only advocate through her reporting, but explore the needs for activism today. Considering the BLM movement and other current issues surrounding equity, she points out that it is extremely important in our moment in time. 

“We are in the 21st century and there is a rise in hate crimes and lack of understanding. There is so much more polarization present and being an activist and being involved in activism is the foundation for dialogue and being more open-minded with one another. Activism is the beginning of truly understanding one another and getting rid of biases, preconceived notions, and truly getting to understand people and their identity,” said Galvan. 

While many people are unsure of how to get into activism Galvan points out that anyone can get into activism. It is not something that requires a checklist of tasks, but rather whatever works for you, and more importantly, what you are passionate about. 

“Sometimes people get so consumed with the idea that activists only partake in big events like fundraisers or creating an organization, but really small actions make a big difference as well. Anything from having difficult conversations with other people to educating yourself on an issue to joining an organization counts as being an activist,” said Galvan.

Galvan has learned much about activism, and hopes to continue to advocate for minorities as time goes on, creating a world with more empathy for each other.