Alison Blumstein (21), Imagine Society activist, interviewed movement organizer activist Muriel Tillinghast in May 2021, and wrote an introduction for Muriel’s Lemlich Award.
How did you become an activist? Was there an inspirational or defining moment at the start of your activism?
I came from an activist household. My grandmother, who was my principal guardian early in my life, belonged to dozens and dozens of organizations and she was active in all of them. So, in a way, being an activist, that is doing something about an irritant/problem/condition was something I was raised to tackle. There was no real one-time kind of moment when the desire to be an activist was a defining one.
While my family probably would not have considered itself poor, all of my uncles and my one aunt were college graduates and graduates of education achievements beyond that in terms of law and graduate school. We were clearly working class with a strong work ethic. Despite the educational preparation, "the system” provided no real economic mobility, except for people who were professionals, e.g., doctors, lawyers, etc. And, even that had its limitations.
I worked with poor people as a child and I was given various exposures at different times regarding economic, health and other challenges. As a child I visited around Christmas time an institution called, “Home for the Incurables,” in Washington, D.C. There I saw a number of physically challenged/malformed children who in their way were delighted to hear our off-key carols. That always stayed with me — one boy in particular.
I had various exposures way before I had an understanding of the political and economic means which dictated their mean existence. I was raised to think that if you could help do it, don’t just stand by. One cannot always change a person’s life or circumstances, but the job of a “change-agent” is to do what you can when you can, to try. Then the person you are trying to assist must also do his or her part as well. It is not always the poor who need help. There are many instances where people of means have consistently made poor choices and those choices caused harm or pain to them personally. So, you see I am an observer and doer with cohorts and alone. You just keep on keeping on.
You've had an incredible career in activism, could you share a story that is an important one along your journey? Perhaps a touchstone that you think about often?
Working in the Deep South was a watershed period for me. No single situation, but the collectivity of the strong support in such a horrible situation, the sheer magnitude of that experience actually changed my entire life’s trajectory. I think about the sharing among people who didn’t have much, their willingness to shelter and protect us — I mean how could I have that exposure and come away untouched? By the time I had gone South, I had already visited between 10 to 15 different countries and studied many more. I wanted to know how and why people did what they did, as a group, as cultures and as a people. I have often thought about and appreciated those days. It helped me to see beyond what people were shelling out as “truth,” because I had seen many things for myself.
It is hard for me to imagine what the fight was like for civil rights in this country in the 1960s, especially in the South, were you scared to be active as a young person?
No, I wasn’t afraid to speak up, to stand out. I was nervous about Mississippi, but like Miss Ella Baker, you have to do what has to be done when it has to be done. I had plenty of times when times were scary and it happened in Cambridge, Maryland when I came to help out Gloria Richardson with her work in her hometown. We faced National Guardsmen with their bayonets unsheathed and we were tear gassed. Now that was an experience. That was one of many such experiences. Experiences harden you; you don’t lose your fear, you learn to control yourself as best you can.
Was there an achievement or victory you've been involved in you're especially proud of?
I can’t say that there is some one thing that strikes me as an achievement. Our work was so incremental. We were able to integrate municipal services focusing on employment for Black people, we were able to get some reprieve for tenants who were just withering under tyrannical and exploitative landlords, and, of course, striking out for the right to vote — always contested and always begrudging for the exercise — these are things I would count and take pride in.
I really wish there could be more of a sense of unity and community in this country, especially right now, what is an idea or philosophy you would want to share with the world?
As much as I wish I could talk to many people, listen to them and then take on what it is they have to say, I will tell you that I have been more than appalled by the level of ignorance and unreadiness to move forward. I urge everyone to get an education. Go to the library and get a book. Go to class, read. Reduce or eliminate dependence on social media; it is less a means of information and education and more a source of chatter. Could it be more, of course.
But intelligent information is obtained through hard work, lots of reading and a whole lot less talking. It is disciplined and so many people, especially young people are wasting their precious time. We can only agree after we talk and we can only talk if we are civil and respectful of each other. I would hope that those of us who can, will practice being decent and fair and a credit to country in the most positive and inclusive way.
So many young people right now struggle with fighting against feeling powerless or wanting to really help change the problems we see around us. What advice do you have for young activists but really activists of any age for joining a cause?
I started being active (notice, not an activist) very young. I went to meetings with my grandmother. I had to sit and listen. Then we’d come home and there would be family discussions about one thing or another. Gradually, I became informed. I am still working on being better informed; it is a life-long effort. Along the way, I have met all kinds of people, some great, some good and then some others. In The Movement overall, there were many very good people.
Note: we didn’t call it the Civil Rights Movement, that’s a phrase that journalists put on the period of our voting effort work in the 1960s. However, The Movement was about voting and so much more...
Finally, I would say know yourself and find your passion. Pursue it and on the journey you will find plenty of opportunities to be an activist and there are many ways to be one. Oppression, unfairness, dishonesty — all of that — is everywhere. The question is what will
you do when you find it.
I'm specifically interested in health equity in this country, what's something you learned about doing your advocacy work that would be important for me to know?
Medical people, especially doctors, are revered almost everywhere because they bring the promise of the return to good health, because they are active in the fight to save humanity from itself and from the harm generated by our environment. Wherever you go, as a doctor, people will defer to you and give you the benefit of the doubt, that is, generally. In the last year, you have seen how insipid and ignorant men have played with the lives of our people. So, now you see how the tables can turn.
Do what you can to bring knowledge and skills to the people you will serve. You will find the shortcomings on your own. Women, poor and often women of color, get the brunt of whatever passes for general health care. Once you are ready to volunteer as you receive training, some things will become very clear to you. You will have to rely on your ethical compass to determine how to proceed. Sometimes you will stumble, we all do. Sometimes you will walk tall and do what needs to be done when it needs to be done.
What’s something that I can do to help make the world a better place?
Probe. Talk. Respond. Then do it again, and again and again. If the question is also, how do I know that I am doing the right thing? That is where reading and talking comes in. You will not always have answers. Sometimes you will only have questions. Put on your scholar’s cap, burn the midnight oil and get to the bottom of things. Most issues have answers, but some are yet to be discovered and applied. And, that, my dear, is your job. Don’t expect people to always be grateful. Most will be, but some will not.
