Advocacy Is
(listen to the poem, read by the author)
Advocacy is shouting daily
About the worth of the person
Who society should include,
Because no one realizes
Or believes you,
But doing so figuratively, mindfully, demurely,
So as not
To offend anyone
Even if it is your loved one
Who has been offended.
Advocacy is sometimes screaming into the void
Alone.
Advocacy is a Sisyphean,
Herculean
Act of love,
A daily exercise in existentialism,
About someone so magical,
That everyone they could touch
Would glow,
If only everyone would stop
And listen.
Advocacy is asking people to hear you
When very few know how.
And sometimes it is paying for the right person,
With the right degree,
And the right job title,
Simply to repeat your words,
To make them audible.
Advocacy is frustration,
Banging your head repeatedly against a
Brick wall
But somehow willing it not
To hurt.
It is wanting to go scorched-earth
But reining the impulse in.
Advocacy is intuition
And saying the quiet part
Out loud,
Pointing out that the emperor,
In fact,
Does not have any clothes.
But all of this is not for naught.
Advocacy is no nonsense.
It is gaining knowledge
And using it as power.
Advocacy can be ripe with fear,
But it is also fearless.
Advocacy is learning
From amazing advocates
Who knew these things
Before you even started.
Advocacy is being gaslit
But still showing up again,
And again to speak your
Truth.
Advocacy is sometimes having friends and partners
To scream into the void with you.
Advocacy is weightlifting
With the muscles of
Your patience.
Advocacy is teaching.
And learning,
And teaching some more.
These are the experiences of
the Changemakers,
Who have visions of what life could be
Of what we all could be,
Together.
Of what is possible if we just believe in someone
And give them the supports,
And opportunities,
And space,
And autonomy,
That they need,
Of seeing a person as an individual,
And making decisions unique to them.
It is honoring personhood,
A celebration of someone’s potential,
And believing that they are capable,
And have value
And so much to give.
Advocacy is cutting through the excuses
And letting others know the expectations.
Advocacy is saying “we’re here,
We belong,
Show up,
Be ready,
Try again.”
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About the Author
As a neuro-divergent adult with neuro-divergent family members, advocating for inclusion is a priority in Allegra Marcell’s life. With a master’s degree in ecology, Allegra has been writing for her entire career—including journal articles, presentations, and children’s books about mindfulness. Through teaching and mentoring students from elementary to college-age, creating many homemade books to teach her own children to read, and writing for advocacy, Allegra has developed a voice to reach individuals of all abilities.