If there is nothing you're willing to die for, are you really living?

Why do I do what I do? Why do I go before people of status and importance to tell them flatly that they are wrong? Why do I pay the price of isolation, alienation and minimization for stating my beliefs? In the end, does my action avail anything?

The answers are that I don't know. I don't know any of the answers. So, why am I writing this at all? I write this to speak for people that can't speak themselves. I am an Advocate. I've been called a hero and a champion and a warrior but all I really am is an Advocate. I speak for the interests of the vulnerable and marginalized.

The question now has to be asked what makes someone an Advocate? Is there a school with a degree program? Is it having the word on a nameplate on a desk at work? Sure. These things are part of it but what's at the heart of the work? Is it a characteristic or a trait that allows me to speak forcefully in front of others? Are there well-outlined techniques I've learned to Advocate? Perhaps. I might even say that traits and technique are vital to Advocacy. Are they the heart? No. To me, having little talent or education in Advocacy can be made up with pure, blazing conviction and the determination of people who are fighting for their lives. That is the heart of Advocacy to me. I act on what I believe is right and I refuse to give ground until death. Advocates dedicate their lives to making society better.

To put this as simply as I can, I will end this with a lyric from Rage Against the Machine's cover of The Ghost of Tom Joad:

wherever someone's struggling for a place to stand
for a decent job or a helping hand
wherever somebody's struggling to be free
look in their eyes Ma
YOU'LL SEE ME

D