How 'transformational advocacy' helped 3 Chicago-area residents find purpose, not fractured politics

I've been listening to Eva Cassidy a lot. I love the calm radiating from her version of “Fields of Gold,” and I am in awe of her breathtaking rendition of “Over the Rainbow.”

But at age 33, Eva Cassidy died of cancer. Just six weeks before her death, fellow artists held a benefit concert to raise funds for her health care costs. Eva was helped on stage at the end of the evening and sang one song: “What a Wonderful World.”

What if our politics and activism came from a similar place of grace and gratitude?

It could.

Transformational advocacy springs from these places, as volunteers — rather than giving up in discouragement and despair — are trained to see themselves in a new light and are empowered to contribute to making our world better for all.

My journey from classical musician to activist started when the deaths of people I cared about led me to ask the questions of purpose: Why am I here? What am I here to do?

A presentation on ending world hunger in the late 1970s inspired me to speak to 7,000 high school students. I read calls for the "political will" to end hunger and asked the students to name their member of Congress. Fewer than 3% could answer correctly. That's when I founded the anti-poverty lobby RESULTS.

Recently, I spoke with three activists who got their start in transformational advocacy in the Chicago area. I wanted to know how they began.

‘More fulfilling than anything’

Cindy Levin was a mechanical engineer and corporate type. "When I quit my job to provide full-time care for my kids, I lost my social network and my purpose," she told me. "I did have this purpose to be a mom, but it was also isolating. Activism was a way to be relevant in the wider world."

Levin wrote occasional letters to Congress with her church, but a trip to Washington, D.C., with RESULTS opened the door to a new world. She met with four congressional aides and had a fifth meeting with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Chicago). Levin's colleague told her, "You’re going to lead this meeting."

"I thought he was out of his mind," she recalled. "We asked Rep. Schakowsky to sign a letter that had multiple parts, and she said she really didn’t agree with one part. For me, that was the nightmare. 'Oh, I'm going to sign it,’ she told us, 'but I don’t agree with that one part, and you should tell RESULTS.'cGoing to that first conference turned into my life’s work, and it’s been more fulfilling than anything I was doing before."

Levin is now an author, speaker and activist who coaches others on how to develop relationships with their representatives.

‘An instant adrenaline rush’

Sunday Mueller was hearing more about climate change, and while her family composted their food waste and took other actions, she still experienced feelings of despair.

"One day I read a letter to the editor from Citizens Climate Lobby," Mueller told me. "I thought, 'This is the way forward, a group that is nonpartisan and addressing climate change through the big guys, the federal government.'"

The chapter nearest to her had disbanded during COVID-19, and she was invited to help relaunch it. Mueller overrode her tendency to hold back and received, along with another volunteer, support to restart what would become the Greater Highland Park-Deerfield chapter, which Mueller now co-leads. They were also trained to lobby their member of Congress and congressional staff.

"It felt like, ‘OK, get on the roller coaster,’" Mueller recalled. "But after the meeting, I felt an instant adrenaline rush. We did it!"

‘Something bigger than myself’

For Mike Holler, who lives in the Loop, COVID-19, the 2020 election and the racial unrest that year triggered anxiety and depression.

"I had been through this before when I was younger," he recalled, "and realized that I needed what I’d done before — therapy and medication — but I also had to get involved in something bigger than myself." Holler found Citizens Climate Lobby and liked the group's commitment to bipartisanship.

"I didn't want to be part of the yelling and arguing," he said. "I knew nothing about advocacy, and lobbying wasn't the reason I signed up, but I was willing to try whatever they said was needed."

Holler decided he would write a letter to the editor every day, until one got published. "Within eight days," Holler recalled, "I had letters published in the Tribune and the Sun-Times. I remember feeling really grateful."

Now Holler leads the Chicago chapter of CCL.

Do you hear gratitude in the voices of Cindy Levin, Sunday Mueller, and Mike Holler? Isn’t that something you want for yourself, our nation and the world?

Sam Daley-Harris is the author of "Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’s Guide to Transformational Advocacy” and is the founder of RESULTS and Civic Courage.

The Democracy Solutions Project is a collaboration among the Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ and the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government, with funding support from the Pulitzer Center. Our goal is to help listeners and readers engage with the democratic functions in their lives and cast an informed ballot in the November 2024 election.

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