Well folks, the long anticipated (by me, anyway) RuckusRoots premier event has come and gone. Aside from the biodegradable ticker tape parade thrown in my honor and President Bush arriving in Boulder, reading my flyers and dropping to his knees to beg our forgiveness as a nation, nothing really major happened.  

Let me just say, in all seriousness, this has been a whirlwind experience, and it is far from over. It is my hope, actually, that it is never over and that I can live in this whirlwind forever, as long as there are issues I believe the youth should become aware of, and hopefully, outraged by. I guess I should invest in a substantial windbreaker. I hear Patagonia makes one out of recycled materials.  

A whirlwind, indeed.

It all started with the implementation and promotion of my initial fundraiser, which I spearheaded on fundable.com in late March. The beauty of the Fundable system is that it gives you a deadline—if you don’t meet the goal amount you set out to raise in the given time period (26 days), none of your contributors pays anything. So it really lights a fire under your ass, if you know what I mean.  

Creating a page on Fundable basically forced me to get out my proverbial blow horn and announce to everyone I knew (via email) what I was doing, what my goals were and why they should care and/or give me financial support. That was a scary thing, scary because A) I’m human and therefore harbor a very human fear of failure (What if I tell everyone I know about what I’m doing and then it doesn’t work and I’m –insert ominous music here—labeled as that loser wash-up with the crazy ideas?) and B) I’m letting the world know that I have a strong opinion about something. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with strong opinions—I happen to love them and love those who assert them. I have always been a believer, however, in open-mindedness and “seeing both sides of the coin.” In some ways, my ability to do so has served me well—I’ve been able to mesh easily into almost any social situation or subculture (Posh English horseback riding events? Check. Ecuadorian death metal concerts? Check. African tribal dancing and drum circles? Check), I’m able to learn something new from most conversations or experiences and in general people like to talk to me because I don’t harp on and on about why I’m right (out loud, anyway). 

BUT, there are certain facts that have come to light in recent years that to me have become unarguable (hence the use of the word “facts”) in their injustice. They are simply WRONG. For example:

• Racial, ethnic and religious profiling becoming seemingly acceptable in post 9/11 US domestic and foreign policy.

• The consistent and insidious way in which the current administration has ignored or tried to overturn basic civil liberties and constitutional rights of US citizens.

• Government surveillance and spying via the USA PATRIOT Act.

• Documented evidence that the current administration has altered federal scientific reports to downplay the negative effects of global warming and downplay the contribution that human activities—like burning petroleum—have on climate change. 

The list could go on for days, but learning of these issues and others like them forced me to realize that my diplomatic nature was not serving anyone—not me, not my peers, not my country or my planet. And that’s why, despite it being a slightly unnerving thing to do, I feel right about voicing my opinion—because the issues I’m bringing to the table are inclusive—they affect us all regardless of political views, religion or race. I’m saying that no matter what your views are, the fact that the health of our planet is in jeopardy and that our government is lying to us about it and the fact that our basic human rights are being called into question every day by that same government should OUTRAGE you.  It should outrage us all.  

So anyway, I went out on a limb and told my friends and family and acquaintances what I was doing. And blessed be the response I received. Aside from a few angry emails demanding, “Remove me from your list immediately” (were italics really necessary, lady?); people were amazingly supportive of what I was doing. Many friends emailed me to congratulate me, several sent in money and several more provided helpful suggestions and tips for how to proceed or get more donations. I ended up raising almost $4000 by the end of the 26 days, which was more than my goal of $3000.  

It was through this mass emailing that a good friend of mine learned of what I was doing and invited me to have an info booth at the Earth Day concert he was throwing at the Fox Theater in Boulder. While an “info booth” is not the same as what the RuckusRoom and RuckusRide will eventually look like and provide for participants, the chance to promote my organization at this event was a big deal for me. My friend also offered to donate 10 percent of ticket sales from that night to RuckusRoots, so I was just a little thrilled by the whole thing. Just a little.  

Thrilled, and also, all of a sudden extremely busy. I launched into a flurry of activity for the next couple of weeks, designing posters, postcards and stickers to hand out at the event, updating and re-updating the websites, thinking about what I would say to interested parties, writing blogs, and constantly keeping those who had already donated to RuckusRoots in the loop. I think the morning I woke up at 4am, sleepless after only 3 twitchy hours of rest (in a pool of my own sweat, my calf cramping up, my jaw tense and aching from my newly developed TMJ habit) was when I realized that I might have been just a little stressed.  

I was probably overreacting, but that’s what fundraising will do to you—once people started giving me money, simply because I asked them to and because they believed in what I was doing, well, it became a whole different ballgame, so to speak. It’s not that I wasn’t motivated before, but it’s just that now, if I don’t make RuckusRoots happen, I’ll not only have to answer to myself, but also to the almost 20 people who have given me some of their hard-earned cash.  

And, thankfully, the concert went off without a hitch. I met some great folks and talked to a lot of interested young kids. The highlight was when a wide-eyed and enthusiastic self proclaimed Poly-Sci major came up and asked if I had any job or internship opportunities. I wanted to laugh in his youthfully optimistic face, but caught myself. Instead I told him to sign the email list and indicate he would be interested in volunteering. I know RuckusRoots isn’t that big yet, but maybe someday it will be. Baby steps, right? But there’s nothing wrong with faking it from time to time, either.