ACTIVIST SPOTLIGHT: NATALIE CRIPPS

My name is Natalie Cripps and I will be a second-year masters student at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health with a focus in Health Behavior and Health Equity. I learned about the Workers Circle through my cousin Lily, a student intern, and reached out to me a few days before the Selma application deadline. Without hesitation, I eagerly signed up to attend this summit with a group of people I had never met before. 

My experience in Selma reminded me that speaking to the community not only helps strengthen relationships but that community voice should be at the center of all advocacy efforts. When organizing and strategizing ways to positively impact the world, we must first understand people’s lived experiences and the complexity of our resulting relationships. This summer, I am working as an intern with Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action. I will be a part of their Listening Tour Campaign to gather community and clinician experiences about the compounded health effects caused by their surrounding environments. Speaking directly with the community will continue to inspire my public health career as I aim to center those who are most affected and ensure their voice guides our responding method of action. 

Though I feel like I am at the beginning of defining a particular career path I feel that the summit in Selma ignited a deep passion for joint reflection, community engagement, and organizing. Taking part in conversations about our own positionality reminded me how important it is to continue thinking about the ways our implicit biases affect the work we engage in. 

I’m also a member of Resource Generation which focuses on the intersectionalities of class and privilege and is committed to creating a more equitable distribution of wealth, land, and power. As organizers, we share our personal stories to help inspire ourselves and others to distribute our resources in more socially responsible ways. Opening up on this level continues to push our comfort zones and challenge systems of oppression that are strengthened by our collective silence and taboos surrounding money conversations.

I am grateful to have been a part of the Workers Circle’s young adult summit in Selma and for everything it taught me about myself, my relationships, and the world around me. I look forward to continuing to engage with communities and learning how to become a stronger advocate!