Episode 75: Tending the Fire of Change
Guest: Chelsea McDonnel - Executive Director, Civic Impact Network
Full show notes at https://hoosleft.us/
Civic Impact Network is at https://civicimpactnetwork.org/
Welcome to the HoosLeft Podcast, a show about Indiana politics, history, and culture from the unapologetic perspective of the social democratic left. My name is Scott Aaron Rogers, and I’m recording from Bloomington.
As our MAGA Republican-led state and federal governments continue to gut services to their constituents and cater exclusively to their morbidly wealthy donors, it is increasingly apparent that people are waking up, and they are pissed. Abandoned by their leaders, folks are beginning to realize that nobody is coming to save us and we’re going to have to do it ourselves. Some have organized protests and town halls. Others have stepped into the void left by government to provide needed services, while still others have taken to telling their story publicly. Some have closed the door and decided to look out for themselves; and some have fled entirely.
And a great many feel that same sense of abandonment and disrespect from their leaders, feel a burning desire to do something for their families and their communities, but don’t know where to turn.
What if there was somewhere you could turn to help connect you to others and give you the tools to harness that energy in pursuit of a greater goal? Well, at least for the people of East Central Indiana, such a place now exists. Civic Impact Network envisions a future where all residents in that region and beyond are engaged, empowered, and equipped to shape their communities through leadership, collaboration, and informed civic participation.
Their Executive Director is my guest today. Chelsea McDonnel has appeared twice before on our program in her former role as co-Founder and Outreach Director for MADVoters, a statewide voter education and advocacy organization we’ve featured several times, who continue to do invaluable work. But today, we’ll talk about her new gig and what Civic Impact Network is all about. We’ll talk about the importance of sharing information and cultivating new leaders, and the pitfalls of gatekeeping. She’ll tell us about all the details that go into organizing, the training they offer, and how there’s room for everyone’s unique talents in the resistance. Finally, we’ll look at some of the projects they’ve been helping with in the Muncie area.
Real quick before we jump to the interview, please consider supporting HoosLeft with a paid subscription. This is an independent media project; I don’t paywall content; and I don’t rely on advertising. I depend on individuals like you. So please, if you find value in my work, go to HoosLeft.us and subscribe at the paid level - it’s only $5 a month, or $50 a year, to help me write more, research more, and organize more. I would like to dedicate my full time to you, this project, and Indiana’s future; but I need your financial support to do so.
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Now, here is my conversation with Chelsea McDonnel.
More Information on Interview Topics
50501 Movement: https://www.fiftyfifty.one/
Gatekeeping in Indiana: https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2024/04/18/too-few-hoosiers-vote-they-see-through-the-illusion-of-choice/
Americans Don’t Know Their Civics: https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/civics/new-study-finds-alarming-lack-of-civic-literacy-among-americans
Fukuyama’s “End of History”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_History_and_the_Last_Man
France’s Yellow Vest Protests: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_vests_protests
Damien Center: https://damien.org/
Second Harvest Food Bank: https://curehunger.org/
Ball State’s Cardinal Kitchen: https://www.bsu.edu/campuslife/student-life/programs-services/service-opportunities/cardinal-kitchen
Soup Kitchen of Muncie: https://soupkitchenofmuncie.org/2021/03/26/full-circle-experience/
Voltron - Joining forces to create something more powerful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M3cyCFWChg
Once again, that was Chelsea McDonnel, Executive Director at Civic Impact Network.
There is an energy building in the people of Indiana and America. I see it growing every day, readying to ignite. But building a productive fire requires more than just a spark.
After the great financial crash of 2008, billionaires like the Koch Brothers harnessed the spark of legitimate popular discontent and turned it turned it into a conflagration known as the Tea Party movement- mountains of cash fueling astroturfed front groups and right-wing media outlets giving the thing oxygen - the embers of which continued to burn until reigniting as MAGA.
Well, the thing about our side is that we don’t have unlimited fuel or a constant stream of hot air, so the fires we build are harder to start and require careful maintenance to keep burning - knowing when to add a log, rake the coals, or deploy the billows.
In the religious practices of many cultures, there exists the ceremonial role of flametender, who maintains the sacred fire. Chelsea serves this role in her community, keeping the sacred fire of struggle against injustice burning by teaching others how to spark infernos of their own.
Who are the flametenders in your community? Let us know. They deserve a spotlight. Having trouble finding yours? Reach out. Maybe we can connect you… and maybe it’s you and just don’t know it yet. Links to Civic Impact Network on all the platforms are included in the show notes.
And me? I’m on Facebook, Bluesky, YouTube and TikTok at hoosleft and on most other social media sites at scottrog78. You can also email me at scott@hoosleft.us.
Thank you for listening. Thanks again to Chelsea McDonnel and Civic Impact Network for all they do. You can help contribute to their mission at donorbox.org. Again, links in the show notes. If you’ve got some spare change after doing so, how about contributing to HoosLeft’s mission with a paid subscription over at HoosLeft.US, where you can also find my entire archive. Hit me up on social media with your feedback, tips, ideas, and concerns. Please forward the show to a friend and have them to forward it to another friend. Let’s keep building this project - and a truly democratic state - one conversation at a time. Until the next one, this has been the HoosLeft podcast. I’m Scott Aaron Rogers. Love each other, Indiana.
Civic Impact Network Online:
https://civicimpactnetwork.org/
https://www.facebook.com/civicimpactnetwork
https://www.tiktok.com/@civic.impact.in
https://bsky.app/profile/civicimpactnetwork.bsky.social
https://www.youtube.com/@CivicImpactNetworkIN
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https://donorbox.org/civic-impact-network-donor-page
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