By Imani Lee, 2025 CLA Intern
Engaging with the community is a critical aspect of CAUSE’s work. As an intern who shadows the field team at my host office, I am grateful to reflect on numerous community events that I have had the privilege to attend, including an LA Public Library cookbook launch and outreach providing immigration resources for small businesses. Despite these incredible experiences, the two events that I would like to highlight are a community care and decompression circle and a Fourth of July celebration that I attended—events that I attended on my own time.
On Wednesday, June 18th, I joined a decompression event hosted at the studio of Midnight Books L.A. in the company of many other CAUSE interns. Although the room had a certain ambiance that reflected the somber city climate amidst the emerging I.C.E. raids in Los Angeles, the sense of community was undeniable as we carried out a group meditation and heartfelt conversation. Hearing personal stories that verbalized our individual commitments to be civically engaged were beyond powerful, as my community in Hilo, Hawai’i, has never truly presented an intentional duty to be politically engaged. The conversation was heavy and emotional, but most notably, it was real. Real members from the community of various different backgrounds and walks of life came together that afternoon to release some of the weight that the current political climate had placed upon them, and I was moved by the passion of these individuals who were standing up for what was right. I left the studio with my heart stirred knowing that I was in good company and that during these unprecedented times, there is a community of empathetic individuals who are willing to come together and listen.
The second event was much more lighthearted as I attended San Gabriel’s Fourth of July celebration on July 3rd at Gabrielino High School. I was accompanied by two of my mock campaign team members, where we engaged with community booths, listened to live music, and even spectated a watermelon eating contest. Our intention for attending this community event was obviously to enjoy the long holiday weekend, but we were also able to use this opportunity to speak directly with constituents of AD-49 and ask them about community issues. We gathered data that we are able to utilize in our mock campaign regarding impactful policies for our campaign, while also simply appreciating conversations with lifelong constituents of the district. This event was exciting and genuine, and I had a great time enjoying the Independence Day festivities in good company.
Bringing conversations of civic engagement to a range of events is not the easiest task, but it is a crucial one. The moral of the story is that civic engagement, whether through group therapy or holiday family-fun, is important, necessary, and can keep our communities together.