August 2023

The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.

-Phil Jackson

In a blink of an eye, the month of July came and went. So, let’s just say that busy doesn’t even begin to describe this month. And the best and also the worst part is that I will be on vacation for 2 weeks in August. The best - I will be on vacation, away from all the responsibilities and concerns …. as much as one is able to really get away from their responsibilities. The worst - I now have an idea of where I want to visit but every campground near Glacier National Park, Teton National Park, and Lake Tahoe is booked!  I have nowhere to go. This is what one gets for booking in the last minute.

You may be wondering how I can take 2 weeks off in August and hopefully a week off in September when we have our youth program, Activism@Work, going on in the month of September?!  That is the beauty of having Maria manage the program and organize the community while trusting that Dafne will train the facilitators and design activities for the workshop. I can take time off to recuperate. My goal this upcoming year is to raise enough funds to have a part-time staff and eventually a full-time team. It would allow Platform to draw from our team’s strengths rather than have 1 person stretch themselves to fill every need.  This is unhealthy and impossible. I am living proof that this model cannot work. I am exhausted and all our workshops are either canceled or postponed.

I hope that we as an organization can grow to make an impact in our community. WE, not I, can make the difference between an unjust system to an inclusive society. May it be so.

Sam Joo

August 1, 2023