This article appears in V127’s Thought Leaders Issue, available for pre-order now.

“It’s important to vote because it’s our responsibility. We have liberties and freedoms in our country and advantages that not everyone has. It’s something that we as citizens, have to do and a right we shouldn’t take for granted, especially when so many aren’t afforded this right. We need to all be actively participating in our democracy, and one degree of participation is voting. It’s a fundamental way to effect change in our society. It’s often that we don’t feel that we are true participants in our own government or we’re led to believe that our voices don’t matter—and it does matter. I think that the more we speak out about our needs as society, the more pressure the government feels, which forces them to make a decision. If we come together, our voices cannot be ignored.

“One person who has inspired me consistently over the last few years, and the reason that I became involved in the gun safety movement, is Shannon Watts. She’s the founder of Moms Demand Action, which is one of the biggest grassroots movements in America. After [the] Sandy Hook [shooting], she founded this movement and basically used that platform to say that something has to change. Gun regulation in this country is incredibly lax, and these senseless deaths are preventable. Shannon is actually the reason that I ended up going to Everytown for Gun Safety to form the Creative Council—which is a group of actors and artists who speak out about gun safety regulation in the U.S. I’ve been working very closely with EveryTown for Gun Safety for the last five or six years, and I will continue to use my voice and platform to bring awareness to causes like this.

“These last few years have been disastrous to the U.S. There’s been an erosion of decency and civility [to an extent] that I’ve never seen in my lifetime. Gloria Steinem once said, ‘The best thing about [living] a really long life is that you can remember when it was worse.’ So I think when you’re feeling hopeless, and like absolutely nothing is going well—realize that while yes, there is still a lot of work to be done…we actually are in a better spot than we were in 100 years ago. I think it’s important to keep that kind of perspective, just to keep yourself going and ultimately to keep fighting for change.”

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