Untytled: The Chantel Watkins Interview
The Chantel Watkins Interview — Volume 06.
This interview was released in September 2023.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
When did you first step into the world of community involvement? Did a family member have you tag along in the community during a specific electoral race as a kid?
I first got involved in community work with my grandma and Aunt Mary. They were both pastors and were heavily involved in The Optimist Club, volunteering at nursing homes, creating community gardens, and so many other things that did real community service. I learned about politics with my parents who are both United States Air Force Veterans, and during the War in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq they both used electoral power to help veterans who were returning with brain injuries. They worked with the Honorable John Conyers II to create legislation.
As a woman of many facets, at what point did you decide to immerse yourself in community organizing completely?
I didn’t know you could do this and get paid, so I was always throwing fundraisers, volunteering, doing electoral work but one day someone told me it was their job back in 2020 and I made it mine too. My first organizing job was at MOSES Action. From then on it has been my career. I have been doing this for 13 years though.
You have an uncanny ability to break down very complex national and international issues in lamens terms. How can someone who has other time constraints or may not want to be on the frontlines get involved in their community?
The easiest way to get involved is to fill the needs in your neighborhood. Put away the trash cans for the seniors who live by you. Volunteer at the library or at the school. We often overlook the things right in our backyard sometimes. Go give food and clothes directly to the homeless — fuck waiting on an organization. It’s people all around you who need help. Stop, be still, listen, and dive in.
What are some of the changes you’d like to see orchestrated in your own district?
I would like to see a damn grocery store, reliable public transit, and them taking down all these blighted fucking buildings like Duggan was supposed to instead of building downtown all the damn time.
How do you find time in your schedule to be creative within your artistry? You’ve been a poet and fluid artist for many years now.
Yeah, I love writing. I deal with so much on a day-to-day basis, that sometimes all I have for myself is poetry, especially now that I’m a mom. I can’t even eat anything by myself. But I have made it a hobby now, and I hold it very close. I will eventually go back to sharing with the world, but I’m enjoying my intimate relationship with poetry.
If you had a day where you could do anything, outside of familial and community organizing duties, how would you spend it?
I would spend my day in Vegas getting fucked up and twerking everywhere. Deadass. I enjoy partying because most of the things I deal with have such an underlying, deep sadness. The world is fucked up and I wake up every day, working hard to relieve people a little bit. How I enjoy myself is by dancing it away, laughing it away, and playing. I enjoy myself because I know I will be back in the streets, fighting my ass off for my people the next day.
