I Never Expected the Harry Potter Alliance to Change my Life
By: The Harry Potter Alliance
Tags: Harry Potter, Fan Activism, Pr, Nonprofit, Fandom

I Never Expected the Harry Potter Alliance to Change my Life

Wizard Activists, I’m writing today to ask you to support the HPA because I owe so much to this magical organization. Their resilience in the face of evil was crucial in my journey from small town conservative to the ally and advocate I am today.

I had just graduated from college and moved back home when I joined the HPA in 2012. I decided to join because I saw a volunteer position doing public relations — just like my major! I thought it would be the perfect way to get some experience and do something fun related to my favorite story. I didn’t expect that the HPA’s community of fan activists would alter my life in profound ways.

When I first joined the HPA, I didn’t really know much about activism or what it meant to want to see the world change. I was pretty sheltered in my white, suburban bubble and wasn’t accustomed to looking beyond that. The HPA was the first place where I not only learned about major social injustices, but where my opinions were challenged. The HPA was the first place that someone I knew came out as transgender. It was the first place I met someone that was a DREAMER. It was the first place someone explained to me what systemic racism is. These experiences fundamentally changed who I am and how I see the world.

Today, I look back at some of the beliefs I held and cringe — but the HPA gave me a place to learn, grow, and become a more involved person and activist. The Wizard Activists at the HPA were patient, persistent, imaginative, and taught me a skill that feels absolutely essential today: how to have the kind of conversations that help people become more open-minded, compassionate, and active.

Today, I still work in PR, but I think the biggest way the HPA influenced my life is in my desire to create change in the world in whatever ways I can. While I did make the switch from conservative to liberal, I think the bigger change is that I became involved. I sign petitions, I make donations, I share resources on social media, I attend marches, I call my representatives, I make consumer decisions based on the issues I care about. If you had told me, when I first joined the HPA, that I would care so deeply about these issues and what they mean for our country and for the world, I don’t think I would have believed you. But today?

Today, because of the HPA, I’m someone who fights for change — and there are so many people like me. In 2020, the HPA trained more than 1,100 new activists who are now part of creating a better, more loving world. This work is sorely needed, so I want to help them continue supporting young activists in 2021.

Will you join me by giving to the HPA today?

Yours in magic,

Haley Williams

Image: Haley Williams in a striped shirt smiles in a polaroid picture. Text reads “Haley Williams, HPA Member & Former Volunteer”

In the Words of Wizard Activists is a series written by HPA members about how the HPA has impacted their lives. This edition was written by Haley Willams, form Public Relations Volunteer for the HPA.