Far too many advocates forget that the messenger is part of the message. The most successful advocacy campaigns carefully pick their messenger to match their ne

Far too many advocates forget that the messenger is part of the message. The most successful advocacy campaigns carefully pick their messenger to match their needs. Good example: Rosa Parks was not the first person arrested for refusing to give up her seat, Claudette Calvins was arrested 9 months before Rosa. But Claudette was pregnant out of wedlock to an older man, and shitty or not, civil leaders knew this would be used to attack her and their cause if she was their representative. So they went with Rosa, knowing that her character would be much harder to impeach in the court of public opinion.