On my way to Advocate, definitely not apathetic, pretty active and learning, I don't wake up one morning and say, "From now on, I am an advocate. It's a journey. I find that I am becoming more able to speak up and speak directly to racism, but maybe not so much. In a group of well-meaning people at my church, everyone wanted to start "helping," by reaching out to Black churches, looking for places to fix things, etc. I was frustrated. But I started sending emails to the group, listing resources that might be of interest (i.e., White Privilege). In two weeks, I have not received a single response. On the other hand, last week I went to our weekly friends gathering (socially distancing, of course) and I work my "I can't breathe" shirt. It turns out that my liberal friends all had other things to do, so there I was... awkward. The most conservative of the group asked me about the shirt, and afterwards he spoke about how terrible it has been to see so many Black people being killed. He spoke about how many people we will never know about. I was encouraged, and I was so proud of him. And the other 3 people sat in silence. I'm hoping some osmosis kicked in.
Planting seeds...your experience speaks to the last TEDx video...telling stories of our lived experiences, listening to other's stories, and finding common ground. No one likes to be told to be different. Holding space for people to share who they are opens doors for community and for change when it is needed. Building trusting relationships.
I relate to your story, where liberals proclaim their outrage against discrimination and racism. However, when it comes time for action, these liberals are nowhere to be found. This happened in my psych cohort class, where several people wanted to get involved in being an anti-racist. But when it came time for a follow-up meeting, many members were too busy and didn't suggest an alternative time. They just were interested in talking the talk, not doing the walk.