Hilary Andersen

HILARY ANDERSEN

“We just built bikes for the Domestic Violence Shelter in Round Rock [Texas].  Specifically, Round Rock has no public transportation.  There’s no buses.  There’s no way to get to a job or to day care or anything like that if you don’t have a car.  So it’s a car-centric suburb.  And the shelter had asked me if I knew of any resources for transportation.  I approached Yellow Bike and we built up I think 10 adult bikes and 10 kids bikes initially for them…But some [visitors] might want us to teach them how to ride bikes, some people might want us to teach them how to fix their bikes, some people might want us to just give them bikes.  But I generally like to teach folks how to be self-sufficient with their bike maintenance so that it doesn’t just end up rusting on a slab somewhere.  The bike that is.”–Hilary Andersen

Hilary Andersen grew up in Northeastern Indiana steeped in Quaker unity-seeking process and social justice activism.  After moving to Austin, Andersen became a full member of Friends Meeting of Austin, a gathering of Quakers, and a coordinator for Yellow Bike Project, a bike advocacy collective.  In this audio clip, Andersen discusses the philosophical path that led her to both groups, focusing on her Quaker background and experience working at The Center for Nonviolence in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Andersen also describes her efforts to promote LadyBike, a women and trans-run Yellow Bike workshop, and her belief in collective organizing and social change in general.

You can read the full transcript here.