One the obvious qualities of a good activist is being committed to a cause, and being prepare to work towards achieving it. Someone who simply believes in something is only a believer, those who act are activist.
Take for example homelessness, most of use believe homelessness is a bad thing and should be eliminated, however only a small minority of us dedicate their time, money, and effort to working with or for homeless people, whether that be working in shelters, or petitioning the government or other organizations to help eliminate it.
I think activist should be willing to work within and without "systems" to accomplish there goal. Obviously trying to reform current systems to further their goals, then if they find that can't be done willing to work to do "revoultionary work" (replaceing current systems with new ones). For example I once talked to someone who was convince that the current structure of government in the United States needed to be done away with, When I asked what his specific concerns where, he stated very boilerplate issues (universal healthcare, marijuana legalization, etc) that in comparison seemed small. I explained that it would be much more productive to work though with the government though regular means (petitioning member of congress, etc) to further his goals then replacing the government all together (something that would lead to years of economic and legal instability).
Finally I think activism should be something people do not just for themselves, but for other people in their situation. It is very easy is to fight for something like healthcare reform when you don't have healthcare, but say you get a good job with health insurance, will you still be willing to fight for it?
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