2024-07-02

Organizing and active citizenship

I often post about my belief that Americans are too passive, too apathetic. That we refuse to take action when we should. That we have not taken on the responsibility of active citizenship.

It occurred to me today that it's also likely true that many, perhaps a large majority of my fellow citizens may have little idea of what it means to be an active citizen, no idea what it means to be an "activist". Much of what I see online is frustration, anger, bewilderment and the question: How did we get here? But other than the suggestion to vote, people have no idea what to do.

In fact, just this afternoon, as one example, this post by @revjeber

I sure am glad that so many people, myself included, are trying to inform the public about just how bad a second term for Donnie, posting apocalyptic scenarios that others can spread around. And yet, I'm waiting to see some concrete suggestions about what we can do about it. I confess, at this moment, I'm at a loss for an idea that would work in the face of a hostile Supreme Court. We can and should vote. But beyond that? Revolution?

So, let's talk about what activism looks like. Let's talk about the basics of what it means to organize. I'm going to illustrate with examples of actions and projects I've been a part of. I'm going to assume the reader has no experience organizing but perhaps has attended a protest or two.

Note: While I'm posting this the evening of July 2 I expect it's really a rough draft that needs editing and could use much additional content. Things feel urgent and I want to get this out there in the hopes that it might be useful. While I'm posting to my blog I'm wondering if there is potential for a larger collaborative project. In fact, I'm certain that there are already existing organizing resources and established organizations. I jumped into writing without any effort to gather links to other resources.

My first attempt to organize was around 1989. I'd discovered the Green movement and after a few weeks of reading decided I wanted to try organizing a local group. Much of what I'm going to share about this first experience carries through to many if not most of those that came after. This is the process.

Step One: This I'd begun the moment I'd picked up some a few pamphlets left somewhere by a Green activist. This was pre-internet and fairly common as a starting point. It may seem obvious but Step One is discovering what moves you to action. I could write pages about what had been fermenting in my mind for a year prior to coming across those brochures but that story is outside the scope of this post. Suffice it to say I had various social justice and environmental issues that I'd been learning about and the brochure helped me tie them together in a way that helped me understand the connections. And it motivated me to action.

Step Two: I took the time to begin the process of better understanding the problems and the possible solutions. We're currently operating under a bit of a time crunch in regards to the 2024 elections but it's worth keeping in mind that our core problem is not the 2024 election. Our core problem isn't even Donald Trump or the recent decisions by the Supreme Court. Our long term problem, our deep problem, is political, cultural, economic and environmental. As we move forward right now in an attempt to deal with the immediate emergency let's keep in mind that these deep structural problems cannot be ignored and should be a part of our short and long term activism.

For now I'll say that Step Two is an ongoing effort to better understand the short and long term problems. The surface level symptoms along with the deeper causes. We're in this mess because we've neglected our civic responsibilities for decades. Our activism is long term, it does not end because citizenship, democracy, freedom and social justice always need practice, always need defending, always need to be expanded.

Step Three: Having "completed" my homework, now it was time to get busy with the organizing. Step Three is initial planning of the project. At this point you may be on your own or you may already be talking with a couple of like-minded people. Some initial considerations:

Define the project or at least begin to define the project.
What's the mission?
What are the goals.
What are the actions to be taken?
What skills will be needed to do the work?
Who might be recruited for the project?
What funding will be needed?

Keep in mind that while it's good to have a solid mission and goals to get started it's important to remain open to the input of those that come in after the founding. If our ultimate goal is democracy our work should be open to the input of those that join in to help. Democracy makes democracy.

It's probably pretty obvious but I'll state in anyway, once you've got additional organizers beyond yourself it's important to meet-up often. This can be face-to-face or it can be remote. Whatever works for you. The various projects I I've been a part of often met weekly with individuals volunteering to undertake tasks between meetings. Check in as needed between meetings. There are a lot of options for digital communication these days.

A tip, may be obvious but again, I'll offer it anyway: include food in your meetings, especially important for long meetings. Eating while working together seems to help build relationships. Our best meetings were also potlucks.

Before I go on with the steps of organizing I'm going to offer up an extensive sidebar: Let's dip into the kinds of projects we can get into. This is just a sample list of projects I helped start or participated in. The point is to help get you thinking about the possibilities in the case that you don't already have something specific in mind. I'm going to break these down into categories with a description for each.

COMMUNITY EDUCATION

The goal here is pretty self explanatory. If we are to have democracy we must have ongoing education about the issues we face in our local communities, towns, cities, regions, etc. Cooperative community education isn't something we practice or even think about these days though there was a time in US history when it was a common element of community life. And when you think about it, it's common sense: citizens meeting together to discuss and explore issues of importance in their community. At the core, that's it.

Three of the most likely formats:

Study groups: These are ongoing workshops that delve deeper into topics pertinent to your group. For the benefit of the group itself or for the larger community. The study group has fantastic potential as a starting point for a group of people with a common interest. One of our longest lived projects started with a study group of 5 or so people in the back room of a tiny coffee shop. It grew to 15 people that needed a bigger room and then branched off into numerous projects some of which went on for years. In our case the study group began with the books of an activist/author, Murray Bookchin. While his ideas and works remained central we branched off to related ideas and topics all the time. Much more can be said about study groups but I'll pause for now.
Workshops: Usually a one-off to deal with a particular topic of concern. These might be two hours long or a day long or a weekend.
Tabling: Many of the groups I've been a part of have engaged in event tabling. This is a great way to do community outreach.

Given our current moment it's probably worth considering what a study group or series of workshops might be take on. Ask yourself, what do we as a nation need to be thinking about and discussing. We see the headlines. SCOTUS decisions, access to health care, the logistics of protecting the elections. Some of this community education can be about that larger discussion but rooted in local manifestations, local concerns and issues.

COMMUNITY MUTUAL AID AND SELF RELIANCE

How do we meet our needs? Once upon a time communities mattered and that's an understatement. Communities were the place where lives were lived. Communities were rich tapestries of our human relationships and were grounded in local natural communities. Human communities in relation to their ecology. Today, not so much.

Let me describe some of the projects I helped start or worked with in Memphis from 1993-2004. While the purpose of these projects varied a common and key organizing principle was democratic self-management. Unlike most conventional businesses that are run for profit and organized in hierarchies, our projects were co-ops or collectives. Even as we worked to fulfill a community need we also worked to learn effective, democratic, self-management.

A key element of these kinds of projects is

Food-not-Bombs: The mission is simple. Collect food that is about to be sent to the land fill. Clean it, prepare it and serve it.
Community gardens: Easy to imagine, these are a lot of hard work but deeply rewarding and valuable to any community. There can never be enough community gardens.
Housing co-op: A place for shared living which can be deeply rewarding. In addition to our own large front yard demonstration garden our co-op also became an activist hub that hosted traveling activists, organized/hosted several regional gatherings/conventions and monthly community potlucks.
Maker space/technology co-op: These can come in many forms and serve many needs. In 2001 ours was focused on teaching digital media editing, videography as well as hosting a local film festival.
Resource centers/info-shops: Ours was a mini library of sorts. A mix of books and zines that was first run out of a coffee shop and then later out of our co-op house.
Micro radio: In the 1990s there was a movement to build low-power radio stations across the country. Perhaps these are less important in a time of increasingly accessible internet and podcasting. Our little radio station only had a range of 2-3 miles and we were eventually shut down by the FCC. But for almost two years our collective of 10 people and 15 or so additional DJs worked together to cover news others did not and to share music that was not available anywhere else.
Revolutions Bike co-op: This is one of my favorites. Started around 2003 by one of my housemates when he was only 17 years old, it's still running to this day. Imagine a co-op that collects donated bikes that need to be repaired. Volunteers worked with local kids who learned the basics of bike repair as they rehabbed a bike that was given to another kid who in turn learned, repaired a bike given to another. A beautiful model.

This is just a small sample of what's possible in almost any community.

Okay, back to the steps of organizing.

Step Four: Development of the project. By this point here's what you should have accomplished:

At least a small group of fellow organizers.
A solid mission statment and set of initial goals
A working democratic process for management of the project
A set schedule for meeting times/dates.
Likely initial objectives:
- Website
- Printable literature mirroring/summarizing the website
- Social media accounts if needed
- Expected expenses and funding sources/goals
- Beginnings of outreach that might include organizing/hosting public meetings or workshops, networking with like-minded groups in the region,
- Hardware/software infrastructure to manage communication with allies and members.
- Hardware/software infrastructure to manage website, printed literature, etc

Not all of this is necessary at the start and can be added as you're getting up and going. In the early days of outreach and growing the core collective you likely won't everything covered. That's okay. Be ready to ask for help. In the early days of growing a new group it helps get people plugged into essential tasks. You need to get stuff done and new folks will stick around if they've got something to do. Be ready to learn from new folks. Be ready to be flexible. New people will come with ideas and skills that you have not yet considered. This is how you grow.