You Gotta Hear This
Though not dead yet, I believe the fundamentals of organizing are in need of a revival. To build a big enough “We” to solve the crises of our era, we need organizers fully grounded in fundamentals like starting where people are at, a good local issue cut, and developing leaders.
At People’s Action, we are working to revive these fundamentals through training, culture, and story. That’s why I decided to sit down for conversations with eight organizers who fully practice these fundamentals.
Our conversations can be found here or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Before Alicia Garza penned the words Black Lives Matter, sending out a call for racial justice that now reverberates around the world, she was knocking on doors and organizing unlikely coalitions in the neighborhood. In our conversation, Alicia presents the complexities of organizing to govern institutions that have done harm to you and your people.
For fifty years, Stephen Roberson has been meeting people where they are at — whether in Brownsville, Brooklyn or in the citrus fields of Florida — then organizing them to tangible change. I feel sure you will love this conversation and reflect on what it means for you.
Jess Morales Rocketto believes the fundamentals apply in her quest for scale. She shows us how organizing practices that are essential to deep organizing, also can allow us to go wide.
For two decades, Doran Schrantz has been building power in one institution: ISAIAH, a coalition of faith-based organizations in Minnesota. One through-line in her journey is an inquiry into power and how you build it, and a reference to pineapple tablecloths that applies to all of us.
If you love organizing, or are trying to more fully understand it, I think you will love these conversations.
George
