1: Community Organizing
- Page ID
- 245717
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Goals of the Book
This book is designed to help you on your path to having all the skills, knowledge, and abilities you need to make a difference in your community. The three themes that run throughout the book are: Leadership Development, Organizing Skills Development, and Social Movement History.
In this section, you will
- Learn what community organizing is.
- Explore the goals of community organizing.
- Explore why it is crucial that we develop more community organizers.
- Be introduced to the concept of Leadership Styles.
- Investigate the most important concept in community organizing: power.
- Be introduced to liberation theory.
Leadership Development
Many people don’t see themselves as leaders. Some of this is because they think of a leader only as the person who speaks to crowds. Also, many of us were raised not to trust our own voices or think that people like ourselves matter. We often see ourselves as inheritors of a world that we need to fit into, rather than as co-creators who make and remake the world every day.
One of the goals of this book is for you to gain a sense of yourself as a person whose voice matters and who can make a difference for yourself, for your community, and for the larger society. As you develop your leadership, you will also learn how to build community power to help make the world into one that works for us all and for the natural systems that we are connected to.
Skills Development
This book is not just about how others have made a difference in their communities. It is intended to help you gain the skills you need to make a difference in your community on issues that matter to you. You will practice many of the skills used by community organizers. You will be practicing public speaking, developing strategies, engaging others and developing their leadership, and engaging in communication to make organizing effective.
Social Movement History
As we learn to do this work ourselves, it is helpful to see how it has been done in the past and the ways it has made a difference. Many of us have been deprived in our education of knowledge of the ways that people have come together to build the parts of our world that work for us. If we don’t know this history, we can believe the myths that history is only made by the powerful and that trying to make a difference is pointless. We will study examples of groups of people who came together to fight for what they believed their communities needed, and the positive difference that work has made.
Reading Response Questions:
Please reflect on this reading by writing a short response to these questions. Your answer can include personal experience, and the writing does not need to be formal or polished. You are welcome to write as little as a sentence and as much as a paragraph. Think of it like journaling.
- What do you hope to learn about community organizing?
- What worries you about engaging with this material?
- What strengths do you bring to community organizing?
- 1.1: What is Organizing?
- This page discusses community organizing as a leadership strategy that empowers individuals to create meaningful change by utilizing their resources. It highlights five core leadership practices: storytelling, relationship-building, team structuring, strategizing, and acting. The emphasis is on focusing on people and understanding power dynamics to foster committed constituencies, aiming for clear goals to achieve significant change, rather than merely raising awareness.
- 1.2: Emotionally Intelligent Leadership and Leadership Styles
- This page covers emotionally intelligent leadership, defining six key styles: inspirational, process, strategic, task, visionary, and ethical. It emphasizes that effective leaders recognize situational nuances, cultivate others, focus on group well-being, embrace learning, accept mistakes, and inspire action.
- 1.3: Why Learn Community Organizing?
- This page addresses the impact of discrimination and systemic barriers on leadership from communities of color, highlighting the need for trained leaders to combat poverty and promote equity. It emphasizes the importance of strengthening community organizations and bridging the generational leadership gap to enable effective grassroots action.
- 1.4: Power
- This page examines the significance of power in community organizing, categorizing it into "power over," "power with," and "power for." It underscores that power's impact depends on its use, supported by quotes from influential figures advocating for justice.
- 1.5: Liberation Theory Part 1
- This page covers community organizing and the importance of understanding the systems of domination that contribute to social issues, such as housing affordability. It highlights personal political engagement and the role of historical knowledge in activism. The text also reflects on social movements, using Rosa Parks as a symbol of collective action, and emphasizes the contributions of ordinary individuals in creating change.
- 1.6: Liberation Theory Part 2
- This page critiques capitalism as a system prioritizing wealth over people's needs, highlighting its historical contradictions, particularly through figures like John Locke, who promoted individual freedom while participating in oppressive practices. It explores the complexities of capitalism's relationship with true freedom and inequality.
- 1.7: Liberation Theory Part 3
- This page outlines the pervasive nature of racism as a systemic issue rooted in societal structures rather than individual biases, using historical examples like Trayvon Martin and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
- 1.8: Liberation Theory Part 4
- This page explores gender liberation movements, focusing on feminism and queer liberation's influence on societal norms and gender roles. It discusses systemic inequalities, the historical critique of traditional family ideals, and the evolution of these movements, particularly post-Stonewall Riot. The text contrasts radical and mainstream organizations, emphasizing the interconnectedness of personal identity and structural change.
- 1.9: Liberation Theory Part 5
- This page emphasizes the importance of environmental justice and systemic change to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, linking these issues to race and class. It highlights the pivotal role of marginalized communities, as exemplified by Warren County, NC, in the environmental justice movement.
Thumbnail: Organize! by Xen Lapshin is licensed CC BY NC 4.0