1: Community Organizing
- Page ID
- 245717
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)This class is an introduction to community organizing. Its goal is for you to develop the skills, knowledge, and abilities to make a difference in your community. The three themes run throughout the class 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 to not 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 class 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 class 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 in this class?
- What worries you about taking this class?
- What strengths do you bring to this class?
- 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. Additionally, it highlights Alicia Garza's contributions to social justice, her belief in the transformative power of Black communities, and her evolution from cynicism to hope, as expressed in her writings.
- 1.5: Liberation Theory
- This page emphasizes the crucial role of ordinary individuals and collective action in social change, highlighting the importance of understanding systemic power imbalances in addressing societal issues. Historical movements, including civil disobedience and labor struggles, reveal the interconnectedness of activism and community efforts. The text critiques individualistic approaches to challenges like capitalism and climate change, advocating for systemic political solutions.
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