Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Organizer, Organizer, You're an Organizer, Baby

Well, four months down the line, we decided it was about time to decide what an organizer was. When I saw that on the agenda, I was like, what? Shouldn't this have been session one or two? But really, I guess it was time to stop frontin' - or more like, time to reshape our understanding of an organizer - cause it ain't just about posting flyers or facilitating meetings! I know that I have previously thought of organizing according to a very business model around meetings, tasks, results, membership numbers, etc. But being business-like & focusing on productivity is just that, business-like - where business as we know it is based on capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, and total disrespect for natural resources.

The ORGANIZER'S MIND
Organizing is about building people power, so its not about working on an issue, but working to transform power relationships. We do this by challenging threats and maximizing strengths collectively. Organizers think about structures and culture, to create ways that we can bring people together. Organizers work to support other people bringing their own strengths, flair, and capacity, taking leadership, and feeling a part of the struggle.

Organizing involves having fun together - Thank Goodness!

One of the biggest things that came out of this conversation was how real and effective organizing isn't all business! Yes, there are some people, who without knowing anyone, who are comfortable (often due to education achieved through race and/or class privilege) with just jumping in at a meeting or taking on tasks - which I am - but I know lots of times that I have gotten involved because I was friends with someone. Because we had danced together at a party, or flipped ourselves over in a canoe somewhere, or they had talked with me when I was all torn up because of a break-up, or spent hours scheming ways to get more free food from our cafe jobs.

Catalyst here talks lots about , and I kept seeing it in the more professional "networking" type light, but no, we mean normal relationship building - having fun together, making friends, talking through ethical/political dilemmas late at night, having crushes, bonding through miserable experiences, coming through in trying circumstances, being there over the long haul. Friends turn you on to new ideas slowly over time. This is part of how we shift collective consciousness. This is how we cement communities together that will then take on revisioning the world. Boy, I could keep going, especially cause I'm not sure I've really communicated what I mean, but I'll just try to wrap it up with one example:

A couple weeks ago I was volunteering as an interpreter (doing simultaneous interpretation for the first time - I was so pumped!!!) at a National Domestic Worker Alliance congress. Not my usual scene and I only somewhat knew a few people from the organization I volunteer with. At the end, one woman who I'd been in several workshops with, came up to me to thank me for volunteering. We chatted for a bit, then she gave me her group's pamphlet, wrote her personal cell on there and said if you are ever in New York and need a place to stay or want to know where to go out dancing, call me. And I totally imagined myself going out to a samba club with her and showing this non-activist side of ourselves - and then I'd really get to know her, and how much closer that would draw me in to the domestic worker movement.

Other aspects of Organizing
Anyways, that part is just one aspect of organizing. Here are some more, drawn straight from our session notes:
  • Organizers make other organizers – how do they do this? – Building leadership and creating spaces for people to get involved. (will talk more about building leadership next week)
  • Organizer has vision and purpose and also an ethic behind what they’re doing – Leads folks to reach goals, remain open to being developed and developing others, makes room for different styles
  • Organizing is different than activism, organizing is about building power by bringing people together and focusing on power we have
  • Collectivizing Struggle – Bringing individuals experiences together to help break feelings of isolation/alienation; helping people contexualize their experiences within broader system (i.e. it's not that i lost my job, can't pay my mortgage , and am now facing eviction because i am irresponsible - it's that the banking system preyed on people according to race and class, acted irresponsibly, then turned to the government for bailout, sparked an economic downturn, and is evicting people by the millions from their homes to let the homes sit empty)
  • An organizer needs to be a good listener, offering questions to create new ideas
  • An organizer is vision driven as opposed to "anti-something" driven (like many activists)
  • Part of an organizer's job is to lay groundwork for future organizers - change comes slowly and we have to think long term!!
  • An organizer exhibits integrity – What they say and what they do are consistent, remaining transparent, politics and action reflect what they say they're about-Holistic approach, bringing your whole self, building authentic and genuine relationships
  • An organizer offers small inroads – actually asking folks to do simple concrete things that build confidence and connection
  • Being able to create culture – relationships that aren’t just activist based
  • Organizing as a role and not job – people with all sorts of position and jobs can be doing organizing: teachers as organizers, nurses as organizers, etc. – how are we bringing people in, enacting our visions, building power, etc?
Assessing Work via SWOT
We also looked at a tool Catalyst developed called SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). Basically this is a way to analyze a situation where you might be deciding to do organizing work. From here you can develop your strategy.

Catalyst shared with us their SWOT assessment of working in New Orleans post-Katrina. I will include some examples here:

Strengths - What are the realities of the situation that provide momentum for organizing? History of Black Liberation struggle in NOLA, national outpouring of support after the hurricane, international media attention

Weaknesses - What is going on right now that makes it difficult to do organizing? many local leaders displaced across the country, massive divestment of public sector

Opportunities - What possibilities for positive change exist in this situation? thousands of young, white volunteers could be radicalized through this experience, national focus on racism could provide opening, we could contribute to racial justice in the rebuilding of NOLA

Threats – What could happen that would impede our mission? Bush administration could be not responsive to situation or deflect attention

1 comment:

  1. This post is just in time for the PBC Coalition for Immigrant Rights. Next week we're going to have our regular meeting, and it was suggested that we have a celebratory party (for all the things we accomplished last year). I'm really afraid that it's going to turn into a meeting/party (which would be more in line with "Bring your whole self" to the meeting, I guess), but I really just want to be able to hang out with other allies, and get to eat and be merry.

    Also, we're planning on having a strategy session on the 19th. I'm super pumped about it, and think that SWOT is a great way to view where we've been and where we're going. THanks Lynne!

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