Listly by Assata's Daughters
Theories and Practices of Organizing for Social Change.
From protests around climate change and immigrant rights, to Occupy, the Arab Spring, and #BlackLivesMatter, a new generation is unleashing strategic nonviolent action to shape public debate and force political change. When mass movements erupt onto our television screens, the media consistently portrays them as being spontaneous and unpredictable. Yet, in this book, Mark and Paul Engler look at the hidden art behind such outbursts of protest, examining core principles that have been used to spark and guide moments of transformative unrest.
What is the nature of the world’s political economy? How are our campaigns for racial, economic and gender justice impacted by neo-liberalism and imperialism? What will it take to build a movement in such despondent and challenging times? In 2004, the members of POWER’s Committee for Working Class Leadership and Strategy decided to answer these questions. We wanted to make sure that we had the skills necessary to develop strategy for our own organization and to help to develop strategy for the movement. This book is the result.
How can human beings be induced to sacrifice their lives—even one minute of their lives-for the sake of their group? This question, central to understanding the dynamics of social movements, is at the heart of this collection of original essays. The book is the first to conceptualize and illustrate the complex patterns of negotiation, struggle, borrowing, and crafting that characterize what the editors term "oppositional consciousness"—an empowering mental state that prepares members of an oppressed group to undermine, reform, or overthrow a dominant system.
True to it's title and introduction, this book starts with a 74-page section on the roles of an organizer. Included in this section are 12 specific yet overlapping responsibilities that are representative of political organizers -- foot soldier, evangelist, recruiter, group builder, strategist, tactician, communicator, political educator, agitator, fundraiser, comrade & confidante, and cadre. The second section of the book,"16 Qualities of a Successful Organizer,” takes the roles of the first section further by building on the earlier descriptions with substantive portraits of “strategy and tactics” that are crucial for successful radical, political, organizing.
Using wide-ranging archival work and extensive interviews with movement participants, Charles Payne uncovers the organizing practices and strategies of the early Civil Rights movement in the South.
Presents bold strategies to create a stronger movement of people committed to PIC abolition and building stronger, safer, healthier communities, not more elaborate forms of repression.
An open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King Jr. in defense of the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism & in response to being referred to as an "outside agitator."
The story of a southern black community's struggle to arm itself in self-defense against the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups. Contains two essays by Martin Luther King Jr. concerning the role of violence in the civil rights movement. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Robert Williams organized armed self-defense against the racist violence of the Ku Klux Klan. This is the story of his movement, first established in Monroe, N.C. As prologue, the issues raised by events in Monroe are weighted by Truman Nelson and Martin Luther King Jr.
This website is full of resources for organizers, activists, students, journalists, or anyone trying to learn about creating positive social change. The resources are broken up into section corresponding with the Building Blocks of Change. Topics include Action Planning, Campaign Planning, Allies & Coalitions, Puppets & Banners & Chants & Songs, and Strategy.
Story-based strategy resources & worksheets. Everything from analyzing a narrative, to developing messaging, to points of intervention.
Provides a practical and analytical look at how participatory democratic advocacy groups function (and some of the pitfalls of their dysfunction) and make decisions.
Momentum Webinar 1: Introduction to Momentum and Structure
Momentum Webinar 2: The Theory of Integration
Momentum Webinar 3: The Hybrid Model
Momentum Webinar 4: Common Problems of Integration
Advanced Webinar: Framing the Movement Victoriously
Advanced Webinar: Team Structure
Advanced Webinar: Actions & Tactics
Advanced Webinar: Prophetic Promotion
Movement theory that combines and systematizes best practices from past movements, critical movement theory, and applicable skills.
TV series and 14-part documentary about the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.