Time To Organize: Be Active, Go Local!

No, this is not about fitness… but about first steps into social activism.

It’s 2017, and if you haven’t already, it’s time to get involved. Whatever event has triggered you to think that you wanna get up and do something, you’ll find people that have been working on all kinds of topics:
Equality of race and gender and beyond
Class struggle
Environmental questions
Food politics
Health
The rise of the far right and the establishment of right populism
… and many more.

However, getting into social activism can be accompanied by feelings of insecurity. So, here are a few things to keep in mind when you start out.

The Revolution Starts With You

What is the issue that seems most pressing to you and how can you position yourself within it? What social justices affect you the most and do you want to work on these or is that too stressful for you because you’re confronted with your personal oppression all the time? At times, it can be easier to start out with a topic that is important to you but doesn’t concern or trigger you personnally.

Obviously, not having to worry about your own situation is a privilege.

For example, I started out doing environmental activism on a low-key level, because I was — and still am — upset about people ignoring climate change and it’s consequences. I was brought up in Germany, though, where climate change, although climate change doesn’t show that much, it is important to keep it on the public radar, anyways. That gave me an opportunity to focus more on the issue and less on myself.

In the long run, it is crucial to rethink your societal position. People who face oppression are most of the times more aware of discrimination and privilege than people who fit into the ‘social norm’. I believe — and not everyone in the left spectrum does — that in order to reach a more “just” society we have to reflect on ourselves and our actions; especially the people that tend to be more privileged. If you’re not part of the ‘norm’ you have to think about why you don’t fit in all the time, anyways. If you do fit in, you might not even know what the social norm is.

Based on the way I look, I can pass as either white or non-white/of color. In certain contexts, if people read me as “European”, I have white privilege; but I also have experienced racism, or mis-identification from people who thought I had the same identity as them. So, while I don’t identify as white, I understand that I face less discrimination due to my ambivalent appearance.

Nowadays, I try to include my identity in my activism, because I feel like speaking or writing from a perspective as a non-white queer is important, especially because marginalized voices are facing continuous and amplified silencing.

Change Your Surroundings

Your campus, your work place, your roommates, your school, petitions… whatever you decide to take on, you can achieve the most on a local basis. You might not be able to fight food insecurity and health on a global scale, but you can intervene in the structures that are predominant in your life. Knowing the spaces that you go to and the people you communicate with frequently,or the city that you live in can bring many advantages when you’re organizing a rallye or a lecture, or you’re planning on busting a city council meeting. Which brings me to the next point:

Use Your Resources

Sometimes figuring out what resources you have and how you can contribute to social activism can be difficult. Depending on who you are you will have different experiences and ‘material preconditions’. Usually one of the most important resources is time for discussing the project, finding people to get connected with, writing pamphlets, or handing out flyers. Time also makes it possible for you to learn new stuff along the way. You want to design a poster but you’ve never done it before? Find someone who has — maybe a friend who’s good with Indesign or something like that — and do it together!

You’re more interested in organzing events? Perfect! Social, cultural, or political events are often the heart of organizing because that’s where you will be able to share your thoughts and get together with other people to exchange perspectives. Also, cultural events such as parties, concerts and so on help to raise money, which — unfortunately — is also crucial to organizing. Someone or something has to pay for renting event locations, printing flyers, or inviting speakers (at least for gas money).

There’s a place for everyone in social activism. If you’ve read bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Marx, Gayavatri Spivak or a ton of articles on Social Media about environmental activism, transformative justice and police brutality, or gender, class, racial inequality, BUT you really don’t want to write or talk about ot in public, let someone revise your article or write a speech. If you haven’t read any of those but are really good with speaking in public, maybe you can read the speech at a protest. If you’ve established yourself as a speaker and frequently take the stand in a certain context, consider stepping down for a while and let someone else speak.

Expand Your Horizon

While it is great to achieve changes in your community or your immediate surroundings, it is important to keep in mind that boykottinng your local McDonalds, Burger King, Panda Express a.s.o. in a successful scenario might lead to it shutting down. However, we’re living in a capitalist society in which for every closed store, there will open up another one, or even two. Because corporations measure their success on rising profits, their goal remains to expand and grow bigger. So, we have to think about the bigger picture! We have to celebrate our small successes without forgetting the structures on which our societies are build. Tackling big issues like immigration policies, corporate power, climate change, inequality, and so many more can feel overwhelming.

But it is also immensely rewarding: I have found a lot of friends, experienced great moments and learned a lot about myself on the way. And while it doesn’t always seem that society is going in a ‘better’ direction, my hope will be the last thing to die.