What is the future we can't yet imagine? How can we center equity and dignity in our organizing? Erica Smiley is a long-time labor organizer with a vision for addressing some of today’s most urgent challenges in the ongoing struggle for multi-racial democracy. During this episode, she and George talk about what we can learn from the past in order to build what we need for the future. Smiley pushes us to use radical imagining and not to be limited by the conditions we are in.

• Smiley has a new book out with co-author Sarita Gupta called “The Future We Need: Organizing for a Better Democracy in the Twenty-First Century”. Purchase it here or get it from your local library! 
• You can find out more about Smiley’s work here.
• Find Smiley’s recent writing on labor rights, vulnerability and the labeling of essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic here. 

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In this season of Fundamentals of Organizing, host George Goehl is talking to fellow organizers about their organizing journey, and what they see as the essentials we most need to center in the months and years to come. 

As organizers it can feel like we have the weight of the world on our shoulders. This makes sense since these are heavy times and we know that we can make a difference. But the weight is not ours alone. 

Our responsibility is to build a base, develop people, win things and contribute to something larger. That is not easy! It's more than enough and it’s exactly what we need. So let’s get back to the fundamentals of organizing, together. 

Please join us for these conversations and follow Fundamentals of Organizing now wherever you listen to podcasts.

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No new interview this week, but we wanted to tell you about the new column George is writing all about the Fundamentals of Organizing. You'll find highlights from the interviews this season, full transcripts and new pieces all about the craft. Check it out at georgegoehl.substack.com.

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If organizing starts with deep listening, and is sustained by enduring relationships, how do organizers stay the course? Miya Yoshitani, Executive Director of Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) and long at the vanguard of the environmental justice movement, talks with George about the importance of articulating what we fight for. They also discuss showing up authentically as an organizer; and what it means to light a fire within -- rather than under -- communities whose voices have often gone unheard.

You can learn more about Miya Yoshitani's work at peoplesaction.org/nextmove.

Miya is on twitter @miya_yosh.

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice. 

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How do you build enough power to change the governing framework of a place? For Gerald Taylor, whose organizing career has spanned four decades, it starts with reveling in people’s genius. In this episode, George learns from Gerald’s experiences as the lone Black man organizing in 1970s Brooklyn’s white ethnic enclave. They discuss the mutual respect it takes not just to gain trust, but to build organizations around people bound to one another by trust and shared purpose; to plan campaigns around the reaction you want to get; and to practice the discipline to hold government accountable when you get a deal.

You can learn more about Gerald Taylor's work at peoplesaction.org/nextmove.

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice. 

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Change can be exhilarating. But it can also be hard. In this episode, Caroline Murray talks with George about asking the difficult, vulnerable questions so that we can relate meaningfully to those with whom we organize. Speaking from decades of experience -- as a leader in the New Economy movement and former Executive Director of the Alliance to Develop Power -- Caroline describes why “why” is the key to being brave together.

You can find Caroline Murray at https://www.innovativeorganizing.org/ and learn more at peoplesaction.org/nextmove

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice.  

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Power: Who has it? How do you get it?  How do you use it to move institutions? And what does it have to do with building politics? Doran Schrantz, Executive Director of ISAIAH and Faith in Minnesota, describes for George how building relationships is key to power-building. From supporting neighbors as they move from victimhood to agency to building teams and identifying alignment with powerful players within institutions, building power starts with knowing ourselves -- and being able to grow and learn as we keep building relationships with the people we organize.

You can find Doran on twitter @DSchrantz and learn more at peoplesaction.org/nextmove.

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice. 

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Huge rallies and worldwide platforms can be transformational, not only for the causes we believe in but for participants themselves. But how do we get there? For Jess Morales Rocketto, Civic Engagement Director at the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Executive Director of Care in Action, it starts with the basics of community organizing: knowing organizing is about power; listening to people describe the material conditions of their lives; embracing that everyone has a role to play; and building the funnel to get more people involved. Most of all, it’s about believing that we will win.

You can find Jess at @JessLivMo and learn more at peoplesaction.org/nextmove.

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What will it take to depolarize our politics? At the heart of organizing is investing in deep relationships -- ones that help people develop their own power and potential. No one can describe what that takes like Stephen Roberson, Director of Organizing at Community Voices Heard. During this episode, he and George talk about the curiosity and compassion it takes to dismantle division at the most meaningful level: person to person. 

You can learn more about Stephen and his work at peoplesaction.org/nextmove.

Stephen Roberson came up through the United Farm Workers, where he worked directly with Cesar Chavez as well as Chavez’s own mentor, Fred Ross, Sr. During the late `80s, while working as Lead Organizer and National Staff with the Industrial Areas Foundation, he spearheaded the Nehemiah Project, which built 1000 homes with low-income families in Brownsville, Brooklyn. After seven years as Associate Director of Organizing with SEIU Local 32BJ’s New York headquarters, Stephen now directs organizing at Community Voices Heard.

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Progressives have been making major inroads over the past decade, but as we face the fight of our lives -- and for our lives -- how do we find the courage to lead? Alicia Garza, founder of the Black Futures Lab and co-founder of Black Lives Matter, points the way toward wielding power strategically by looking into differences and weaving alliances that upend expected patterns.

You can find Alicia on Twitter at @aliciagarza and learn more at peoplesaction.org/nextmove

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice.  

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.