Futures Forum

Organizing to Build Multiracial Democracy: a deep dive with Dorian Warren

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Our guest this week is Dorian Warren, an expert on community organizing and the co-president of Community Change, a national organization that builds the power of low-income people, especially people of color, to create a multiracial democracy and a fair economy. He talks us through the difference between mobilizing and organizing, and explains why building relationships are the foundation to collective power. We also discuss how narratives and storytelling can be critical tools for supporting and defending change, and why children may help adults understand the changing foundations of what is “normal.”

 

Links to further reading from our discussion

  • Our conversation dives deeply into organizing: what it means, how to do it effectively, and examples of successful organizing such as political education on noncooperation tactics, jury nullification and refusal to indict, universal childcare in New Mexico, and permanent guaranteed income in Cook County, IL.
  • Children are often quite aware of what’s happening in the country, from seeing National Guard on the streets to being worried about the right to vote, and even six-year-olds can begin to show bias. Neil wrote about what happens when children learn about racism, and in Chicago, Matt Nelson studied how children respond to different types of taught history.
  • Storytelling and narratives are critical to how we make meaning. We discuss how the Works Progress Administration hired artists and cultural workers of all kinds to tell the story of the American people.
  • Erasure of stories is a common tactic in authoritarian regimes, as is stripping away rights and legal protections.
  • We consider the benefits of the wide-ranging career Dorian has had, including what we gain from experimenting to best serve our work and others.

    • This podcast was recorded at Cornell University by Juan Vazquez-Leddon and Bertrand Odom-Reed, and produced by Bertrand Odom-Reed, Multimedia Producer Consultant.

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    Futures ForumBy Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures at Cornell University