Progress Now Action

This is my personal vision of social justice - and the community organizing to achieve it.

I imagine a world where the most marginalized among us; poor people, people of color, women, old people, children, gay and lesbian people, bisexual and transgender people, are accorded the same rights and benefits as anyone else. I imagine a world where women are treated with respect and with dignity and where children are free from sexual and physical abuse. I imagine a world where who you are and who you get to be is not diminished by bigotry, oppression or greed, a world where basic necessities are understood to be a right and not a privilege. I imagine a world where those basic necessities include not only adequate health care, shelter and food but also clean air, land and water, education, jobs, benefits and the right to engage, fully, within the democratic process.

I also believe that we have a responsibility to help support organizing toward a future that is realistic, achievable and visionary; a national vision that provides for a place of entry, at its core, to the most authentic stakeholders.

And I believe that the most impactful way to bring about change is through organizing: thoughtful, strategic and courageous organizing.

Nothing has more power than a group of people organizing towards social justice. My commitment to organizing is drawn from personal experience and power across a broad spectrum of difference and diversity including; peace work, faith-based work, advocacy for the rights of children, women's rights, religious freedom, gay rights, health advocacy, the rights of poor and working people and the right to full democratic participation. The concept of a civil society helps me to define, identify and work towards models of change that 1) encourage people to organize to change and shape public opinion and policy and, 2) that create spaces to explore that place of intersection that allows each actor to be recognized and respected at the table.

There must be a principal role, I believe, within our advocacy for justice, for ordinary people. The work must allow people to start where they are. We should encourage participation and leadership from those authentic voices. As advocates, donors and leaders, we must stay connected to those we propose to serve and maintain a process that is transparent and people-centered. We should explore the linkages between leadership and the grassroots experience. In fact, every successful social justice movement has relied on the experience and the power of its constituency base. We can learn a great deal from that base.

The struggle for equality is the essence of this work. As an individual, and as a player in a movement for social change, I must ask the questions, "What is it that we really want?" "What is our vision for social change?" And, "What must we concentrate on to move forward?"

Our objectives must, ultimately, move us towards that goal of equality. Both long and short-term objectives should focus on both the local and national levels as well as the effects on our own communities. There is often a dichotomy between the campaign and the community: looking outward and looking inward, working towards electoral, legislative and administrative victories and building strong grassroots community. I think that the dichotomy is a false one. We cannot have victory unless we have the groundswell of grassroots power to make it happen. Who can move us towards this vision of equality? Those who have the authority to make systemic change, the legislatures, the courts and the administrations and those with real connections and currency within those bodies are central to the universe of change-makers. We pressure them and we move them by identifying and engaging those who can persuade them. It is the 'ying' and the 'yang' of real power. As we build community, we build capacity and potential. We strengthen relationships and proficiency and, we equip organizers to become real actors within their landscape.

We can be powerful instruments of change. We have the potential to bring together research, policy, advocacy, community, constituency and other institutions and individuals. We can help convene the practitioners and the academics. We can bring together adversaries in search of intersections or common ground. We can help both build organizational and personal capacity. We can leverage our investments. And we can become, in the truest sense, partners in the struggle toward social justice.