Organizing & Campaigns
The process of building organizations of people with similar interests who use their collective power to win immediate improvements in people's lives and alter the relations of power.
What is organizing?
This means, simply, “to be able” to shape our lives and the world around us. It is not good or bad. It is how you use it and toward what end.
What is power?
This is a method of getting our constituency into our base
What is outreach?
These are foundational systems you will see at the roots of a problem tree and all of our issues.
What is capitalism, white supremacy and patriarchy?
These are the names of the Trainers from the Community Resource Hub.
Who are Hiram, Wes, Angie and Kat?
Taking individual action to bring about change in society.
What is activism?
Actions taken as part of a campaign that should be aligned with a broader strategy and direct engage your target. They often build upon one another, or escalate.
What are Tactics?
This is made up of the people in the constituency who are engaged with our organization in some concrete way.
What is our base?
Field Marshal for the Black Panther Party, Marxist theoretician who believed in the “withering” of the state, and political prisoner who wrote the books Soledad Brother and Blood In My Eye.
Who is George Jackson?
This is where we got breakfast on day 2?
What is Corner Bakery?
A sustained, time-bound effort at winning a specific demand or goal. A good one builds the base, develops leaders, builds power and lays the foundation for future wins.
What is a campaign?
The individual who has the power to give us what we want. It’s important we understand their interests so we can develop specific strategies, craft specific messaging and negotiate based upon this understanding.
What is your target?
This rule dictates the amount of time you spent listening versus talking during outreach.
What is the 70/30 rule (80/20 or 60/40)?
The philosophers George Jackson "met" while incarcerated?
Who is Marx, Lenin, Trotsky and Mao?
This person won Animal Showdown.
Who is Noah?
An exercise or tool that helps us stay grounded in the daily lived experience of our members, provides an opportunity for political education on root causes and helps us identify specific issues ripe for campaigns.
What is a Problem Tree?
An exercise or tool used to give us an accurate understanding of the political landscape to inform our strategies. It can also help us assess our own political power, which is critical to our strategy.
What is a power map?
The two qualities organizers should be looking for in identifying leadership potential within our membership, often identified through a Leadership Matrix?
What is “high will (or commitment) and high skill (capacity)”?
Along with hunger strikes, what tactics were used during the campaign to end solitary confinement.
What is lawsuits, reframing messaging in media, etc?
What Area Code are we in?
What is 562?
Two primary reasons we run campaigns.
1. Win concessions from the state/ change material conditions for our people and 2. build power.
The overall plan to win a campaign. It usually consists of much smaller actions, or tactics, taken in coordination with one another.
What is your strategy?
The process by which organizations build collective power over time by regularly recruiting, orienting and training new members from the constituency.
What is base building?
This is the definition of Capitalism used in the training.
What is a political and economic system that is dependent on private ownership of the means of production and the accumulation of wealth by those owners who exploit working class people for profit?
These are the names of 7 organizations in this training? (Not including the Hub and ABMoC)
Who are
Californians For Justice Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ)
Ella Baker Center
Youth Leadership Institute
Californians for Justice
Youth Will
Black Organizing Project
Pillars of the Community
Youth Justice Coalition
Critical Resistance
Students Deserve
End Child Poverty
Young Women Freedom