To the young activist/organizer

Evergreen tends to run in about three year activist cycles. It’s a fairly observable phenomenon that a group of students will show up either as fresh persons or transfers, learn about issues together, start to work on common projects and then form a cadre, affinity group, collective or whatever you’d like to call it.

Those people come to their own after a while of learning about the issues, seeing how Evergreen works and developing organizing skills. But at some point, that group will phase out and take their knowledge with them. A new group will start at the beginning and there’ll be a gap of time where activism reaches a low point.

So this is for you, the young activist/organizer, coming to a new place and wanting to get involved. In the spirit of multigenerational movement building, I’d like to share some tips and guidelines to help you be successful in the work you want to do.

Personal stuff

• While you’re likely learning about privilege, imperialism, orientalism, anarchism or whatever else, take some time to chew and digest that information before getting dogmatic and decrying every injustice to prove that you know your shit. Its heavy stuff, for sure, but ask yourself does calling people “liberal” build movements or does it alienate people? Not saying there isn’t overlap, but just think about it.
• Remember that politics isn’t about purity. Scoffing at people for wearing Nikes or shopping at Safeway never built a movement. Yes, you will be faced with contradictions, but remember it’s about building collective power and not isolating yourself as the sole “radical.”
• Develop your collective skills. We’re brought up to do everything as individuals, and as young people demanding radical democracy and revolution, we need to work on ourselves and experiment with group work. Building a working organization means trusting your comrades in group decisions even if you disagree sometimes, asking people before you do things that affect them, strengthening “us” and not just “you”.
• Leadership isn’t bad. People need to take initiative and support each other as they develop as leaders. It’s not immediately hierarchical or authoritative to have leaders, people with vision that have done some work to get the ball rolling.
• Take care of yourself (and each other). Often young activists put themselves in emotionally intense situations, and if they don’t talk it out or do something to decompress, they can burn out quickly. That’s really not what anyone needs. So remember that sometimes it’s okay not to show up if you need the night to collect yourself. Watch your favorite stupid movie, have a beer, do some knitting, etc.

Strategy

• Do your homework. Get the information that’s available, analyze the situation and develop your course of action from there. See if someone hasn’t started a similar project before you and build on what they did. Go to people’s offices and literally just ask them what’s going on, most of them are really helpful and they’re not out to get you. Websites are a good place to figure out whom to talk to, and if you get it wrong you can ask who the best person would be.
• Figure out what you want and what it looks like. If you don’t have a clear idea, whatever work you do will be confused and will have a harder time moving forward. Try to develop a set of strategic demands and adjust them as you go.
• Divide and rotate your labor. There’s this myth that anti-oppression means that “everyone will do everything,” and experience tells us this isn’t true and it doesn’t work. Often informal structures appear where a few strong personalities dictate and other people do the hard work. Just be clear about who’s doing what and revisit it.
• Use the resources available to you. Evergreen and Olympia have a lot of stuff to offer. You don’t have to do everything DIY, so if someone can help you get what you need faster, be smart and use it! (Public records request being a personal favorite.)
• Create a campaign that makes sense. Militancy does not always equal good politics or strategy. It may not seem like the most “radical” thing to create institutions or talk to administrators, but what’s effective in your situation?
• Have a public outreach campaign. It could be as simple as writing an article for Works in Progress, Counter Point Journal, or the CPJ, or it could be a more personal door-knocking campaign. The more people know what you’re doing and why, the less opposition you’ll face. Make sure you have something to give people if they want to know about what you’re doing—a flyer or program or something.
• Reflect! A comrade said to me once, “You know the cops write reports after actions. Why don’t we?” We need to have honest reflections on the work we do so that we can improve and win. Why did you choose this campaign? What worked and what didn’t? Whether it’s for you or for a group, reflection has to happen.