ABCD Organizing Question
ABCD and Community Organizing/Engagement
I really like what Amanda replied. Makes me think... Problems aren't the problem, but the problem is when considering problems don't lead somewhere. People need to talk about their reality... problems and all. I like the organizing principle "Start where people are; not where you wish they were." So start with problems and then speak the words that show the picture of the future possibility, and then find assets to get there, connect them, and go down the road. Makes me think of the classic community organizing exercise that Michelle Obama referred to in her election night speech... "What is the world as it is?" versus "What is the world we want?" Organizing is the journey through relationships to power for collective action from "What is" to realizing "What we want". Thank you April for a great question and Amanda.Amanda Bell said:
I totally get it! For me at least how I talk about my role and what LOV (my organization) does has been evolving over time. And I think I am getting progressivly better at putting words to it. Early on we had no clue as to where we were headed not to mention what I was supposed to do to get us there. Its getting better, I promise!
My current "rap" with many variations of course:LOV Dane is a grassroots group where people work together to create good lives for them selves and their community. We are different from a lot of groups in that we are not a program so we dont offer "services" although those are really important too. I am lucky enough to be a Community Organizer for LOV which means that I support people to work collectively on things that are important to them. I help bring people together and help them move forward together.I have also noticed that talking about gifts directly can be a turn off. Maybe because it seems like talking down or maybe because people are conceptualizing themselves/communities as gifted. More and more I am thinking it is something else too. I was working with an immigrant community the other week and realized that I was trying to push them to talk about gifts when what they needed to talk about first was problems. This was my experience too with organizing families and individuals with disabilities. Until they could feel heard and find their common worries, they were not at all ready to talk about assets. But it made sense when I talked about "using what you have to get what you don't have". Really it is the problems that are uniting people and really motivating them to act. The re framing comes in the solutions....I guess I knew that, but have been relearning it lately.Don't know if that helps....and I dont know if I will think the same things tomorrow. I love processing by typing.:)Amanda