Community Organizing

101

Greater Cleveland Congregations (GCC) is a non-partisan coalition of faith communities and partner organizations in Cuyahoga County working together to build power for social justice. GCC unites people

across lines of race, class, religion, and geography to promote public, private and civic sector actions

which strengthen and improve the quality of life of our neighborhoods.

Key Themes of Community Organizing

Power

Self-interests

Relationships

Living Between Two Worlds

World as it Is

Power

Self Interest

Relationships

World as it Should Be

Love

Do good/Altruism

Recognition of common humanity

Engine:Motivation:

Glue:

Definition of Power

“To be able”

The ability to act

Ways of Understanding Power

Dominant PowerUnilateral (one-way)Zero-sumPower “over”

Relational PowerMulti-lateralIncreasingPower “with”

Discuss with Partner

Tell a story of a time in you life when you were acted on by dominant power, and what if anything you did about it.

Keep the story “public”

Spend 5 minutes swapping stories.

Sources of Power in a Democracy

Position

Organized Money

Organized People

Context for Community Organizing

Public Sector•Elected officials

(national, state, local)•Government Agencies

Civic Sector•Families

•Religious Congs.•Labor Unions

•Civic associations•Advocacy Groups

Private Sector•Financial Services•Energy companies•Real Estate/Constr.

•Health Care/Insurance•Manufacturing

Contracts/grants/regulations

CampaignDonations

Workers/ConsumersVoters/Taxpayers

Values: administration/controlPower: Position

Values: ProfitPower: Organized $

Values: All other motivesPower: Organized People and organized $

Context for Community Organizing

Public Sector

Civic Sector

Private Sector

Contracts/grants/regulations

CampaignDonations

Workers/ConsumersVoters/Taxpayers

Values: administration/controlPower: Position

Values: ProfitPower: Organized $

Values: All other motivesPower: Organized People and organized $

Three Levels of Power

1.Get to the table

2.Make a deal

3.Keep a deal

Context for Community Organizing

Public Sector•Elected officials

(national, state, local)•Government Agencies

Civic Sector•Families

•Religious Congs.•Labor Unions

•Civic associations•Advocacy Groups

Private Sector•Financial Services•Energy companies•Real Estate/Constr.

•Health Care/Insurance•Manufacturing

Contracts/grants/regulations

CampaignDonations

Workers/ConsumersVoters/Taxpayers

Values: administration/controlPower: Position

Values: ProfitPower: Organized $

Values: All other motivesPower: Organized People and organized $

GCC’s Purpose: Relational Power for

Justice

Ability to get to the decision making table and negotiate on behalf of our interests and values

Make and keep deals

Organizing our people and our money

Frederick Douglass on Power

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

Paul Tillich on Power

Power without love = tyranny

Love without power = sentimentality

Power + Love = Justice

Self Interest

Selfishness (me only)

Self interest (inter-esse: me amongst others)

Selflessness (others only)

Spectrum of Self-Interest

Self Preservation

Self Realization

Rabbi Hillel Says:

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

“If I am only for myself, what am I?

“If not now, when?”

Discuss with PartnerWhat self-interest brought you here

today?

10 minutes

“Small Change” Discussion

What key points did you take from this article?

What were the self-interests of the students who initiated the sit-ins?

Why these students?

15 minutes

Joseph McNeil and the Chickens

Self-interests

Relationships

Tension/agitation

Action/Reaction

How will we build power in the

Civic Sector?

Identifying common self interests we can only realize together

Intentionally building relationships necessary to motivate and sustain action

Two Organizing Tools to Identify Interests and Build

Relationships

1. Individual meetings

2.House meetings

Definition of Leadership

Someone who has followers

How many followers do you have?

How do you build your Leadership?

Intentionally expand your network of relationships.Members of your congregationMembers of other congregations and

organizationsOther community leaders.

Individual MeetingsA 30-60 minute face to face meeting to explore

the possibility of a public relationship.

Explore: initiate with people you are interested in because you imagine that there’s something to do together.

Public: Not friendship, not romance, but respect, an understanding of mutual interests, and a context to work together in the future.

With Whom?

Members of your congregation

Members of other congregations and organizations

Other community leaders.

Anyone who can help you expand your network

Life Lessons from Lois “Meeting someone is not just about meeting someone.”

“She had a big job for Helen, she just didn’t know what it was yet.”

“First, she reaches out to someone outside her world.”

“It’s not merely that she knows lots of people. It’s that she belongs to lots of different worlds.”

“(Integration) happened, but it didn’t happen by accident. It happened because a certain type of person made it happen.”

“When we talk about power, this is what we are usually talking about: money and authority. But there’s a third kind of power as well – the kind Lois has. It’s social power.”

Elements of Individual Meetings

Credential: who and why

Be interesting – share your story and interests

Be interested/curious – inquire about stories, interests, passions, values, concerns, experiences, talents, public life choices.

Close with specific next step to further the public relationshipanother meeting a particular topicshare names of people in their networkpull together a house meetingattend an event connected to their interest

Nature of ConversationYes

Intentional

Individual

Relational

Two-way/reciprocal

Stories/interests/values

Public/probing

In Person

Art

NoCasual

Group

Task-oriented

Interview

Small talk

Private/prying

Phone/e-mail/chat

Science

Summary

We build a powerful organization by building relationships between civic sector institutions that have common self interests.

We unlock the power of organized people by developing leaders with a following.

Context for Community Organizing

Public Sector•Elected officials

(national, state, local)•Government Agencies

Civic Sector•Families

•Religious Congs.•Labor Unions

•Civic associations•Advocacy Groups

Private Sector•Financial Services•Energy companies•Real Estate/Constr.

•Health Care/Insurance•Manufacturing

Contracts/grants/regulations

CampaignDonations

Workers/ConsumersVoters/Taxpayers

Values: administration/controlPower: Position

Values: ProfitPower: Organized $

Values: All other motivesPower: Organized People and organized $

Core Teams5-25 member team who will be responsible for

organizing your congregation

Clergy and lay leaders

Leaders from all corners of the congregation

Agenda for Summer meeting Audit of congregational members connected to each of

our issue areas Strategy for approaching each of the above