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No Justice and No Peace: A Critique of Current Social Change Politics (8 of 8)
One thing we are constantly aware of is that the rapid pace of change makes it dangerous to continue to use outmoded frameworks for social justice. Positive change is not going to come from the large non-profits, but from people who still can't find steady work after several years, people who wherever they go, won't find a stable place to live, people on the frontlines of these struggles. And there are a number of examples where the most affected people are making change in the US that exemplify (though imperfect) new strategies and paths to social justice. As much as entrenched “social change” institutions obstruct these new possibilities, if people keep pushing those who say they are allies (essentially those with power) then we will be moving to a better place.
An example of change happening from below is the AFL-CIO, where there are really interesting things taking place with farm workers, hotel workers and janitors. Outside of the traditional labor movement, other groups are showing new ways of organizing around multiple issues like workers' centers and non-union worker organizing campaigns. A local example is the Workers Committee of Woodbridge that is organizing, educating and advocating for immigrant and undocumented day laborers– with them at the leadership. A more famous example is the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, who successfully pressured Taco Bell to support their demands for improved working conditions for tomato pickers in southern Florida.
Yet another example comes from groups working against the prison-industrial complex. Justice for DC Youth, a youth-led organization in DC, is promoting youth leadership to stop the criminalization of youth by opposing legislation and demanding change in current practices. Others in Louisiana, Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children, have succeeded in changing a youth detention facility to a job-training center. At least one national organization working to stop domestic violence against women of color (INCITE) is supporting local organizing while making connections to war, discrimination, prisons, reproductive rights and more.
These examples show that working for social change is more than just selling ideas to the “general public,” it is empowering people to take control of their life and hold each other accountable, while constantly improving the condition of life so people can survive to organize.
Talking about diversity without checking yourself continues the narcissism of the movement. It is self-indulgent to continue saying that we're for justice just because we are claiming to bring alternatives to the mainstream. What we've learned living in DC is the need to learn from other communities as well as our own, and that we need support as much as we need to give it. We've learned living at the epicenter of so much violence, that the interactions in our personal lives are just as important as the way we organize.
