Activism and Power

We can't afford to lose this struggle. Here's a tool that might help

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Like so many of us, I’m watching Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, western governments’ complicity and commitment to direct 5% of our GDP to NATO, and the increasing austerity and environmental devastation that will result from this. It often feels overwhelming.

This moment demands that we step up. But what do we do?

Whatever it is, we need to think strategically, because we can’t afford to lose this one.

I just read this article, This new tool can help movements chart a path to victory, and it inspired me. I hope you find it useful too.

In order to get through this terrifying moment and make it to a better place, we need good strategy. And this document made sense to me.

Here’s a longish excerpt:

1. Consider the situation you’re in.

If you have 30 members in your group and your opponent only has 10, that would suggest that you have a clear advantage. However, what if the battle were to occur in water, and none of your 30 members could swim, while all 10 of your opponents could? This would alter the balance of power significantly. By considering such factors, movements can adjust and increase their power through strategic positioning. For instance, you would want to make sure the battle takes place on land to play to your group’s strengths. This tool evaluates power in a way that considers the conditions of a campaign, enabling movement leaders to plan accordingly.

2. Power in one situation doesn’t necessarily translate to power in another.

Just because you’re powerful against one opponent doesn’t mean you’ll be relatively powerful against the next. Let’s break this down in terms of a community organization that has well-trained members and support from the local community. They want the local corner store to sell more fresh fruit and vegetables, or they’ll organize a boycott. In that situation, they may find themselves in the upper left on the power matrix. They are powerful in relation to their opponent. Even the boycott threat might coerce the opponent into providing fresh fruit and vegetables.

However, if that same group of community members wanted a hostile governor to sign a bill to eliminate food deserts, they would have significantly less power than their opponent. Therefore, their relative power would be somewhere in the bottom right quadrant.

In this case, they would have to build more power and more momentum to move the governor.

3. Power ebbs and flows

One of my favorite movies that demonstrates the practical understanding of power is called “Walkout.” This HBO film tells the story of the 1968 walkouts by Chicano students in Los Angeles to demand better educational opportunities and fair treatment, inspired by their teacher Sal Castro. The walkouts brought national attention to the educational inequalities faced by Chicano students and galvanized the Chicano civil rights movement.

This story shows how power fluctuates in the real world, and if you understand that, you can take advantage of it. The students used petitions and other tactics to convince the board that they were worth investing in, to no avail. The problem was that their starting spot on the matrix 360 days out of the year was in the lower right quadrant.

However, there’s one brilliant moment in the movie where they realize that their relative power is different for five days out of the year. It’s during what is known as ADA week, or average daily attendance week. If you’re a young person in high school, you may wonder why they have homecoming, spirit week, pizza parties and pajama day all during one week of the school year. It’s because those five days are when they need you more than you need them. It’s the week the school district counts every student to see how much funding they will get. When the student activists in “Walkout” realize this, they concentrate all of their organizing during ADA week, moving their relative power situation to the upper right quadrant.

The school’s relative power stayed the same, but students’ increased. Once that happened, more people got involved, including parents.

Just a week after the walkouts began, the parents formed the Educational Issues Coordinating Committee. It was comprised of students, parents, community members and local activists. The committee became the central body that negotiated with the school board for radical reforms in L.A. education. Parents overcame their fear of the school system, and their opponents could no longer rely on parents to punish their children, which shifted the power dynamic. They built enough strength to hold a month-long sit-in in the school board’s chambers to force educational reforms and the release of the organizers from jail.

By the end of the whole campaign, the students and their parents ended in the upper left quadrant. In that power position, they were able to achieve amnesty for all students and teachers involved in the walkouts, as well as the dismissal of the conspiracy and disturbing the peace charges against the organizers. Additionally, Chicano students were able to achieve changes that addressed the inequality in L.A. schools. Through continued engagement, more Latino administrators and teachers were being hired for the schools, shifting the education landscape and halting the colonizing approach to education by L.A. schools.

This dramatic victory was won because student organizers were able to recognize when they were relatively powerful in comparison to their opponent and take advantage of it.

After 21 months of watching the ongoing genocide on our devices, I think we also need to create goals, list our achievements so far, consider some strategies, and understand who our allies are.

Here are some of the goals I’d like to see us achieve:

• stop the genocide in Gaza

• halt the military aggression of Israel, the USA and its allies

• Make sure ‘Never Again’ becomes a lived reality for everyone

• transform our systems so that they are life affirming, non-hegemonic and peaceful

Here are some of the things we’ve achieved so far:

• raised awareness about the ongoing genocide

• built relationships with others who oppose it and want to see systems change

• made the accusation of being anti-semitic if we oppose the genocide irrelevant

Some strategies:

• keep up the pressure to stop the genocide

• write and raise awareness of it

• support those who speak out against it

• boycott Israel

• wear keffiyehs and other symbols to communicate our support for Gaza

Some of our allies are:

• other people who oppose the genocide

• countries that oppose the genocide and BRICS as an organization

• NGOs that do what they can to aid the people in Gaza

• politicians who oppose the genocide

• artists and musicians who speak up for the people of Gaza

Here are some of the questions I ask myself: How do we put these together and take advantage of the vulnerabilities of Israel and its supporters? How do we escalate to next steps? Are there other actions we can take? What is the big picture? What kind of a world do we want to work towards after Israel’s genocide ends? And what are we learning from this experience?

Do you have answers, or any questions you would add to this list?

I hope you find the article useful, and I’d love to hear your ideas about all of it.

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I love the BDS campaign and the effect it’s having on Israel’s economy.

Here's an excellent list of products from Israel: https://boycott.thewitness.news/browse/1

Here's a way to help others not in your bubble to boycott Israel: https://www.cjpme.org/stickies_2024_en

And here's where you can support Palestine by buying a keffiyeh: https://www.hirbawi.ps/