“There are two types of revolutions: spontaneous and successful.”
– Srdja Popovich, Founder of the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategy (CANVAS)
Join Our Call to Grow Your Strategic Skills for Taking Positive Action
The Racial Justice Institute invites anyone who wants to work smarter – not harder – for social change to a free training on Wednesday, June 28, starting at 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT. This training, led by Racial Justice Institute Program Manager Andre Henry, will focus on “How to Create More Powerful Actions.”
In this FREE, interactive, online training, you will:
- Discuss what strategy is, why its important, and how it’s useful
- Receive building-block concepts for strategic thinking about positive action
- Learn the three essential questions to ask before taking action
- Brainstorm a strategic plan for a case study with like-minded individuals
About the Facilitator:
Andre Henry is a scholar-activist, direct action strategist, and Program Manager of the Racial Justice Institute at Christians for Social Action. He uses an extensive knowledge of social movements to make the science of positive action accessible to everyday people.
Register for this workshop below!
Why Strategy Training Is Important.
Three years ago, the world erupted into global protests. The killing of George Floyd sparked our generation’s largest uprising against racism.
Yet not much has changed today.
Police killings reached a record high in 2022. Though millions of us demanded America defund the police, police budgets are growing. Government officials are trying to stamp out the awakening with:
* Book bans
* Stricter voting laws
* More militant police projects like Atlanta’s Cop City
And racism is only one example.
The same thing is happening around climate change, gun violence–you name it.
We get outraged.
We protest.
Little to nothing changes.
Why does this keep happening? Why do our protests only move the needle of change by inches instead of yards, if we see any change at all?
Strategy Is The Key to More Effective Activism.
Around the world, we’re losing more battles through nonviolent struggle.
But the problem isn’t that nonviolence doesn’t have the goods to deliver tangible change. The problem is that we’re not using the most powerful nonviolent tactics available to us.
But there is good news.
Successful nonviolent campaigns often bear a consistent set of principles. That means nonviolent action is a skill we learn and even improve.
We only need to learn the principles and how to apply them. Strategy is one of those principles.
How Strategy Can Supercharge Our Activism
“Strategy is the bridge that connects vision to action.”
– Andre Henry, Program Manager of the Racial Justice Institute
We’re all already strategists. Every day, we try to make little decisions to create the lives we want.
Good strategy harnesses and amplifies our power by helping us create:
- A shared vision of the change we want to pursue
- Clear values that guide the way we pursue our shared vision
- The right timing, targets, and tactics for taking action toward our goals
- Actions that are more creative, powerful, fun, and attention-getting.
Without a good strategy, our actions are more likely to:
- Mismatch our goals
- Fail to gain the public support we need
- Fail to reach our goals
- Frustrate and burnout activists
- Discourage people from taking positive action
Direct action is too important for us to let any of that happen!
The role of direct action for social progress throughout history is undeniable.
The power of the people in protest has been the engine of social progress since ancient times. It’s the proven road to freedom. Always has been. So it’s worthwhile to grow as strategists.
