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Perspectives on Environmental Politics
Community Organizing for Success
by John Taylor
Pulling together a grassroots community to address an environmental concern or potential hazard is no small feat. It requires research, planning, and strategizing.
In my experience, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the community, such as its age, racial, religious, and employment demographics, before coming in as an outside organizer. Also, it is important to work, from the beginning, with someone from within the community who can add credibility to your cause and garner much needed support from key community leaders.
John Taylor and youth organizers from Clark Atlanta Universityp participate in a rally at
the 2003 Martin Luther King Jr. March. |
A substantial amount of lead time is essential to organizing a successful campaign. You will need to become familiar with all the community's concerns and to ascertain their sense of the relative importance of your issues. The community members also need the opportunity to become acquainted with you and your organization. Be sure to identify a realistic timeframe for your actions and ultimate goals. The worst case scenario when dealing with a grassroots community is beginning a campaign and gaining support only to fail in your final effort because there is not enough time. There is no faster way to loose credibility for you and your organization!
The key to a positive working relationship with community members is providing as much information as possible about local impacts and state and regional strategies. The community should feel like it is part of a larger movement to create change. For example, in a recent Air Keepers Campaign, I worked with state agencies, power plant representatives, and representatives from impacted communities. We disseminated information in the communities about air quality and its effects on health, and over time, created a base of grassroots support. This helped us empower community residents to fight for their own health and for better air on a regional level.
A good way to provide information and get people talking about an issue is to hold public forums. Prior to the forum, distribute flyers and fact sheets throughout the community that show a direct link between residents' lives and your issue of concern. Forums provide an opportunity for you to engage in a dialogue with community members, and to identify those individuals who will take the lead on your issue. Always present potential solutions and courses of action, and integrate feedback from residents into your plans and strategies to strengthen them. It's best to use only strategies that have been agreed on by both your organization and the community.
As an outside organizer, it's important that you don't attempt to represent the community without its permission, even if you think you know what is in residents' best interest. The community must be involved in every level of planning and action. If the community decides that it is unwilling to continue working on the issue, you must proceed with caution and integrity. After all, you are a guest in someone else's home. The community reserves the right to walk away from the issue and, though difficult to accept, it is always best to step back if that happens. Leave lines of communication open and continue working from a different angle.
Community organizing is organic. Sometimes the plan you develop works and sometimes you end up right back at the drawing board. However, the most important key to success is not to get discouraged. Even when you don't get the results you intended, organizing facilitates bridges between grassroots networks, private corporations and government agencies, and provides a deeper understanding of the political process for impacted communities. Keep working towards your next opportunity for local action that will have profound impacts on state and regional politics.
John Taylor, ELP Fellow 2003-2004, is the Georgia organizer for the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice and Georgia's African American Environmental Justice Action Network. He currently serves as an executive board member of the Environmental Awareness Foundation and the Urban Thought Media Group.
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