“Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing.” – Optimus Prime
Below are some lessons we learned from “Transformers” about community organizing.
1) Family can never be sacrificed in this work.
The days of working every night and weekend are over. Our children cannot suffer because we’ve convinced ourselves that the work won’t get done unless we do it. And our health cannot be compromised because we are running from meeting to meeting – meetings that are often pointless.
2) There are no “Primes” in the movement.
Yes, we are the ones we’ve been waiting for – not President Obama or some other social justice savior. Movements are built on the backs of people, not one person; otherwise, your movement is destined to fail.
3) Leadership can be misguided.
“The Fallen” got caught up in a quest for power, domination and control. We have much to learn from “The Fallen,” particularly around not getting caught up in the quest for funding and mainstream media publicity.
4) Movements cannot rely on technology.
No matter how many friends you have on facebook or followers on twitter, this work is about building relationships of trust – relationships that are built face-to-face, from you not being afraid to knock on my door and from us breaking bread together (ok, maybe that’s just me cause I’m an eating machine!).
5) There is no room for stereotypes.
What was up with the gold tooth wearing, jive talking, non-reading twin autobots? And why did Sam tell his daddy that this wasn’t a rap video when pops smacked his mama on the butt? Too often, we laugh at comments when we need to call folks out on their stuff.
6) Keep hope alive (or, whatever the Obama campaign said about hope)!
Sam reminds me a lot of Harry Potter in that he never gave up. And even though we lose a lot of fights in this work, we continue to march toward something victorious!
7) Have fun!
‘Nuf said!!!
8) Community organizing is not a punishment, but a privilege.
If you are feeling beat down in this work, get out! What we do is too important to our people – whoever your people may be — for us to constantly complain about working situations that we could probably change if we were actually organized internally instead of only looking at outside targets. And I consider it a privilege to fight the powers that be!
9) Know your history.
Because the history of the Transformers had been buried for centuries, the autobots were not prepared for the battle that the decepticons were about to wage. So, we need to be aware of our cultural, political, religious and social histories so that we are prepared for the battles that we face.
10) We have to mobilize, organize and strategize.
The autobots were demobilized when they lost Optimus Prime, while the decepticons were constantly mobilized. It almost sounds like the so-called political Left and Right (whatever that really means).
Attica Woodson Scott is coordinator of Kentucky Jobs with Justice. Advocate Scott is a young organizer.
