Now What? Steps for Sustainable Action from a Community Activist

This evening, I’m heading to the area where I grew up to give a presentation to the Pike County Democrats. Rather than print a bunch of handouts, I’m making a blog post. The other advantage to a virtual handout is that the links are live.

Now that I’ve prepared this presentation, I could do it again with very little effort. In fact, I’ll deliver it a second time at a senior living center in a couple of weeks. If you have an organization within a couple of hours of St. Louis, let me know. If your organization can afford to pay speakers, then I will refer you to some black women in our community who do this professionally and have a lot of thoughts and more experience on similar topics.

Step 1. Self-Care.

Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.
~Audre Lorde

Dr. Kira Banks, professor of psychology at St. Louis University, is leading a year-long book club on YouTube to explore A Year of Self-Love Journal:52 weeks of prompts and practices for loving who you are by Jamila I. White. The weekly prompts and videos are short – so it’s not too late to catch up if you want to use this resource to practice self-care.

Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown (my book review)

Feelings Wheel (pdf) (from University of Central Arkansas)

How do I talk about politics at work? (Dr. Kira Banks video)

Being White Today: A Roadmap for A Positive Antiracist Life by Christine Saxman, Shelly Tochluk (book information from The StoryGraph)

Step 2. Community.

Erica Chenoweth explained the 3.5% rule at a TEDx Talk. A look at the history of resistance to governments, including authoritarian ones, found that nonviolent campaigns nearly always succeeded

after they had achieved the active and sustained participation of just 3.5 percent of the population.

A follow-up discussion paper in 2020 uncovered a couple of exceptions but still contained a lot of hope for sustained activism.

Step 3. Action.

198 Methods of Nonviolent Action (pdf) (from the Albert Einstein Institution at Brandeis University)

How to Speak Before a School Board (from my blog)

Know Your Rights (information for protestors from the ACLU)

Hands Off! (information about the April 5 protest, with links for hosting an event, including an organizing call on Friday, March 21)

Ideas for actions

• Contact elected officials
• Public comments for school boards and city councils
• Letters to the editor
• Vigils and protests
• Lobby day in Jefferson City