Lesson 3: Movement Organizing
Main Ideas:
- Organizations centered around social change rely on community involvement for their survival and success.
- Groups like the Organization of Black Struggle use their programs to benefit the community they are serving and to push back against systemic issues.
- Events like the murder of Marilyn Banks can serve as focus points that social movements can use to bring communities together.
What to Know:
Like we talked about in the last lesson, the Organization for Black Struggle has been working to take a stand against systemic injustice since its founding in 1980. In this lesson, we will be discussing general structure, types of programs, and community involvement for grassroots movements using OBS as the primary example. As previously mentioned, the Organization of Black Struggle was founded by a group of African Americans coming together when faced with systemic oppression and the dismantling of prior organized movements. They operate under a bottom-to-top structure with the local community serving as the lifeblood and the backbone for organizations like OBS to grow and stand against systemic injustice. This support, more often than not, comes in the form of donations or volunteer work; however it can also take the form of less tangible things like social influence.
Social movement groups often organize events, protests, rallies, as well as reaching out to political leaders and advocating for change. While social movement organizations use many initiatives to fight for social change, they can also offer programs to support the community that they serve. The Organization for Black Struggle uses programs like family picnics, the Annie Malone parade, scholarships, Youth Cultural Theater, various retreats and workshops to offer support and opportunities to the African American community to which they may not otherwise have access.
The murder of Marilyn Banks serves as an excellent example of how the African American community in St. Louis united against injustice and pushed back against police brutality and court corruption. Rallies and protests were organized in the name of Marilyn Banks to unify the community against the system that refused to punish her killer.
Activity: Encouraging Conversation
In this lesson we talked about how the community serves as the backbone and lifeblood of many organizations centered around societal change. The people can come together and stand against systems that perpetuate inequality. What are some ways that you can stand against inequality in your own community? How might these efforts coincide with those of advocacy organizations or groups? How would you go about getting others involved in your efforts?
Want to Learn More?:
Here are a few links to articles that talk more about grassroots organizations:
Grubb, Suzanne. “Grassroots Activities & Examples.” LegiStorm, September 29, 2024. https://info.legistorm.com/blog/grassroots-activities-examples
Ricee, Susanne. “How Do Grassroots Organizations Work?: What and Why Is It Important?” Diversity for Social Impact, August 5, 2020. https://diversity.social/grassroots/