Changing the world — your homework from the last class — is a challenging task! As you plan your project and reach out to your community, keep in mind the value of starting to implement your vision by taking manageable, concrete first steps. Wangaari Mathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for mobilizing tens of thousands of women to plant 30 million trees across Kenya. But as she said in a 2005 interview with Grist, she started small:
“On the very first day we planted seven trees, and I like to mention this because sometimes people get overwhelmed by 30 million. It is important to understand that this is a process, not something that happens in a bang.”
For more advice on community organizing, check out The Citizen’s Handbook. The first section, titled “Community Organizing,” is particularly helpful — it includes concrete advice on a wide range of topics, including adapting to available resources, planning your action, leading, and knocking on doors. Here are a few of our favorite tips:
- Focus on a single short project with concrete results, or on a single long project with good potential for concrete results “along the way.”
- Cities behave in tricky ways. What may seem an obvious problem, or an obvious solution often seems less so after a little research. Acting before researching can waste time and energy.
- Good leaders are the key. . . They do not tell other people what to do, but help others to take charge. . . .They are not interested in being The Leader, but in trying to create more leaders. They recognize that only by creating more leaders can an organizing effort expand.
