This paper is presented as part of the Papers series for COMM-ORG: The On-line Conference on Community Organizing and Development. Copyright is held by the author. To cite, use: [author] [date] [title], paper presented on COMM-ORG: The On-Line Conference on Community Organizing and Development. http://comm-org.wisc.edu/papers.htm.

Local and Global Organizing after 9/11

By Autumn Leonard, Tomás Aguilar, Mike Prokosch, and Dara Silverman

United for a Fair Economy, 37 Temple Pl. 2nd floor, Boston MA 02111

877-564-6833

dsilverman@faireconomy.org

http://www.faireconomy.org

10/25/01

Contents

Introduction

A. Questions and Answers

B. What is happening for each wing of the movement?

C. Recommendations for movements

D. What strategies can the movement best pursue?

Appendix: Who we talked to

Introduction

"[O]ne part of the deep mourning I feel is for the global justice movements as they were before those planes crashed into the Twin Towers: steadily growing in scope and influence, increasingly occupying a central place on the global stage. We were blown off that stage on September 11, and the context for our ongoing activism is now utterly transformed." 

LA Kauffman, Free Radical #19, September 17, 2001

"Local grassroots organizing is the radical other to globalization. What is restraining globalization is local activism. It is local people organizing in defense of place, culture and values against the onslaught of globalization and it is where we see the most life-affirming activity. Often people from the local communities are the targets. I would not mistake mass protests as the only movement that is challenging globalization." 

Shea Howell, Detroit Summer, Detroit MI

After September 11, United for a Fair Economy called over 50 activists and organizers across the country and asked them, "What is the state of organizing now?" We talked to a range of people from direct action organizers and prison justice activists to labor union members, immigrants, youth of color, queer activists and community organizers dealing with globalization in their front yards. We see a larger movement emerging that can pull all these movements together.

Overall, we heard that:

 The issues are still there. The partners are still there, so are the issues that pushed us into action, so are the changes in consciousness that movements have achieved. Most people we talked to plan to keep working on the issues they were already focused on, though some have added anti-war mobilizing to their plates as well.

  September 11 "hit the pause button" for some key partnerships, tactics, and campaigns, but also opened the way to building new ones.

 It is a teachable moment. It is a hard time to oppose official policy publicly but an excellent time to bring a deeper analysis to mainstream society.

 Movements need to reframe their work because the new moment highlights the need to have a race, class, and sexuality analysis. (Gender analysis is important as well , but we didn't ask specific enough questions about it.) Initiatives based on a broader analysis will help pull together movement partners and strengthen the alliances that already exist. (see related article, "Reframing the US globalization movement")

We will summarize what people told us; list some strategies that people proposed; then finally try to assess where new partnerships are taking off. For related articles, please see http://www.globalroots.net. This new organizers' website will look at race (leadership by people and organizations of color), "localizing" (building a movement where people live, work, and organize), and strategies that pull together the partners for a broader globalization movement.

A. Questions and Answers

Who we talked to: This article is based on 54 interviews with global and local activists across the country. 31% people of color 11% queer and 55% women.

1. What moment are we in? How would you and your organization describe it?

"Every person of color is at risk now."

Rep. Byron Rushing, Massachusetts House of Representatives, Boston, MA

"This is one hell of a teachable moment. Globalization is on everyone's minds now." 

Jerome Scott, Project South, Atlanta, GA

"I am a little frustrated with the mainstreaming and sudden, popular interest in public safety, in the sense of vulnerability. That is really a middle class phenomenon…to suddenly have a call for safety is a slap in the face. I have been terrorized for years. Two days after September 11, a fourteen year-old kid got shot and killed on his bike. My partner is coming home, is he going to get shot? This stuff doesn't stop for us and it makes me angry. That is what I think of the political moment."

Kai Lumumba Barrow, Critical Resistance, New York, NY

"Labor is focusing on the recession. There are already a quarter million layoffs."

Fred Azcarate, Jobs with Justice, Washington, DC

"Clearly Arab-Americans are being victimized and attacked here in Chicago. They are afraid. They won't go to an anti-war rally or anything like that. It is a time when they must sit back and let others work because they are so scrutinized right now. Anyone can be picked up and held for anything. It has paralyzed our ability to campaign and work on local issues."

Louise Cainkar, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Chicago, IL

"Many [of our staff] are poor and working class, they have people in the military, there are issues that have to be taken care of."

Si Kahn, Grassroots Leadership, Charlotte, NC

"In three or four weeks the recession will supplant terrorism as a national issue."

Tim Costello, Campaign on Contingent Work, Boston, MA

"I hear people saying everything is different now, but I see that there is a lot that is not so different."

Gabriel Sayegh, Prisoner Within, Olympia, WA

2. What issues are you working on now? Whom are you working with? What has happened to existing coalitions and what new coalitions are forming?

"The organizing [that our members are doing] is documentation [of] civil rights and human rights abuse by police, civilians and immigration [the Immigration and Naturalization Service]."

Eunice Cho, National Network of Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Oakland, CA

"The war is not going to divide us at all because we're really still focused on the reason that brought us together. It's not disintegrating, not at all. But it has definitely added to the discussion. People here are more excited than ever about working on globalization. It's kind of like after the World War [II] when people said if we don't start to equalize power, we're going to see more of this happen."

Kristi Disney, Tennessee Industrial Renewal Network, Knoxville, TN

"Work on state-level issues like the budget hasn't been affected much. But work on national issues like Fast Track, Social Security privatization, and the mobilization for global justice is pretty derailed. We were trying to get people moving in North Carolina for the first time [on global justice issues]. Now that didn't go anywhere."

Cathy Howell, AFL-CIO NC and SC, Wilmington, NC

"September 11th has actually made it pretty clear that our organization [a multi-issue queer group] is not involved in the same communities as the white queer communities and made it clear who we want to be working with. It has strengthened [our] connections with low-income organizations and other social justice groups led by folks of color."

Shawn Luby, NC Lambda Youth Network, Durham, NC

3. What openings do you see for organizing in the short-term?

"The opportunity for global economy work is there more than ever but now there's a temporary gap between education and action. The opportunity for education is greater but for action less."

Jeff Crosby, North Shore Labor Council, Lynn, MA

"We have been called by law enforcement asking us where we stand, threatening our funding, employers stop giving us orders for employment. We have also been contacted by funders saying they want to help with the educational process. We have been at the epicenter because we are the most well-known."

Ismael Ahmed, Arabic Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), Dearborn, MI

"Racial targeting is a huge inroad. Among people of color, it makes this our issue." 

Jerome Scott

"We can't just be protesting any longer. Have to think about how we can develop programs, to bring people back to the community."

Grace Boggs, Boggs Center, Detroit, MI

September 11 was a setback for the global protest and immigrant rights movements in the US and it is particularly a time of danger for immigrants, prisoners, people of color, organized and unorganized workers.

B. What is happening for each wing of the movement?

Organized labor

Russ Davis, a labor organizer with Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, said a week after September 11, "The labor movement's pulling out, students will go off to form a new antiwar movement, and community-based groups will go back to local organizing. I don't know if there is a movement now." The AFL-CIO and some member unions were joining forces with other wings of the movement and planning to participate in fall IMF-World Bank protests. They pulled out, but reaffirmed their commitment to long-term collaboration on the global economy. Service unions are preoccupied with disaster relief and with supporting their New York members who have lost jobs. In the medium term, all unions will have to deal with the recession as it hits their members. There is little space for discussing the war within unions.

Youth of Color

Youth of Color have linked opposition to the war to the assault on low income communities and communities of color in the U.S. Strong coalitions led by African-Americans and Latinos have helped frame the issues, chosen the tactics and re-focused the nascent anti-war efforts into an urban peace movement. There is no way this could have happened without the long-term institution building that has developed a base of active leadership, and a global and local analysis. Young people, especially young people of color, do not necessarily identify with the traditional symbols of the U.S. peace movement and are creating new ways to express opposition to the war through art, culture, and dialogue.

White Youth

Many white youth have thrown themselves into creating an antiwar movement, or an antiwar-antiracist movement. That has taken some of the youth base away from anti-corporate and globalization campaigns. Some white youth have taken on " double duty," adding antiwar work to their global or labor activism. Students are continuing anti-sweatshop campaigns, living wage campaigns, and other campus-based economic justice campaigns which bring them together with organized labor and, potentially, community-based organizations.

Faith Based Organizing

While we did not talk to as many people working in religious communities as we would have liked, a few themes emerged. We heard stories of antiwar pastors clashing with their congregations. We heard Rev. Dr. A.J. Pointer say, "those people who are openly haters need to be dealt with in America." We heard about mosques opening their doors open for educational events. The American mainstream has demonized or ignored Islam for a long time, making this a unique opportunity to educate people about the basics of the religion. People of faith are coming together to give solace and support to their communities.

Community-based organizations 

"People are still getting kicked out of their houses and people are still getting kicked off welfare," said Galen Tyler of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union. Community groups reacted in different ways to 9/11. Some paused, adjusted, and moved on. Depending on which issues people were focused on, their work had to adjust in different ways (see immigrant organizing). When global organizers start to build connections with local organizing, they will see that there are a lot of people who have been fighting globalization locally for a very long time. But many local organizations led by folks of color are being undermined by the fallout from 9/11. Foundations and nonprofits are channeling funds toward New York and DC, leaving local groups' budgets in doubts. Even in New York and DC, community organizations are asking whether any of the relief money will go their communities.

Immigrants

Immigrant amnesty was on the political agenda because U.S. business needed immigrant labor, unions needed to organize them, and immigrant voters could swing an election. September 11 "set us back five to ten years," said several organizers. Racial attacks and new laws restricting immigrant rights hit this sector harder than any other. Immigrant day laborers are being cheated of their wages, but are afraid to organize for fear of deportation. Some immigrant communities have decided to protect themselves by expressing fervently that they are Americans. Two well-publicized polls found a majority of African-Americans supporting racial profiling of Middle Easterners. These polls capitalize on legitimate fears in the Black community and are used to divide people of color. Coalitions of young African-Americans and Latinos are opposing the targeting of immigrants, but their partnerships with Middle Eastern and South Asian communities is limited.

Border Communities

The Border patrol has gained support since 9/11. They have become even more aggressive and organizing is challenging under these conditions. In border towns like Laredo and El Paso, many workers from Mexico cross daily to work in US-owned companies (at lower wages than US workers). Since 9/11, they cannot cross as freely and often not at all. Mexican workers have lost jobs and local US businesses are forced to either close down or hire US workers at higher wages.

Queer Organizing

Scapegoating, harassment, verbal and physical abuse are nothing new for queer organizers, but now many are working much harder to make connections with low-income communities and communities of color. Some organizers said that in order to defeat anti-gay legislation you need to have the support of communities of color.

Prison Activists

Activists described the swift, severe crackdown on prisoners, the most socially controlled population in the US. Many prisoners lost visitation rights and their mail was even more carefully searched. Inmates in one prison told Angela Davis that they fear all prisoners will be left alone to die slowly in their cells. Prison activists are worried about the effect of a stronger police state on people opposing racial profiling, unequal sentencing, and other forms of criminal injustice. Some groups are examining possible alliances with people in the new antiwar movement, yet staying focused on prisons.

Environmentalists

Many environmentalists thought their work would grind to a halt. After a short recovery period, their activists are clamoring to keep at their corporate targets, like CitiGroup and Staples. Many environmentalists' focus is to act bio-regionally, within their local area. As one activist said, "trees are still going to get cut down," and Congress is trying to use "united we stand" sentiments to push through anti-environmental legislation like drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refugee.

Mass movements abroad

Two days after President Bush's address to Congress, the militaries of Mexico and Central America met and declared a war against terrorism, with the #1 target "ethnic groups." The militarization of Chiapas has returned to its highest levels, while indigenous and grassroots organizations have been threatened in other countries. But sister movements abroad are not pulling back now, and are horrified that the US globalization movement would even consider it. "They have always called us terrorists because we fight for land and bread," said Berta Caceres of Honduras. Many countries see similarities between the World Trade Center attacks and what they encounter regularly.

C. Recommendations for movements

"It's good you're in a listening mode and not falling into the white male culture of having an answer."

Shea Howell

• Listen. Right now it is more important than ever to listen to the people. For example, the 911 Solidarity Committee Against War and Racism in the Bay Area has been listening to how people in their member groups are reacting politically and spiritually, and working from there. It's a time not to preach, but to learn together.
• Don't overreact. Many campaigns were putting effective pressure on the driving institutions of the global economy before September 11. Organizers do not need to invent a whole new set of campaigns, because they already exist.
•  Refocus the work. The focus on "globalization" as an abstract theme has been blown off the stage. People and communities need to find new ways to put everyday economic issues at the center of public consciousness. Activists need to take the spotlight off of tactics and move on to long-term strategy that will build a popular movement for justice.
•  Pay attention. The events of September 11 sent many activists into a tailspin. White protesters were among the most disoriented; one youth organizer described the "hollowness" of their experience and their "need for leadership." At the same time, many activists of color rapidly integrated September 11 into their analysis, summed up a strategy, and took action. Maybe it is time for the movement to recognize their leadership.

It doesn't come naturally. The work of middle-class white folks often gets more media attention which allows them to jump in, take charge, and not look around to ask, "is anyone here more qualified than me?" That behavior pattern is defining the new peace movement in many places, and it will keep that movement from broadening.

White activists have enormous contributions to make to movements: passion, brains, resources... but please, don't just take charge and assume you have a corner on the market. Form alliances with community-based groups. Listen, learn, and support. Build relationships, build trust, and become accountable. Help build a movement where those most affected by globalization are framing analysis and solutions.

D. What strategies can the movement best pursue?

It should pick strategies that build partnerships -- which pull together the forces that belong in the movement. Often they will already be working on a given issue. If not, it's in their interest to work on it. Here are some examples.

•  Now is an extraordinary time for global, community, and labor activists to build cross-race alliances and to work for immigrant rights. More established communities of color need to support their brothers and sisters facing prejudice, violence, and loss of economic security.
•  Privatization is a particular way to deal with the recession and build coalitions. Community, labor, and youths' interests overlap when services and jobs are threatened. The recession will cut tax revenues; cities, counties, and states will try to privatize or cut services to economize. Opposing budget cuts and privatization here connects to the mass movements that are opposing IMF-World Bank structural adjustment policies, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
•  Last year, the AFL-CIO took a big step and started supporting amnesty for all immigrants. That position becomes harder in recession and war, but this is when the alliance becomes really crucial for both partners.
•  The recession will be the context for everybody's work. Labor unions and community groups are already getting hit with layoffs and the threat of service cuts. Both need allies, but the recession cuts into unions' bargaining power against management. Allies can help unions organize new members and increase their bargaining power particularly in a sharp recession. Labor unions can help community groups push for better funding in these hard economic times. To defend their members' interests as workers and as community members, labor unions need to act as a social movement.
•   "Localizing" global issues and "globalizing" local issues is still a key strategy for bringing partners together. Indigenous and environmental justice activists have pioneered this strategy and also have built alliances across borders.
•  Sister movements abroad aren't stopping. Now is a good time the US movement to recognize their leadership and start making concrete alliances that actually support each others' battles, the way unions in different countries sometimes join forces against a common employer. Some official spokespeople have started labeling "anti-globalization" organizations as "terrorists." This is a crucial moment for US activists not to isolate themselves, but to reach across borders and establish mutual support.

There are also some elements that belong in any strategy:

•  Build an alternative economic vision that will feed six billion people and do it fairly. The discussion has to happen across race, class, gender, and borders.
•  Education can help people place themselves and corporations within the current economic system. This builds understanding and moves people to action.
• Analysis can identify the common interests of people that are the basis for long lasting partnerships. White activists can learn from the analysis of organizers of color who have been fighting oppression for a long time.
• Discussion about what our movements are for can create a common vision -- provided that people of color and of different faiths are at the table from the beginning, framing the discussion, putting out their perspectives, leading the project.

Appendix: Who we talked to