How to Create Change Under Growing Fascism
A heavy loaded question, yes. Many of us, understandably, feel defeated with the rise of facism currently creating the horrors we see in the news, and more recently, closer to our doorstep.
According to Wikipedia, Facism is:
“Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. Fascism is characterized by support for a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy. Opposed to communism, democracy, liberalism, pluralism, and socialism, fascism is at the far-right end of the traditional left–right spectrum.”
There are still ongoing debates around the parameters of this definition.
From the heavy use of militarism onto peaceful protests, to ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) kidnappings and murder of our local immigrant communities throughout America, one would naturally feel helpless and powerless.
I feel it is a social responsibility to be privy to understanding a bit of our own history and how we can lean on and learn from past and current leaders and organizers around the world when pushing against such systems of oppression (bell hooks, Assata Shakur, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Paulo Freire, James Baldwin, Marsha P. Johnson, and Yuri Kochiyama to name a few). Many of us feel like protesting at the frontlines is the only way to create social change, but it is just one way. While navigating our lives and as part of organizations, work spaces, and movements, many of us can play different roles in pursuit of equity, shared liberation, inclusion, and justice.
Importance of Rest
Some of us need rest, which is also necessary as a means of working towards collective liberation. I love how YK Hong, a liberatory strategist, described social movement with the ocean wave analogy. I will not describe it as well as them, but I will give it a try. There will be some of us who are burnt out and require rest. We know that rest is part of the resistance! Those resting are the parts in the deep ocean that is still slowly building, building the momentum of the wave. We see the more visible parts of the wave, the ones at the frontlines or the disruptors. Then there are parts of the waves’ anatomy that also shape this movement, with each element, a role we all can take on, to be part of the movement, like an ocean wave.
Action
Deepa Iyer (Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at Building Movement Project) designed a framework bringing the elements of what creates social change to help individuals and organizations keep focus on what steps to take on to support aligned values committed to solidarity justice, and equity — see socialchangemap.com.
Iyer identified ten roles that often show up when responding to a crisis and during unprecedented challenges in order to find ways to engage in social change more effectively. The framework is multidimensional in its use.
Roles supporting equity, liberation, justice and solidarity
- Weavers – connecting between people, places, organizations, ideas and movements
- Experimenters – innovators, pioneers, inventors; they take risks and course-correct as needed
- Frontline Responders – addresses community crises by organizing resources, networks, and messages; attending protests, demonstrations, boycotts, etc.
- Visionaries – imagines and generates our boldest possibilities, hopes and dreams, and remind us of our direction
- Builders – develops, organizes, and implements ideas, practices, people, and resources in service of collective vision
- Caregivers – the nurturers by creating and sustaining a community of care, joy, and connection
- Healers – recognizes and tends to the generational and current traumas caused by oppressive systems, institutions, policies, and practices
- Disruptors – takes on uncomfortable and risky actions to shake up the status quo, to raise awareness, and to build power
- Storytellers – crafts and shares community stories, cultures, experiences, histories, and possibilities through art, music, media, and movement
- Guides – teaches, counsels, and advises using gifts of well-earned discernment and wisdom
*Bonus role: Existence as resistance– existing outside social norms can be an act of resistance itself!
Anyone and everyone can contribute when resisting systems oppressing us according to our unique skills and capacity.
