Going Public — This Week's Insight
“But constructive and creative action doesn't just happen. Rosa Parks didn't wake up one morning and spontaneously decide to sit on a seat near the front of the bus. She thought about her nonviolent but high-risk action and debated it with other leaders. She trained at the Highlander Folk School, in the mountains of Tennessee, where the civil rights leaders and organizers systematically educated themselves on the strategies and tactics of others in history who had sought social change.
- Mike Gecan, Going Public: An Organizer's Guide to to Citizen Action (page 53)
Civic Reflections
This week's book club reflection looks at "activism" vs "public action." And the importance of organizing as a discipline to be learned, developed, and continually improved.
Jyl: What is public action? Most people know what a protest is, such as the one described in this chapter, but public action is not a familiar term.
What is the difference? This is where training is important. Gecan gives an example of activists that he observes during his commute, who lack what he knows is important to build power.
- They seem not to have a clear or coherent message,
- They do not have a specific target, and
- They do not have a clear issue; rather, they have a problem that is vaguely defined.
In fact, Gecan describes the scene that he sees as a reenactment, rather than an action. He describes the activists as enacting a kind of still life painting, intent primarily on drawing attention to themselves rather than on creating any kind of change. It is not clear who the activists are, what their relationship is to the issue that they are addressing, or what they want to happen.
So what is the difference? This is the key element: The basic purpose of a public action is to create a reaction.
When IAF organizations begin planning a public action, one of the first questions that leaders ask each other is, what kind of reaction do we want? And the answers to this question shape the planning for the action.
These distinctions between public action and activism are subtle but critical observations. Examples help ferret out the nuance. Let’s use examples from the fight to install water fountains into all the public schools in Jersey City as a way to “break the ice” - but many more examples could be explored.
| Activism | Public Action | |
|---|---|---|
| Message | “Save the U’Wa Tribe”: but it is not clear what the tribe is being saved from nor how that is to be done | Working twenty-first century water fountains in all 41 schools in Jersey City! |
| Specific Target | Unclear; perhaps “Fidelity Capital”, but not clear what they need to do | The Mayor: had influence over the MUA The MUA: controlled the budget to fix the lead pipes The BOE: controlled the fountains within the schools |
| Issue vs Problem | Problem: Broad threat to the tribe but not clear what it is nor how to solve it | Issue: Water fountains disconnected but never replaced. Get public officials to cooperate to find state and local funding and install new fountains and water infrastructure. |
| Hoped for Reaction | Unclear | Public officials commit to funding and implementing installation of new water fountains in every public school in Jersey City; Leaders continue to organize and put pressure on public officials until this goal is accomplished |
| Who is Involved? | Activists who may or may not be directly affected by the issue | Leaders who are directly affected by the issue |
Sizzle vs Steak
What is public action?
Brigid: I loved Jyl's reflection and it made me think of the analogy of "sizzle" vs "steak."
I have an aversion to straight-up protests if they do not live within a larger context of planning for justice. So what is required with public action?
- Planning. Laying your ingredients out ahead of time, measuring carefully, and then having shared insight into when you’re going to light up the flame.
- Targeting for Effect and Impact. The steak gets hot, it sizzles, and those who were not present for the lead-up come over to check it out. They are attracted by the sizzle and the smell. They say “what’s cooking?” and they engage their senses - smells, sights, sounds.
- Welcoming new leaders. If you have planned it right, you have leaders who are ready to share context around those sights, smells, sounds. They are ready to help others stay engaged, listening to that sizzle, but more importantly - and this is key - they are ready to go beyond the sizzle and explain the steak.
- Debriefing, Relational Follow-Up, Leadership Development. Then the thing is cooked. At some point, the heat gets turned off and you have to say: what’s next? This is where Activism can “flame out” because the clean up is never sexy. If anything, it’s a bit of downer from the sizzle.
Discipline and relational habits are key to public action. Because it is in that space - outside of the spotlight - where some of the most meaningful change can unfold. In small groups, one-on-one-conversations, learning about others and growing in empathy. Leaders who are ready to engage that work are who you want in the trenches with you for the next public action.
Just like cooking, we need to learn how to engage in public action, and how to do it effectively. This is a discipline and it's a marathon, not a sprint. As Gecan says, “...constructive and creative action doesn’t just happen….Our national vitality…depends on our willingness and ability to brush up on these lessons and skills.” (page 53)
This Week's Action
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