Progressive Communicators Network(ing)
August 1st, 2008 by doyle
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with members of the Boston-area Progressive Communicators Network. They host monthly learning events and invited me to speak about smartMeme’s approach to messaging and framing.
Based in western Massachusetts, PCN is a national network of organizers/communicators who:
“strengthen and amplify the power, voices, and vision of grassroots movements that are working for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice.”
PCN offers tools, networking, and an annual member convening to connect progressive communicators in order to enhance collaboration and advance the field of strategic communications. PCN also has active local groups, including one here in Boston.
About a dozen people came by to enjoy some burritos and conversation – and hailed from some amazing groups like the Student Immigrant Movement, United for a Fair Economy, Political Research Associates, Mass English Plus and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. It was inspiring to hear of the great social justice work that folks in the Boston area are doing, and have the opportunity to introduce myself (and smartMeme) to this community.
You can check out the slideshow I gave here (FYI some of the colors got tweaked in the slide-spacing process…)
After the slideshow we had the opportunity to talk, and the discussion was a rich reflection on the role of people’s history in story-based strategy. Often what we are facing is not lack of a story, but a ‘forgetting’ of history that is based in racism. As the antiracism principles of the Peoples’ Institute For Survival and Beyond remind us:
“History is a tool for effective organizing. Understanding the lessons of history frees us to create a more humane future.”
So many of the barriers that racial justice and social change communicators face are deeply related to an erasure of histories, and a dominant US media and school curriculum that often ignores (or is ignorant to) the centuries of struggle for social justice.
When we are communicating across race and class and waging the fight for justice, we are often struggling not just to reframe what’s happening in the present, but also name and reclaim what has happened in the past.
As any pop-psychologist will tell you, you can’t move forward into a better future without examining and understanding your story of your past – and the United States certainly has not reckoned with its history of genocide, slavery, conquest, and imperial interventions…
A related topic of discussion for the group was the story of the US civil rights movement, and that like many stories – it has become a “great man” story. While Dr Martin Luther King was undoubtedly an important leader, there were also countless individuals, particularly women (like Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, and many others) who were the muscle of the movement. (BTW I’ve Got the Light Of Freedom is an excellent peoples’ history of the Mississippi Freedom Struggle).
Some of the questions I was left with (as a social studies teacher by training and a smartMeme-er by trade):
As a diverse country, if we don’t know each others’ (and often our own) histories, how do we envision a shared future?
When/How must our movements wage the battle of the story over the past in order to foreshadow our story of the future?
Pop-culture narratives are celebrity-focused, but movements are powered by countless everyday people, so how do we both honor our leaders and hype all of the everyday heroes of our stories?
Thanks to PCN for the opportunity to offer our ideas, and have a provocative conversation. Thanks also to UFE for hosting!
*We hope to continue the conversation with another PCN learning event in the fall focused on using the battle of the story tool in practice. Be in touch if you’d like to attend!
Tags: communications, media, movement-building, PCN, racial justice, strategy