The Purpose of Power : How We Come Together When We Fall Apart

An essential guide to building transformative movements to address the challenges of our time, from one of the country’s leading organizers and a co-creator of Black Lives Matter “Excellent and provocative . . . a gateway [to] urgent debates.”—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY Time • Marie Claire • Kirkus Reviews In 2013, Alicia Garza wrote what she called “a love letter to Black people” on Facebook, in the aftermath of the acquittal of the man who murdered seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin. Garza wrote: Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter. With the speed and networking capacities of social media, #BlackLivesMatter became the hashtag heard ’round the world. But Garza knew even then that hashtags don’t start movements—people do. Long before #BlackLivesMatter became a rallying cry for this generation, Garza had spent the better part of two decades learning and unlearning some hard lessons about organizing. The lessons she offers are different from the “rules for radicals” that animated earlier generations of activists, and diverge from the charismatic, patriarchal model of the American civil rights movement. She reflects instead on how making room amongst the woke for those who are still awakening can inspire and activate more people to fight for the world we all deserve. This is the story of one woman’s lessons through years of bringing people together to create change. Most of all, it is a new paradigm for change for a new generation of changemakers, from the mind and heart behind one of the most important movements of our time. The Essential Guide To Organizing The Social Movements That Will Transform Our Communities In The Twenty-first Century, From One Of The Founders Of Black Lives Matter In 2014, Alicia Garza Penned A Letter Via Facebook. It Was A Love Letter Of Just Five Short Sentences, Written In Response To The Acquittal Of George Zimmerman, For The Murder Of Trayvon Martin, Garza Wrote: Black People. I Love You. I Love Us. Our Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter. It Was A Moment That Created A Movement--a Call To Action, An Invitation, A Declaration. Coupled With The Speed And Networking Capacities Of Social Media, #blacklivesmatter Was The Hashtag Heard Round The World. Why? Because It Captured The Hearts And Minds Of Millions. A Deceptively Simple, Lovingly Complex Statement That Spoke To The Tension Between The Promise Of America And Her Current Realities, Calling Out Precisely Where America Has Fallen Short: Black Lives Mattering. And That Tension, Verbalized--viralized--is This Generation Of Protestors' Mobilizing Call. And Mobilize They Did. Today, Black Lives Matter Has Over Forty Chapters In Four Countries. In 2015 Alone, Blm Helped Pass Fifty New Laws In Twenty-six States Across America Concerning Criminal Justice Reform. But Hashtags Don't Make Movements, People Do. Black Organizing Has Always Offered Important Lessons For How To Rise And Resist, From The Underground Railroad, To The Civil Rights Era, To Today. This Is The Story Behind The Most Successful Social Movement Of Our Generation, Told By One Of The Founders And Central Members. Drawing From A Twenty-four-year Legacy Of Organizing, Garza Shares Her Lessons And Experiences, Heartbreaks And Successes--the Sole Authority Of Her Activism. This Book Is For Everyone Who Is Curious Or Skeptical About Black Lives Matter, Either As An Idea Or As A Social Movement; For Folks Who Are Dismayed By The State Of This Country And Looking For A Way Forward; And For People Who Believe In A World That Values Us All. Most Of All, This Is A Book For The Person Who Wants To Know What History Can Tell Us About What Is Possible For Our Collective Future. "Coupled with the speed and networking capacities of social media, #blacklivesmatter was the hashtag heard round the world. But Alicia Garza well knew that the distance between a hashtag and real change would take more than a single facebook to cover. It would take a movement. Garza was a lifelong activist who had spent the previous decades educating herself on the hard lessons of organizing. She started as a kid, working on sexual education for her peers, and then moved on to major campaigns around housing, policing, and immigrant and labor rights in California and then nationally. The lessons she extracted were different from the "rules for radicals" that animated earlier generations of lefitists; they were also different than the charismatic, patriarchal model of the American Civil Rights Movement. She instead developed a mode of organizing based on creating deep connections with communities, forging multiracial, intersectional coalitions, and, most of all, calling in all sorts of people to join the fight for the world we all deserve. This is the story of an activist's education on the streets and in the homes of regular people around the country who found ways to come together to create change. And it's also a guide for anyone who wants to share in that education and help build sustainable movements for the 21st century at any level, whether you're fighting for housing justice in your community or advocating for a political candidate or marching in the streets or just voting. It's a new paradigm for change for a new generation of changemakers, from the mind and heart behind one of the most important movements of our time"-- Provided by publisher A lifelong activist who educated herself on the hard lessons of organizing, the lessons she extracted were different from the "rules for radicals" or from the charismatic, patriarchal model of the American Civil Rights Movement. She developed a mode of organizing based on creating deep connections with communities, forging multiracial, intersectional coalitions, and, most of all, calling in all sorts of people to join the fight for the world we all deserve. This is a guide for anyone who wants to share in that education and help build sustainable movements for the 21st century at any level, whether you're fighting for housing justice in your community or advocating for a political candidate or marching in the streets or just voting. -- adapted from publisher info