Finding our role within social change
Today’s post includes a framework of the many roles that comprise a social change movement. In reflecting on my own roles within the movements I care deeply about, especially when those movements experience immediate needs, I came across this framework from Deepa Iyer, leader of the Solidarity Is This Project. She writes:
in times of crisis… I must ask myself:
“What are my values, how can I be aligned and in right relationship with them, what are the needs of the communities that anchor me, and what can I offer with my full energy?”
Below you will first see the visual representation of a social change ecosystem and then the direct text from Deepa Iyer’s article.
Role Descriptions from Deepa Iyer’s article for Medium
Some of us are frontline responders who quickly and ably transition into rapid-response mode instinctively and organize resources, networks, and messages.
Some of us are healers who tend to the individual and intergenerational traumas of white supremacy, racism, colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy, and nativism.
Some of us are community storytellers and artists, binding the past and the present, channeling the histories and experiences of our ancestors to shed light on what is possible today.
Some of us are natural bridge builders who can work across divisions with patience and compassion.
Some of us are proud disruptors who speak up and take action — especially when it is uncomfortable and risky.
Some of us are caregivers who provide nourishment to organizers, exude concern and love, and create a community of care.
Some of us are visionaries, with the ability to find, articulate, and reconnect us to our north star, even when we cannot clearly see the sky.
And others of us are builders who are actively developing the ideas, the structures, and the scaffolding for our organizations and movements.
I hope this encourages you to slow down, anchor into your wisdom and give to the movements you care about from your place of truth and talent. A scattered and distracted intention in fact takes away from the very thing you are trying to serve.
With love,
-Kim
PS- if you haven’t already experienced the perspective shift given by RN Remen’s article “Helping, Fixing or Serving?” take a moment to clarify the difference here. It is life-giving.