C-C-C-Communications: How the progressive movement needs to change for long-term impact
At the ripe age of 22, I started as the communications director of National People’s Action—a long-time organization devoted to building the power of grassroots organizing. And at my first staff meeting, I scared the crap out of my new colleagues
Walking in with my naïve big girl swagger and just a few years of reporting under my belt, I sat down at the long, rickety table among a dozen organizers that, combined, had decades of experience and political savvy that I couldn’t hold a candle to, and told them it was time to shake things up. Gone were the days of last minute communications planning and calling for a press release an hour before an action. Out with dismissing the Internet (still in its infancy during that time). Done with half-assed writing and production when we communicated with our members through our monthly newspaper. Communications, dammit, was part and parcel of the organizing strategy.
Looks of horror stared back at me.
Not because they thought quality was bad, but because communications always came after the organizing.
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