George Goehl: Building a Bigger "We"
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Building powerful state-level organizations aligned around a long-term agenda for racial, economic, climate, and gender justice starts with one thing: individual communities. Identifying, recruiting, and developing skills that help others act and become leaders themselves builds a community’s ability to control the forces that affect it, and large-scale change is possible when organizing is coordinated across many communities at the same time.
George Goehl is a community organizer, activist, and the outgoing Executive Director of People’s Action, a national network of state and local grassroots power-building organizations united in their fight for justice. George is a leader in transforming the field of community organizing to increase relevance to emerging social movements, building electoral power in states, and winning structural change that shifts the balance of power to working class families. His efforts have helped to craft city, state, and federal campaigns on issues that range from outlawing predatory lending and advancing immigration reform to multiracial organizing in rural communities and defining co-governing.
In today’s episode, we discuss the power of some basic fundamental principles that inform George’s strategies to build a bigger ‘we’, including starting where people are at, learning to suspend judgement, and engaging those who don’t agree with you. Tuning in, you’ll learn how People’s Action seeks to create social cohesion between disparate groups, build trust in rural communities, and reconcile restrictive legislation with progressive ideals, plus so much more! We hope you’ll join us for this inspiring conversation.
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Key Points From This Episode:
How George first learned to organize in a soup kitchen in Southern Indiana.
Some fundamentals that inform the strategies he employs to empower the working class.
The value of stepping out of your comfort zone and engaging those who disagree with you.
Opportunities for bridging and social cohesion between disparate groups.
The importance of being present to build trust and help people make meaning of changing sociopolitical conditions.
The key to building member-driven organizations versus staff-driven ones.
How People’s Action fosters pride without promoting ‘white pride’ in low income communities.
The process of “getting real” to reconcile restrictive legislation with progressive ideals.
What’s next for George as he steps down as Executive Director of People’s Action.
How you can help George build the next economy by coming along for the ride!
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Tweetables:
“At the end of the day, the primary challenge is that both low income and working class people don’t have the power they need to move the ideas that they have about what would make their lives better.” — @GeorgeGoehl
“Learning to start where the other person is at, to understand the human needs behind whatever the other person is experiencing or feeling can transform all the relationships in your life; it just happens to be really powerful for organizing.” — @GeorgeGoehl
“Every time we’re not present to help [people] make meaning, somebody else is. We’ve already retreated from so many parts of the country and have forfeited hearts and minds to some very hateful forces.” — @GeorgeGoehl
“[We have to] understand the conditions that we’re operating in, really understand America, and figure out what shifts we have to make to be able to build a big enough, sustainable majority to move ideas into reality [and] protect them.” — @GeorgeGoehl
“For us to become [an] America that has reckoned with our contradictions and repaired the harms, we need majorities. This can’t be a project only some of us are in.” — @GeorgeGoehl
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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
People’s Action — https://peoplesaction.org/
People’s Action Institute — https://peoplesaction.org/institute/
George Goehl on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-goehl-18a02a9/
George Goehl on Twitter — https://twitter.com/georgegoehl
To See Each Other Podcast — https://peoplesaction.org/to-see-each-other/
The Next Move Podcast — https://peoplesaction.org/nextmove/
The Fundamentals of Organizing — https://georgegoehl.substack.com/
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