{"id":42016,"date":"2025-06-18T13:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T20:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=42016"},"modified":"2025-06-18T13:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T20:08:10","slug":"whats-next-after-no-kings-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/06\/18\/whats-next-after-no-kings-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Next After No Kings Protests?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by\u00a0Randy Shaw<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0June 16, 2025 (BeyondChron.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No Kings”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a great time at Saturday\u2019s No Kings protest. It was inspiring seeing photos of similar actions across the nation. Anti-Trump forces are great at mobilizing rallies. Now the focus should be on expanding grassroots organizing. It\u2019s the best strategy to win over Trump voters and others who have yet to join the opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizing shapes public attitudes. So does the lack of organizing. The November 2024 election further confirmed this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People who canvassed voters in swing states often felt their targets should have been called or door-knocked several months earlier. That isn\u2019t done by volunteers flying into a state for a weekend. Or by nightly phone calls to voter lists. Rather, it\u2019s what fulltime organizers do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is particularly true with young voters. The Democratic Party still shortchanges organizing programs<\/a> targeted to youth. Young people who feel disconnected from politics do not suddenly become engaged by a stranger knocking on their door two weeks before an election. A deeper relationship\u2014like those fostered by community organizers\u2014is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increased organizing is the best strategy for changing the nation\u2019s political dynamics. But how does that happen? The  grassroots organizing infrastructure that built support for progressive goals from the 1970\u2019s through 2008 is largely gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It must be rebuilt if national progressive policies are to return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rise of Community Organizing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the heyday of community organizing we had the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the primarily Christian-funded Industrial Areas Foundation (founded by Saul Alinsky), the Center for Community Change, National People\u2019s Action and the nationwide community group ACORN.  Connected to these groups, and there were far more networks than listed above, were a huge number of community-based nonprofits that received funding to do grassroots organizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secular foundations supported organizing. Many were staffed by the activists emerging from 1960\u2019s and 70\u2019s movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are in a different organizing landscape today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progressive constituencies took a huge hit in 2009 when the foundation world defunded the national organizing group, ACORN. ACORN was the nation\u2019s preeminent progressive grassroots organizing group. It did more to recruit and develop young organizers than any other entity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A book should be written on the negative impact on low-income people, immigrants and other vulnerable communities caused by ACORN\u2019s demise. And the tragedy is that foundations walked away from the group based on a misleading story going viral<\/a> manufactured by a right-wing activist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACORN built community leadership. It offered political education to those bypassed by election campaigns. Building community leadership requires one on one meetings and the development of organizing skills. It\u2019s a process many organizations deem too time consuming. But it makes a difference on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in winning the hearts and minds of voters on election day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on funding patterns some foundations have lost faith in the power of organizing. The only current national organizations that rigorously trains large numbers of young organizers is the PIRG\u2019s and their related Environment America. The PIRG\u2019s New Voter Project<\/a> has boosted campus turnouts but lacks the resources to reach young voters who are not in school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obama Defunds Organizing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACORN\u2019s demise coincided with President Obama\u2019s decision to sharply reduce the scope of the powerful Obama for America that got him elected. Obama had over two million campaign volunteers. Those were the troops that could have won passage of comprehensive immigration reform, labor law reform, health care with a public option, and other progressive policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Obama\u2019s 2008 victory I wrote, \u201cAfter the Victory, Engaging Obama Volunteers.<\/a>\u201d I saw his massive grassroots campaign as becoming the mobilizing base for his presidency. But Obama disempowered this massive organization just when it was needed most. When the Tea Party emerged to resist Obama\u2019s plans for real health care reform, comprehensive immigration reform, and other big 2009 priorities, the powerful grassroots campaign organization that elected Obama was gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obama\u2019s post-election Organizing for America group was a shadow of the campaign organization. After enlisting a new generation of organizers, Obama pretty much let them disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obama\u2019s team was allegedly uncomfortable with Obama-funded organizers pressuring Democrats. So to avoid potentially causing discomfort to Democrats not on board with the president, Obama sacrificed his agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what happens when Democratic power-brokers don\u2019t fund organizing. Progressive policies lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t expand a movement by repeatedly mobilizing those already involved. Organizing reaches people who do not attend these events. Organizing builds <\/em>a broader political base<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wrote a book on how grassroots organizing built the farmworkers\u2019 movement. Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st<\/sup> Century<\/em> <\/a>describes how the power of organizing enabled a movement to be built among itinerant farmworkers that few ever thought was possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My book shows how UFW organizers trained by Fred Ross Sr. went on to lifetime careers working for progressive change (a new film on Ross, American Agitators<\/a>, will soon be released). Had the UFW not invested in organizing, two generations of activists who furthered social justice for decades would not have had the opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizing Wins Elections<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UFW\u2019s door to door organizing campaigns won Robert Kennedy the 1968 California presidential primary. It helped elect Jerry Brown governor in 1974. The UFW door to door outreach model won Barack Obama the Democratic presidential nomination and then the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the forces that spent over $1 billion to elect Kamala Harris are not investing meaningful dollars in organizing. That has to change. Organizing reaches the low-information voters who disproportionately backed Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So while we get inspired by how many took to the streets last weekend, let\u2019s think about how to reach those who did not attend. Let\u2019s think how best to get them on our side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that primarily happens through community organizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s new book is the revised and updated, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. His prior books include Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Posts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Randy Shaw\u00a0on\u00a0June 16, 2025 (BeyondChron.org) “No Kings” I had a great time at Saturday\u2019s No Kings protest. It was inspiring seeing photos of similar actions across the nation. Anti-Trump forces are great at mobilizing rallies. Now the focus should be on expanding grassroots organizing. It\u2019s the best strategy to win… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42016"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42017,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42016\/revisions\/42017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}