The New Dark Age

There’s no doubt that the racism we’re witnessing on our streets is designed to isolate and scare us. But we won’t let it.

As an Organiser with Migrants Organise I’ve been building community power to fight back against racist anti-migrant systems for years.

Here are three non-negotiable organising principles that I want everyone to know:  

Most of us don’t have the wealth or political positions typically associated with power. But, that doesn’t make us powerless.

Our power is collective, it comes from each other, in organising we call this relational power. 

When many of us raise our voices together, we have more power than just one person shouting alone. This is the core idea behind any justice movement: that when we come together, united in struggle, we can change things.

But, how do we find enough like-minded people to take action with? 

Organising requires deep listening and trust building.

Organisers use a variety of listening tools, like 1-2-1 meetings, to identify issues and people to act with. These are structured conversations used to build trust and identify common ground.

You can meet people anywhere, at the school gates, in community centres, places of worship, trade union meetings, and neighbourhood events. This is about finding people, identifying issues and what to do about them. 

For the kind of systemic change we want, we need to identify who has the power to make the specific change we’re looking for. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when everything feels bleak, so we have to get really specific.

In power mapping, we name individuals and institutions who hold the power to make decisions over our communities. Think: your local councillor, headteacher, editor of a local newspaper.

We also map our own power – what skills, knowledge, resources, and connections we already have and what we need to make a change.

Power mapping is the beginning of working what actions we can take together. 

For how-to guides, organising films, recorded lectures, social media art and posters check out the Solidarity Knows No Borders resources library.

You can take action with the Anti-Racist Movement  –  join a group near you. 

It’s no secret: the road ahead will test our resilience and courage.

The hostile environment is backed by the power of billionaires and political institutions.

But the migrant justice movement has been building people power for decades, and our people power is unlimited!

We won’t retreat ✊🏽

In solidarity,

Sarli, Organiser at Migrants Organise

Migrants Organise combines
advice and support for individuals subjected to hostile immigration
policies with grassroots organising, advocacy, research and campaigning
to dismantle structural racism. Support us to build a people-powered movement for migrant justice!