8 Stages of Successful Social Movements

(ref: Grassroots and Nonprofit Leadership by Berit Lakey, George Lakey, Rod Napier, Janice Robinson)

Bill Moyer, a United States social change activist, developed a strategic model for waging successful nonviolent social movements in the late 1970s. This model is called the Movement Action Plan (MAP). Here is a summary of this model as described by George Lakey, the founder and retired executive director of Training for Change.

Stage One: Business as Usual
In this stage, relatively few people care about the issue. Small groups are formed to support each other. The objective is to get people to start thinking about the issue and start spreading the word. Small action projects may be taken on in this stage.

Stage Two: Failure of Established Channels
The general public is unaware of the injustice and largely uninterested in learning about the issue. The public is thinking (or hoping) that established structures are taking care of the problem. “Surely the government is watching out for the safety of our ground water.” “Surely, corporations know which chemicals are safe and unsafe and are already ensuring that workers and the public are not being exposed to the unsafe ones.” In this stage, small groups research the issue and the victims of the injustice. They may sue government agencies or corporations and will usually lose. Nevertheless, these actions are a necessary exercise in building public awareness.  Stage Two polls will show 15% to 20% of public opinion leaning towards the change.

18 Milestone Events in the Life of Mohandas Gandhi

(ref: Great Figures in History: Gandhi – a full-color manga graphic novel from Y.kids)

	1869 October 2 – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in Porbandar in West Bengal, India
	1891 June – After attending Inner Temple Law School in the United Kingdom, Gandhi passes the bar exam and becomes a lawyer. Unknown to him at the time, his mother has passed away while he is at school.
	1893 – Gandhi is thrown off of a train in South Africa for refusing to move from his First Class seat to Third Class (even though he held a valid First Class ticket). Such discrimination against Indians was common practice and this personal experience gives Gandhi resolve to fight racial discrimination.

20 (or more) Things You Can Do On Peace Day: September 21

The International Day of Peace is on September 21st of each year and calls for a full day of peace and ceasefire throughout the world.

On September 21st, 2007, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon rang the Peace Bell at United Nations Headquarters in New York calling for a 24-hour cessation of hostilities, and for a minute of silence to be observed around the world. The Peace Bell is cast from coins donated by children on all continents, and considered a symbol of global solidarity. It was given as a gift by Japan, and is referred to as a reminder of the human cost of war. The inscription on its side reads: “Long live absolute world peace.” [ref: wikipedia] The first Peace Day was celebrated in 1982.

Here are some ideas of things you can personally (or as a small group) do on Peace Day.

40 Ways to Build a Global Community

(ref: How to Build Global Community poster)

1. Think of no one as “them”
2. Don’t confuse your comfort with your safety
3. Talk to strangers
4. Imagine other cultures through their art, poetry, and novels
5. Listen to music you don’t understand – Dance to it!
6. Act locally
7. Notice the workings of power and privilege in your culture
8. Question consumption
9. Know how your lettuce and coffee are grown: wake up and smell the exploitation
10. Look for fair trade and union labels
11. Help build economies from the bottom up
12. Acquire few needs
13. Learn a second (or third) language
14. Visit people, places, and cultures — not tourist attractions
15. Learn people’s history
16. Re-define progress
17. Know physical and political geography
18. Play games from other cultures
19. Watch films with subtitles
20. Know your heritage
21. Honor everyone’s holidays
22. Look at the moon and imagine someone else, somewhere else, looking at it too
23. Read the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights
24. Understand the global economy in terms of people, land, and water
25. Know where your bank banks
26. Never believe you have a right to anyone else’s resources
27. Refuse to wear corporate logos: defy corporate domination
28. Question military/corporate connections
29. Don’t confuse money with wealth, or time with money
30. Have a pen/email pal
31. Honor indigenous cultures
32. Judge governance by how well it meets all people’s needs
33. Be skeptical about what you read
34. Eat adventurously — Enjoy vegetables, beans, and grains in your diet
35. Choose curiosity over certainty
36. Know where your water comes from and where your wastes go
37. Pledge allegiance to the earth: question nationalism
38. Think South, Central, and North — there are many Americans
39. Assume that many others share your dream
40. Know that no one is silent though many are not heard – WORK TO CHANGE THIS!

You can get a poster with this list of How to Build Global Community at Reach and Teach.

Also check out the Take One World poster.