The Young Are Taking Over! Hooray!

Terrific workshop this evening on “Tools and Culture for Participatory Organizing.” The trainers are from New Zealand and began this work during the Occupy movement. Of the thirty-some people who showed up, most were working toward political action, and several were old friends I hadn’t seen since Occupy Portland. The workshop demonstrated the usefulness of acknowledging “Care Labor,” which is emotional sensitivity and care-taking of people in the group--often done by women and usually invisible in terms of group dynamics. They also suggested we talk about power and the ways it is held or shared in groups; about expectations and roles; and about mentoring and self-care. They observe that meetings are for bonding, trust, and brainstorming, while decision-making is best done online.

I see that these ideas, so fresh and new to me during Occupy, have taken hold among young, tech-savvy people who have “grown” the ideas into practical methods of group process supported by digital technology. They model a system of communication involving real-time connection (in person or electronic), asynchronous connection (like blip or email, where each person comments in their own time), and static resources (like documents and lists). As the meeting progressed, scales fell from my eyes. These young people are working together to make a better world, and they’re going to succeed. The old farts like Trump, Putin, and May are dying off and taking their hierarchies with them; and the young are coming up behind them, not only ready to collaborate but empowered with the technology to do that. I feel a paradigm-shift in my own awareness. 

I left the meeting humming a song I didn't recognize till I was halfway home. "There's a New World Coming." I wish Nina Simone were here to see it with us. I don't know if I'll see it, but I see it coming.