The Concept of a Leader
In his article "But We Don't Have Leaders", Chris Crass talks about in his organizing experience at Food Not Bombs (FNB), people often said "there are no leaders". "Our refusal of leadership was, in many ways, an attempt to share power, but it also made it extremely difficult to talk about the real power dynamics in our work and how they related to institutional forms of privilege and oppression." He continues:
"Leadership development is primarily about doing day to day work - door knocking, political education, recruitment, cooking for 100 people at a rally - and having a space to reflect and learn from the experience. Making leadership development a more formal and intentional process, for me, has been about taking responsibility for my actions and trying to be accountable to the people I work with. In rejecting leadership, I was in many ways rejecting responsibility and accountability to others and continuing the tradition of capitalist individualism. In learning to respect the leadership of others and myself, I have struggled to reclaim trust in and respect for myself, both of which I was taught to achieve only through dominating others. In working to heal myself and fight back, I have needed the leadership of others who have nurtured and developed communities of resistance and cultures of liberation."
Ella Baker also warns of having too few leaders. "I have always felt that it was a handicap for oppressed people to depend so largely on a leader, because unfortunately in our culture the charismatic leader usually becomes the leader because he has found a spot in the public limelight. It usually means that the media made him, and the media can undo him."
We do not need no leaders at all or one leader alone. Instead, we need lots and lots of different kinds of leaders: the idealist, the mentor, the achiever, the innovator, the synthesizer, the partner, the enthusiast, the advocate, the diplomat, we needs lots of them all!
Some questions asked of us I now ask you...
What kind of leader are you? Who has supported you in developing your leadership? How did they develop your leadership? Whose leadership have you helped develop? How can you continue supporting their development? Is there anyone else who's leadership you want to support?
Leadership Development within Grassroots Community Organizations
For me, leadership development often feels like a weighted term in the community organizing world: something that often gets pushed to the wayside in order to focus all energy on a campaign, something that turns in to a few workshops instead of a holistic integrated vision, and something that is a source of tension between organizations who compete over the number of members in leadership. In my experience organizing in NYC, I saw this play out in many ways (both in my organizing and organizing around the city): organizers taking on a lot of the work that could have been held by members; leadership development workshops without skills transferring to the work; hierarchical one direction leadership development - i.e. organizer supporting development of key leaders vs. a bunch of leaders supporting each other's development, the development of new folks coming in, and bringing in new folks to the organization; the same two leaders speaking at every hearing, leading every action, facilitating every meeting; leaders not seeing the organization as "you" instead of "us". Not to at all diminish the beautiful and inspiring ways I also saw community members develop in to powerful leaders through the work, but I think there is something here that needs to be addressed, for if we are winning campaigns without centering the leadership development of us all in the process, then how are we really accomplishing the vision of building power from the grassroots? I also don't want to point blame at individual organizations or people, for I think this problem comes out of the non-profit industrial complex and how foundations breed competition and force deliverables that leave little time for intentional leadership development. But upon reflection of our session on the matter, I'm also beginning to wonder if the problem is far greater than any amount of intentional leadership development workshops and one-on-one leader support could ever really solve.
The Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico show us what a radical structure of democracy looks like and how it allows for the participation and leadership of the entire community. The article "Zapatismo beyond Chiapas" by Manuel Callahan explains how it requires a system "that seeks and respects the contribution of everyone, each sharing their own word. The Zapatistas demonstrated that it is possible to organize collective action based on a community wide dialogue, consensus and commitment." They work under a system of mandar obedeciendo, or "lead by obeying," which "suggest going beyond a system of hierarchy and rank where elites are conferred the duty and right to direct...Mandar obedeciendo requires humility and a commitment to listening, neither of which can be taken for granted. It is an invitation to a profound transformation, collective and individual. Transformation is both necessary and integral to struggle as we provoke, incide, facilitate, inspire, listen, and work with one another with humility.
In class we learned about Ella Baker's vision for group centered leadership and model for Participatory Democracy which required the following:
1. assess conditions of exclusion, who's left out?
2. Apply corrective measures
3. Reorganize relationships
Sista II Sista (SIIS) of Brooklyn, NY shows us how a non hierarchical inclusive organizational structure allows for broad based participation and leadership. SIIS is a Brooklyn-wide community-based organization in Bushwick. In the article "Sistas Making Moves" they describe themselves as "a collective of working-class, young and adult, Black and Latina women building together to model a society based on liberation and love. Our organization is dedicated to working with young women to develop personal, spiritual and collective power. We are committed to fighting injustice and creating alternatives to the systems we live in by making social, cultural, and political change." They see their organization structure as a flower, with the petals representing different areas of work: "organizational development, the Freedom School program, outreach and organizing, financials, fundraising...and membership." The center of the flower is the collective which "includes the Sista Squad (young women leadership body); the collective (young and adult women who meet monthly); the advisory board and our general membership. These bodies decide on the direction and vision of the organization together twice a year at retreats. The Sista Squad and the collective make the day-to-day decision that need to be made outside of those retreats." While SIIS no longer has paid staff, when they did, all staff were paid the same across the board. Along with having an organizational structure that facilitates leadership development, they have an intentional program called the Freedom School for Young Women of Color. "For the first three years we didn't take on organizing projects and campaigns, instead we focused on building our base, developing collective leadership and consciousness, and supporting the organizing work of our allies. Once we had established a strong base of members through the Freedom School, we began to develop our organizing work."
Saturday night I hosted our "end of Braden" party. At some point in the night, a friend asked me how I was doing. "I'm great!" I said. "I host like I organize in high chaos situations, delegate all responsibilities so that I can jump in as crisis arise. Rachel and Tim are on the fire. Dana and Annie Morgan on the grill." I explained how during Sandy and the Obama campaign I had trained leaders to then coordinate groups of volunteers. "But how does that develop leadership at the bottom?" she asked. Not that 2 drinks in was a good time for intensive self reflection on organizing technique, but it left me thinking, even in times of chaos, is it possible to create structures that are inclusive and non- hierarchical? That I am not sure. I am also not sure if it is feasible for non-profit organizations already set in an organization model and constrained by foundation dollars to radically reconstruct their model given the circumstances. But learning about the examples above gives me hope, and leaves me feeling inspired how to further integrate these practices into all of my organizing.
And no coincidence at all, the Silvia Rivera Law Project published a report on Bottom Up Stratgies and Practices for Membership Based Organizations earlier this month.
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As the Anne Braden comes to a close, I see more and more clearly the importance of stepping up as a leader in my community and supporting the leadership of others. Ella Baker often asked, "who are your people?" Who are my people? My people are young rich kids. Queer jews. Radical jews. Eco jews. Residents of Dundee & Elgin, Illinois. My friends. My comrades. My family. Those are my people.
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