A better world is possible. All throughout history, the biggest transformations were not handed down by powerful people after we asked politely for them. They had to be fought for and won: child labor rights, the weekend, the eight-hour workday. Change on the scale of societal systems requires a mass movement of diverse people united behind a shared vision of this better world. People power comes from the cohesion of working class people from entirely different backgrounds in common struggles and focused projects.

Organizing with your community is the most proven method used by social justice movements to keep people engaged and produce long-term reforms. Advocacy and mobilization—two other approaches to activism—have their benefits but those tend to be short-lived, which can lead to activist burnout. Community organizing incorporates both advocacy and mobilization as tactics within a broader framework.

Keep the adage “solidarity not charity” in mind, prioritizing grassroots people power. Charity means that powerful elites who control resources get to determine which marginalized people receive aid based on arbitrary and subjective rules and guidelines, keeping the existing power relationships in place. Solidarity means that large numbers of people band together in large numbers to determine their own fate.

This project mostly avoids discussion of electoral politics, because we are building something for everyone. Low voter turnout means that our electoral system only represents a small fraction of people who live in the United States, and betrayal around popular issues that lawmakers refuse to pass like raising the minimum wage, statutes of limitation on reporting sexual assault, reproductive rights, universal healthcare, taxing corporations, legalizing weed and freeing those incarcerated on cannibis-related charges leads to burnout for activists who focus on voting alone. This project strives to build a base for people power. We encourage people to vote passionately, but when we organize in our communities, we start to reclaim our power and self.

If you would like to collaborate with us on any of these community organizing practices, vote by clicking the star icon in the lower left-hand corner of that page, or write to us at utopascope [at] protonmail dot com. If you have new ideas to suggest or would like to share your thoughts about utopia, let us know.