I want to be able to support the causes I believe in and actually be a part of the change I want to see but I was never taught how to find, join and work with these groups.
I see all the time about protests and community action and people actually going out and helping people who need help and support and I always hated the fact that I only know about it happening after the fact and I want to get involved!
Any help would be much appreciated!
Find out who organized a protest that you would have wanted to join, start following them on social media, they will usually announce any upcoming protests there.
You can also try Googling to find organizations in your area that match your ideologies by entering {ideology} + {location} in Google, e.g. “BLM San Francisco” and sign up for newsletters.
In the beginning it will be a lot of active looking but once you start following the right accounts on social media and you’ve signed up for some newsletters/mailinglists, you should be able to passively consume what’s happening next and where.
After a little searching, I found a couple of resources you might find handy:
https://indivisible.org/groups - find activist groups near you
https://givingcompass.org/nonprofits - browse nonprofit social justice groups you can join
https://www.globalgiving.org/ - browse global crises that need funding
https://www.astartingpoint.com/ - tangentially related, this organization focuses on discussion of contentious ongoing issuesPlease read some stuff on Effective Altruism.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism
Different people have different standards for what that means,
some hold:
- policy-change is most-effective
- grass-roots is most effective
- low overhead is most-effective
etc.
I’d divide resources into
Kipp.org Teach For America Dalit Network
because all-3 are working to get the next-generation thinking, and without that, we-the-species is flushed down the sewer:
our generation deems thinking “optional, and ill-advised”, apparently.
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Yeah, OP, do not fall for EA nonsense. They’re not trying to change anything for the better, just pushing justifications for extreme wealth and the misery it creates for everyone else.
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Perhaps OP is looking for a local organization to pick up trash with. Some people like working in groups for a common good.
You say you hear about protests and community action. They have to have been organized by someone. Is there a way for you to find out by whom? Then you could they to reach out to them
I had this exact same question and it led to me starting !inperson@slrpnk.net / !inperson@slrpnk.net as an attempt at a solution. It’s already pointed me to a few good ones.
There are also some pretty fantastic ideas in this thread, which I plan to post as new threads there.
:-D
It’s very, very diffficult to find a way ‘in’, not least because there are a lot of groups you will one day know to avoid and they tend to be easier to find.
Think about what it is you want to do. Labour organising, direct action, protests and stunts, letter writing.
Attend protests and talk to people. Find relevant accounts on Mastodon and follow them.
And don’t be afraid to do your own thing. You don’t need to be under an official banner to get a group of friends together to picket your local representative, or block the entrance to EvilCorp, or whatever. Start getting involved where you can and you’ll make the connections.
