Advanced SYLA – week 4

Goals: to develop a deeper understanding of campaign organizing and direct action and civil disobedience

Materials:

  • Agree/disagree signs
  • Papers with x’s and o’s for lottery game
  • Campaign steps – butcher
  • Copies of power map
  • On board: list of players to fill in
  • Blanket
  • Copies of demand, strategy, definitions
  • CD: copies of action role play instructions and scenario
  • Copies of syla mid-eval form
  • Demand spectrum

Agenda:

2-2:10Check in discussion

2:10-2:35Lottery Game & campaign steps review

2:35-3:05Power mapping

3:05-3:15Break

3:15-3:30blanket game

3:30-3:40Demand spectrum

3:40-4Campaign tactics

4-4:15review game

4:15-5:10Civil disobedience

5:10-5:20Eval

5:20-5:30one on ones review

5:30-6workshop prep

  • Check-in: forced choice discussion (10 mins)
  • Set up the room – agree sign on one wall, disagree on the other.
  • Explain that this is a forced choice activity. No one can be in the middle. But you can change sides after hearing people’s arguments.
  • “The best way to change schools is to make small victories that will add up to a bigger change in the long run”
  • go back and forth calling on people on the different sides to explain themselves.
  • Lottery Game – PSU (20 mins) – ex of why we organize
  • Steps of a campaign – review (5 mins)

1. Identify Problem: what’s wrong?

2. Make it an issue with goals: Frame your problem with a solution, and state your goals (what you want—this often involves long term, medium term, and short term).

(this requires good research!!)

3. Make a strategy—we’ll focus a lot on this in the next section

4. Run your campaign—do your strategy

5. Evaluate: did you accomplish your goals

  • Where are we with Williams? College access/teacher quality?
  • Power mapping (30 mins)
  • Review terms on power map
  • Divide into teams by issue – take 20 mins to research target, fill out chart
  • Present (10 mins). Each team must create an interactive presentation that involves 3 random items – assigned by facilitator
  • Break 10 mins
  • Blanket Game – review strategy, goals, tactics (10 mins)
  • Review terms (5 mins)
  • Demand spectrum – Williams campaign as example (10 mins)
  • Where are we now?
  • Do we want to create a new system, or fix what we have now?
  • Campaign tactics (20 mins)
  • Brainstorm tactics (5 mins)
  • In issue teams: (10 mins)
  • Create a plan of 4 consecutive tactics that build momentum to help you win your campaign.
  • Choose 1 to act out (live, or as a press conference the day after). Your presentation must answer: what will the action look like? How and why is it strategic? Who is the target?
  • Presentations (5 mins)
  • Review game – 15 mins
  • Challenge – charades or pictionary
  • All teams write down an answer, team that wins the challenge goes first.
  • What are the 5 steps to a campaign
  • Who was the target for the other 2 group’s power maps
  • Why do we do power maps?
  • Write down as many definitions of campaign terms as you can
  • Write down 10 tactics
  • What is the challenge of making our demands more revolutionary or hard core?
  • Civil Disobedience 60 mins
  • What is civil disobedience? (15 mins)
  • Examples
  • Would you ever do civil disobedience? For what cause/issue? Go around
  • Knowing that this is a tactic that has been used in many social justice struggles, let’s brainstorm some tactics, and some rights that go along with CD. (10 mins)
  • Present scenario and handout from syla
  • You have 15 minutes to plan an action that uses CD as a tactic.
  • Acting 10 mins
  • Debrief 10 mins
  • How is this different from what we usually do?
  • Advantages and disadvantages?
  • Did anyone change their mind about CD?
  • Evaluation 10 mins + facilitation reminders. What worked ,what needs to improve – we have 2 more sessions!
  • One on one prep for mid-syla evals (10 mins)
  • This week we are doing one on one evals with the SYLA members.
  • Why do we do one on ones?
  • Build relationships – what is at the heart of organizing?
  • Review eval form
  • Go around: Brainstorm examples of what is a good way to give feedback/bad way to give feedback
  • Announcements:
  • Your evals will happen on Wed
  • Project planning is WED – pls review whatever deadlines your team came up with.
  • Workshop prep (30 mins)

Campaign Description Worksheet

Name of Campaign:

Please answer the questions below for your team’s issue.

  1. What Problem(s) and/or Condition(s) is the campaign seeking to address or change? What are the Root Causes of these problem(s) and/or condition(s)?

______

______

______

______

______

  1. What is the Long-term Solution to the problem(s) and/or condition(s) that would eliminate (or address) the root causes?

______

______

______

______

______

  1. What are the campaign’s Key Demands and/or Specific Policy Proposals?

______

______

______

______

______

  1. On a scale of 1 to 10 (below), How do the specific policy proposals (demands) of this campaign compare to the long-term solution you identified? Please circle a number.

1 / 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 10
The campaign is a defensive battle that must be fought. / The demands help mitigate the problem, but don’t move toward the long-term solution. / The campaign is an incremental step towards the long-term solution. / The campaign is a big step towards the lone-term solution. / The campaign represents a breakthrough in achieving the long-term solution. / The campaign will achieve the long-term solution and solve the problem.