These
are just a few brainstorms generated Sunday night to see how we can
"radically" organize our community in areas that sorely need
addressing. The venue: the Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS)
office at 66-70 Union Square. The event: The first of three workshops
entitled "Radical Organizing Methods."

Led by Steve Meacham,
the director of housing organizing at City Life/Vida Urbana (CLVU) in
Jamaica Plain, the workshops are part of the "ROC (Radical Organizing
Methods) Summer Institute," which teaches people how to influence
policy. CLVU is a grassroots community organization that promotes
racial, social, and economic justice and gender equality through direct
action, coalition building, education and advocacy.

The next two
workshops will be held Sunday, July 26 and Sunday August 2 at the CAAS
center. (Call CAAS community organizer Rachel Bedick at 617-623-1392
Ext.141 for more information).

"We need to think how the system
works and where do you want to go with your struggles," Meacham said.
"Our ideal of radical organization is to approach it by taking lots of
viewpoints and how to link them, which stops problems from happening
again."

For example, City Life organized a Bank Tenant
Association two summers ago to organize against foreclosure evictions.
Since then CLVU has stopped 95% of the evictions that have come to
them, according to Meacham.

"Radical organization is about how
to help a person here and now, rather than sticking a finger in the
dike or waiting for some legislation to pass in a few years," Meacham
added.

About 25 people from Somerville and the Boston area
attended Sunday's workshop, most of who claimed that they wanted to
learn more about how to be an organizer. There was a pot potpourri of
activists from non-profits, volunteers, public health advocates to
interested residents.

The first order of business entailed
defining "radical organizing" and what makes it difficult to talk
about. People were asked to identify the barriers associated with
radical organizing.

"Our definition is vague; there are lots of interpretations," Meacham said.

In
a nutshell, people agreed that radical organizing is a psychological
transformation. Typically people default to what they know, especially
when they have their own idea of society. But radical organization is
about taking many viewpoints to make change.

People broke into
workshops to talk about particular issues, including health care and
education. They were asked to compile responses covering services,
advocacy, community development, electoral/legislative and organizing.
In addition to throwing out proposals for more political accountability
and eviction, people tossed out rent control, the need for community
clinics and charter schools. Upcoming workshops will cover world view
and leadership development and the dilemmas and tensions we face.

"Forums
like this are great to get lots of community responses," said Jon
Phoenix, 20, of Boston, a City Life volunteer who was active with the
foreclosure effort. "No one person has the answers. And working on
efforts like this makes me think that when the world goes crazy, at
least I can tell my grandchildren that I tried to make a difference."

What
struck Liz Manlin, 26, of Cambridge, a synagogue organizer, is the
spirit of peer education. "We all have experience to contribute to a
vibrant conversation about people, organizations, and communities
building power," she said. "There are lots of creative ways to do that.
Tonight has been really inspirational."

You can visit
http://citylifevidaurbana.blogspot.com for more information on the ROC
Summer Institute, which will also offer programs covering the greening
of our economy, cutting the military budget and funding communities and
spirituality and social justice, to name a few.