Tips for Getting Involved; Tips for Activists
[ by the (dis)orientation guide collective ]

So you’ve read the (Dis)Orientation Guide from cover-to-cover; you’ve poured over the articles, the graphics have soaked your consciousness and imagination, and now you’re ready to dive right in and start a revolution, or a protest – or maybe just a constructive conversation or two. Or maybe you’re a seasoned student organizer, and you’re looking for some tips that will take your work to the next level. The (Dis)Orientation Guide Collective has compiled a practical list of steps for people looking to get involved in the fine world of activism at UCSB, as well as (later on down the list) some tools we’ve found useful in enhancing our own effectiveness as organizers. Take them in, and don’t hesitate to send us your feedback at sbdisorienation(at)riseup(dot)net

Getting Involved...

1. Keep Your Eyes Peeled: Fliers, class announcements, calendar postings­ — political organizers have a variety of ways of getting the word out about their activities. Just keep your eyes and ears open, and you’ll be sure to get word of some group’s event or meeting. The Santa Barbara Independent and KCSB have highly recommended calendars.

2. Attend a Meeting: To count yourself among the ranks of the truly politically active, you’ll be required to attend more than your fair share of meetings (on the bright side, a lot of them have free food). When you’re first starting out, we recommend that you attend as wide a variety of meetings as possible, so that you can assess which group(s) or cause(s) is (are) right for you.

3. Believe in Yourself: If at first you have trouble actively participating or feeling comfortable in a given group, it may be that you’re taking a little time to adjust to this fabulous new world of heightened political consciousness. But it’s just as likely that the organization you’re a part of isn’t functioning in a democratic or empowering way. Most of the time, activists are the nicest, most interesting, and enjoyable people you could ever hope to hang out with. Every so often, though, you’ll encounter folks in activism who are way over on the self-righteous and/or controlling side. So, if a loud, know-it-all white guy (for example) is taking up a lot of conversation space, don’t hesitate to call him on it. You may not be as informed or experienced as he is, but you’re just as entitled to make your voice heard in any given situation.

4. Get Used to a Lot of Acronyms: Activists are notorious for using a lot of acronyms. Sentences like “I went to the CSC meeting, and a lot of SEC people were talking about the CSSC instead of the SUA, until some SCWSJ members brought it up” are not uncommon. If you don’t know what in the name of SCORE and the EAB they’re talking about, just ask.

5. Get Informed - Stay Informed: A necessary starting point for anyone’s political involvement is a basic level of awareness and knowledge of the pressing issues of the day. Check SBIndyMedia regularly, and listen to KCSB’s news & public affairs programs! We also highly recommend Web sites like www.zmag.org, www.counterpunch.org, and www.commondreams.org for cutting-edge information and analysis you’re sure not to find in the mainstream media.

Once You’re Involved...

6. Utilize Consensus Process and Good Facilitation: Consensus process, consensus decision-making, and quality facilitation of meetings are indispensable tools, ones that we wholeheartedly recommend for any active change-maker. Consensus and facilitation serve a number of valuable functions: They equalize group participation, create a more creative and open discussions, and give your group at least a fighting chance of being truly democratic. To read more about consensus, check out www.consensus.net; or simply Google “consensus” and you’ll be sure to come up with dozens of informative pages on the subject.

7. Analyze Yourself: If you’re not in the process of unlearning one form of privilege or another, the odds are you’re not being completely honest with yourself. Analyze your position in society: your class, racial, gender, sexual, and age identity. What privileges — or lack thereof — have accrued to you as a result of this position? How do these privileges — or lack thereof — affect your day-to-day interactions with the people around you, particularly among those you organize with? Look around for workshops on racism, sexism and deconstructing privilege. The Women’s Center and various other campus resources often have great consciousness-raising workshops and talks.

8. Practice Non-Violent Communication: A growing network of people across the globe have adopted this method of communication and are re-learning how to express themselves in compassionate, non-oppressive ways. Very useful for activists.

More information: www.cnvc.org

9. Build Continuity In Your Organization: A group of students get motivated, they start an organization, they graduate — the organization dies. Goes with the territory, right? Although sometimes this process really is unavoidable (frankly, it may even be beneficial), there are some practical ways to make your organization a lasting one: For example, always be developing new leadership (that means putting trust in other people to step up and take responsibility), and keep good documentation of your activities so that the next crop of leaders don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

10. Build Your Library: Read — books, magazines, more books, whatever you can get your hands on. There’s an endless range of information and rich perspectives out there to inform your social change work. The Top 13 [Horizontal] Reasons To Be Radical reading list on pages ___ is a great place to start.