Cebu City, Philippines

After three decades of struggle, thousands of urban poor gather in the Philippines to reignite campaign for slum improvement. 

Tired of being criminalized, marginalized, and living with their homes under constant attack, an estimated 2,000 members of the Urban Poor Alliance (UP-ALL) celebrated Philippine Independence day last month with a lively and dynamic gathering in Cebu, the country’s second largest metro-area. Their aim was to set out a new vision on how the local and national government should combat urban poverty.  

Their solution is strait-forward: “Don’t build unaffordable houses, make inadequate houses livable. Don’t build new homes, upgrade our existing ones.” Read more

Komkhulu, Eastern Cape, South Africa 

How an indigenous group from South Africa’s Wild Coast won their battle against an Australian mining company by uniting their community.

“All this land you see around you,” Nonhle Mbuthama says with a gesture to the rolling green hills that run from the horizon on one side to the shores of the Indian Ocean on the other, “would be an open air titanium mine, had it not been for the bravery and unity of our people. Our great-grandparents fought to save this land for us, and we do the same today for our grandchildren. This is our ancestral land, and we defend it with our lives.”

The 250 community members packed close under the shade of our white-canvas awning greet Nonhle’s words with proud and disciplined applause as they respond with cries of “Amandla ngawethu!” (power to the people!). But they are not the target audience for her opening remarks. Instead, her words are directed at the row of well dressed politicians arranged along a table facing the assembly. All are candidates for the May elections who have come to seek votes. Read more

Monday, April 15 - Durban, South Africa 

For decades, apartheid South Africa seemed unshakable. Trevor Noah, former host of the Daily Show and native South African, described it as “perfect racism” – a system of subjugation based on the color of one’s skin that had been scientifically honed over centuries. A complete compendium of apartheid laws would run more than three thousand pages, all created to maintain power in the face of the country’s rising and restless black majority. 

To develop this system of total control, Noah writes, the South African government “set up a formal commission to go out and study institutionalized racism all over the world. They went to Australia. They went to the Netherlands. They went to America. They saw what worked, what didn’t. Then they came back and published a report, and the government used that knowledge to build the most advanced system of racial oppression known to man.” Read more

Tuesday, March 5 - Preston, England 

For the last 14 years, England has been awash in a sea of policies designed to slash tax rates, gut social systems, and increasingly erode corporate regulation. While many progressive local governments tacked to the center under this pressure from Parliament, one remarkable city has managed to do the exact opposite.

Sandwiched between Manchester to the South and the Scottish border to the North, in the historic heart of the industrial revolution, sits the City of Preston. It’s a place of anomalies. Nearly 10 years ago, Preston embarked on an ambitious program of ultra-localism that sought to redirect wealth back into the local economy, and place control back into the hands of people. 

So far, these policies have kept hundreds of millions of pounds in the local economy, strengthened small businesses, drastically improved the standard of living, and much more. The success of their policies even garnered recognition from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which named Preston the UK’s “most improved city” in 2018... Read more

Friday, January 19 - London 

“We somehow have a narrative in our head that people can’t win change. And that is a damn shame, because people win things all the time.” 

- Jane Macalevey 

As the tide of voices grew louder, we introduced ourselves. I asked how he felt about the evening so far while folding away the pop-out desk on the arm of my chair, leaning closer to hear his voice over the hubbub. 

Instead of the energetic response I expected, his answer was prefaced with a lengthy exhale,  puffing out his cheeks and filling the silence with a thoughtful pause. “I’ve worked in the NHS for 20 years,” he said… “and it feels good to see things get done.” Read more

Saturday, November 25 - London 

I arrived in London at 4pm on a Thursday afternoon. As the bus dropped me off on a street corner amidst the gray expanse of the outer city, it started to rain. Staring out at the dozens of dark-suited businessmen hurriedly walking by, collars turned up against the cold, I was immediately struck by how different this was going to be.

After three months spent building my home in Barcelona I had figured out a way of doing things. Now I had to start all over again. 

In Catalonia, people took to the streets by the hundreds and thousands when something was wrong. Here that type of action is something that needs to be deliberately taught. But that’s why I came; because despite lacking the seemingly natural inclination of Catalonians, communities in the UK have built one of the most strong and stable networks for community organizing anywhere outside of the US. And with it, community leaders have won significant change on the local, regional, and national level... Read more

Saturday, November 4 - London

This letter marks the end of my nearly three month life in Catalonia. You already know many of the stories: neighborhood celebrations, international protests and police brutality, community meetings and public debates, participating in actions to block evictions and negotiating fair rental agreements. 

Three months spent in pursuit of understanding how people in this remarkable region have developed an instinct to reach for their neighbor when they see something that is wrong and go do something about it... Read more

Monday, October 2 - Barcelona

In 1976, less than two years after the death of General Franco and the collapse of his dictatorship, the City of Barcelona built a cement factory at the heart of the neighborhood of Neu Barris in northern Barcelona. The city was expanding, and the plant was created to provide construction materials for a nearby highway. 

Spread along the foothills of the Collserola mountain range that rings the northern tip of the city, Neu Barris is known as one of the poorer areas of Barcelona, long composed primarily of immigrants and working class families. As the factory began operation it discharged clouds of fine gray powder that soon shrouded the landscape in a year-round snow of dull ash-like particles... Read more

Friday, September 15 - Barcelona

... Prodding a step further, I asked Victor: “What happens if the government threatens to take away that money unless the community organization does what they want it to?" 

He gave me a puzzled look, his shoulder-length curly brown hair framing a serious face. It was as if I had asked him why pedestrians don’t try to stare down oncoming cars in the notoriously belligerent Barcelona traffic.

"Here,” he replied simply, “the government knows that if it threatens to take away money from the community, there will be thousands of people in the street tomorrow to get it back." Read more

Thursday, August 24 - Barcelona

"Barcelona has taken the lead in all insurrections, against every established authority: the low populace... being always ready to raise the banner of revolt. A difficult language, rude manners, a distrust of strangers, and proneness to revolution, make this a disagreeable city."

- Richard Ford, 1845

Why Study Organizing in Catalonia?

Today, Barcelona and the surrounding region of Catalonia are known mainly for their beaches, the architecture by Antoni Gaudi, and a bustling tourism industry, yet for nearly a century this region played host to the heart of the labor movement in Western Europe. As workers around the world fought for improved conditions, better pay, and the right to organize, they looked to the rebellions, strikes, and armed conflict  taking place in the city of Barcelona... Read more

"But mass nonviolent demonstrations will not be enough. They must be supplemented by a continuing job of organization. To produce change, people must be organized to work together in units of power... More and more, the civil rights movement will have to engage in the task of organizing people into permanent groups to protect their own interests and produce change in their behalf. This task is tedious, and lacks the drama of demonstrations, but it is necessary for meaningful results." 

– MLK Jr., Where Do we Go from Here