Why Authentic Solidarity?

I’ve worked in social change for more than twenty years, and even with all that experience, our movements often exert a lot of pressure to “get it right” but knew deep down that “the right words” weren’t the answer.
In social change culture, many of us find ourselves performing, calling each other out, or playing it safe out of fear of critique.

Authentic Solidarity is an invitation to do this work differently.

WHY AUTHENTIC?

Authenticity is about commitment to the TRUTH.
Now more than ever, with social media control of the news and the power of artificial intelligence, it takes work to siphon together a complete picture of our political, social and economic lives. In addition, a full American and global history rarely gets taught in school. Our work requires a solid understanding of how resources are shared (or not) to inform our positions on potential solutions, so we aren’t working off of trends and memes. Authenticity is also about getting at the TRUTH of who each of us are as people. Authenticity is about deep self awareness, knowing and sharing your strengths unabashedly & knowing and working through your weaknesses and limitations with humility and grace.

WHY SOLIDARITY?

Solidarity is about COLLECTIVE ACTION.
Coming in together in groups to magnify our ability to get things done is part of what makes us human. When human beings unite under a common cause, decide to look out for each other, and commit to do our part in a collective effort, whether that’s an updated hybrid work process, or a policy that could create millions of new well paying jobs, so much more is possible. It’s more work coming together; we’ve got to air our differences, be willing to make sacrifices, and trust both our instincts and our research, but ultimately we should never doubt what’s possible when a small group of people come together to change the world.