The Forge: Organizing Strategy and Practice

13/01/2025

After the election, corporate media quickly decided who was to blame. Narratives were set, fingers were pointed, and sweeping generalizations about our communities were presented as fact—without questioning what was overlooked or ignored.

Introducing Left Out: The Missing Election Narratives

In collaboration with , , , and , this special issue brings together essays, reporting and interviews with organizers, voters, volunteers and cultural workers from across the country to reveal the stories that went unreported.

As members of The Movement Media Alliance, a dedicated collective of writers and editors came together to bring those conversations to the forefront, and uplift the transformative struggles that accompanied the election and the seeds of power going forward.

🔗Read the full issue at the link in our bio ⬆️

11/01/2025

For movements trying to harness the energy that emerges during political upheavals, mass training provides a crucial means to develop leadership and bring in new participants. By Paul Engler.

For movements trying to harness the energy that emerges during political upheavals, mass training provides a crucial means to develop leadership and bring in new participants.

17/12/2024

Bill Kopsky, executive director of Arkansas Public Policy Panel argues for a multiracial organizing revival and bold ideas to overcome the divisiveness of a second Trump presidency and make progress on the core challenges facing Americans.

Bill Kopsky, executive director of Arkansas Public Policy Panel, argues for a multiracial organizing revival and bold ideas to overcome the divisiveness of a second Trump presidency and make progress on the core challenges facing Americans.

12/12/2024

For over seven decades, the U.S. Student Association represented millions of students, weathered challenges like CIA infiltration, and championed civil rights and free higher education. Learn how this organization was built in the 1940s and why a new generation is rebuilding it today.

For over seven decades, the U.S. Student Association represented millions of students, weathered challenges like CIA infiltration, and championed civil rights and free higher education. Learn how this organization was built in the 1940s and why a new generation is rebuilding it today.

03/12/2024

Two former staff leaders of Jewish Voice for Peace reflect on what it looks like to build a durable institution capable of winning long-term governing power while remaining agile in moments of crisis.

Two former staff leaders of JVP reflect on what it looks like to build a durable institution capable of winning long-term governing power while remaining agile in moments of crisis.

26/11/2024

Hahrie Han’s new book about an evangelical church is packed with touching moments of human vulnerability and contains important lessons for organizers struggling within workplaces, families, and organizations that often feel hostile to our politics and values. By .qt

26/11/2024

Hahrie Han’s new book about an evangelical church is packed with touching moments of human vulnerability and contains important lessons for organizers struggling within workplaces, families, and organizations that often feel hostile to their politics and values.

Hahrie Han’s new book about an evangelical church is packed with touching moments of human vulnerability and contains important lessons for organizers struggling within workplaces, families, and organizations that often feel hostile to our politics and values. I see Hahrie Han as one of the most i...

19/11/2024

A story of intrigue and power involving union organizers, Black laundry workers, the mafia, and the FBI in 1980s Detroit.

A story of intrigue and power involving union organizers, Black laundry workers, the mafia, and the FBI in 1980s Detroit. Melrose Linen was a hellhole in 1980. A large commercial laundry surrounded by cemeteries in the industrial wastelands of the northeast side of Detroit, serving the city’s elit...

15/11/2024

Join us in Oakland on November 16th at 4:30pm to learn more about Marshall Ganz’s new book People, Power, Change: Organizing for Democratic Renewal while connecting with other organizers! Register at bit.ly/ForgeBookTalk.

Marshall’s new book People, Power, Change: Organizing for Democratic Renewal (Oxford University Press) is for anyone who wants to work with other people to defend democracy and make lasting change.

Rooted in Marshall’s 60 years of organizing, teaching, and learning the book draws on the values, ideas and skills driving an actionable framework of how to do it: the creation and substance of relationships, the fuel of values and narrative, the resources and power of strategy, the accountability of action, and the necessity of structure. It’s a road map for learning how to do it, how to share it with others, and how to bring purpose, skill, and craft to it. In fact, the learning this book shares grew out of work interaction with so many of you, your campaigns, and your organizations rooted in values we share.

13/11/2024

The key to taking effective action in a Trump world is to avoid perpetuating the autocrat’s goals of fear, isolation, exhaustion and disorientation. By Daniel Hunter.

The key to taking effective action in a Trump world is to avoid perpetuating the autocrat’s goals of fear, isolation, exhaustion and disorientation. Originally Published in Waging Nonviolence It’s important we squarely face Trump’s victory and what there is to do about it. Trump has already si...

12/11/2024

Our job is to translate outrage over his agenda into action toward a truly transformational vision.

Our job is to translate outrage over his agenda into action toward a truly transformational vision. Originally Published in Waging Nonviolence For many of us, the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump’s decisive electoral victory has been a time of deep despair and mourning. There has been plenty of...

11/11/2024

Dima Khalidi of Palestine Legal explains how our legal system’s inability to challenge underlying power structures allows for the far right to wield it against our people and our movements. Adapted from remarks at the Through the Portal Conference in Chicago, September 2024.

Dima Khalidi of Palestine Legal explains how our legal system’s inability to challenge underlying power structures allows for the far right to wield it against our people and our movements. Adapted from remarks at the Through the Portal Conference in Chicago, September 2024. From Palestine Legal.....

05/11/2024

Rynn Reed dives deep into how carpentry taught her to better understand what it takes to build effective strategy.

Rynn Reed dives deep into how carpentry taught her to better understand what it takes to build effective strategy. If you haven’t been into a woodshop, there is usually only one word that captures the feeling for first-timers: overwhelming. To start your journey into woodworking is to learn from t...

01/11/2024

Application in Forge Bio: The Organizers Writing Workshop is a chance for organizers to learn the fundamentals of writing for publication. The instructor will lead students through a series of reading and writing assignments, including how to write pitches, structure arguments, and conduct research for Opinion Articles and Personal Essays.

This workshop will be hosted by our developmental editor Akin Olla (.QT). Akin is a political organizer and strategist currently writing nonfiction and political comedy in Philadelphia. He is a contributing opinion writer at the Guardian, contributing editor at Waging Nonviolence, publisher of The Loot magazine, and the host of This Is the Revolution podcast. He has been an organizer, editor, and writer for 15 years.

01/11/2024

The Organizers Writing Workshop is a chance for organizers to learn the fundamentals of writing for publication. The instructor will lead students through a series of reading and writing assignments, including how to write pitches, structure arguments, and conduct research for Opinion Articles and Personal Essays.

This workshop will be hosted by our developmental editor Akin Olla. Akin is a political organizer and strategist currently writing nonfiction and political comedy in Philadelphia. He is a contributing opinion writer at the Guardian, contributing editor at Waging Nonviolence, publisher of The Loot magazine and the host of This Is the Revolution podcast. He has been an organizer, editor, and writer for 15 years.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vz-bzIjtgNNv1KPY7kthdsO9yfaOcjqLl5IRBH-Aq98/edit

30/10/2024

Meena Jagannath of the Movement Law Lab argues for global strategies that trade U.S. exceptionalism for an international analysis that takes seriously the ever-reaching power of the wealthy elite.

30/10/2024

Meena Jagannath of the Movement Law Lab argues for global strategies that trade U.S. exceptionalism for an international analysis that takes seriously the ever-reaching power of the wealthy elite.

Meena Jagannath of the Movement Law Lab argues for global strategies that trade U.S. exceptionalism for an international analysis that takes seriously the ever-reaching power of the wealthy elite. “Globalization meant that rule by theft and the rule of law were co-existing. Such tension could not ...

22/10/2024

A former student organizer proposes a strategy for the divestment movement to achieve victory while fundamentally transforming the organizing landscape in the process. By Akin Olla (.qt )

Link in bio!