Doing Political Work: the 3 Things You Need

In the wake of the presidential election, I'm seeing a lot of people at a loss about how to practically do politics. You can protest and petition and appeal to your public representatives alone, but that isn't all you can do. 

Broadly speaking, there are three things you need: 

1. Politics. What is your ideology? How should the world look? What analytical lens do you bring to the table? What are your goals? What are your principals? Solid politics helps you decide what needs to be done and find a path to action. Without a firm grip of this, 

2. Program. Political organizations that want to have a base in their community need to provide something, like a service, for a couple of reasons. It's a way to practice your politics, by making them real in the world. It's a way to gain trust, to prove that you're legitimate and worth joining up with. And it's a way to build your organization; people want to do something when they feel helpless, something that affects the world in a tangible way. 

3. Organization. Who does the work of making all this happen? Who decides what to do, and how? How do people join up? Who's answering the phone, storing the supplies, collecting the dues, staffing the office, arranging the carpool?

So to use a famous example, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense had all three of these things. Their politics were revolutionary socialism, Black liberation, anti-imperialism— this was articulated in the Ten Point Program. They had a bunch of programs guided by those politics, among them the neighborhood patrols to protect from racist police and vigilantes and the breakfast program for schoolkids. And finally, they had an organizational structure— a party with elected officials and regional chapters operating in different cities. 

Working together is crucial. You can get some things done as an independent actor, but barring extraordinary ability or circumstances, you're most likely to be the most effective if you're working in a group of some kind. Having a base is crucial; historically, the most powerful organizations are the ones based out of workplaces or neighborhoods: unions, block associations, religious congregations, tenant's organizations. 

It's hard, but people have done it before.