Kate Van Roekel’s Heartfelt Community Organizing Principles: Connection, Joy, Bravery, Trickery, Positivity

Principle 1: Connection

A sense of community has been a huge part of the Red for Ed movement in Tucson. It all started because Wes Oswald, a third grade teacher who had been very actively organizing during the walkout, saw some of us working hard gathering petition signatures and posting about it on social media. He invited about fifteen of these people to a potluck at his house, even though he didn’t know most of us. At the potluck, people connected and shared ideas about how to ignite signature-gathering efforts among local teachers and supporters. That initial group grew into a city-wide network of activists! Never doubt the power of a potluck!

This sense of connection was and is a huge motivating factor in our Red for Ed work in Tucson. Over the course of the signature-gathering summer and later electoral door knocking, strong relationships formed among Tucson activists. This helped make intimidating situations a little easier. It was the first time most of us had been politically active, and the sense of community helped us step further and further out of our comfort zones. We cheered each other on and supported each other on tough days.

If a tight knit group of activists forms or already exists, work hard to stay open to new people. Avoid creating hierarchical leadership structures—encourage creative strategizing instead! Good ideas are good ideas, regardless of who shares them! This has been a really incredible thing about Red for Ed in Tucson: someone has an idea, shares it, and people get behind it and work their asses off!

Principle 2: Joy

Be yourself! Once I let go of the idea that I needed to be a serious, hardcore activist, I became so much more confident in my voice. I realized that creative, silly activism could be my way to plug into the movement, and in fact, there were other creative, silly people to connect with! This joyful creativity spawned a statewide social media campaign that got people (including Arizona gubernatorial candidates!) wearing vests and posting about it on social media. We created a series of goofy Facebook Live videos that racked up thousands of views, and culminated with a particularly epic parody of a Guns N’ Roses song.

Be creative! When school districts began to ban red shirts, we recorded a series of silly videos about vests! Soon supporters of public education across Arizona were wearing vests.

Create car window writing campaigns to spread your message. Educators and supporters around the state used car windows to build support for the 2018 teacher walkout, to encourage citizens to pressure lawmakers about education funding, and to build support for pro-public-education candidates. These campaigns spread through social media. Educators took photos of their car windows decorated with Red for Ed messages and posted them on social media. The photos became examples for others and it spread from there. We even had car window painting parties. We went to events like school board meetings in our Red for Ed shirts with tickets that listed several possible messages. On the tickets, people indicated which car was theirs and which message they wanted and we decorated their car windows while they were in the meeting. Not only was it incredibly powerful to see cars all over Arizona with Red for Ed messages on their windows, but it raised the visibility of the movement and kept the pressure on lawmakers.

Principle 3: Bravery

This was the first time many of us Red for Ed activists were politically active. None of us knew what we were doing and all of us were intimidated! It was a big step for me to go to a training about gathering signatures for the initiative. At first, I could only ask friends and coworkers to sign. Then I decided that I would go stand outside of a library for one hour and see how many signatures I could get. This evolved into standing downtown, at farmers markets, and many other locations all over the city, asking thousands of strangers to sign the petition. In the end, I gathered about 800 signatures! This work is daunting but celebrating the baby steps along the way can help push us beyond what we thought we could ever do.

Part of being brave is letting go of the paralysis that comes with aiming for perfection. This work is messy and we learn as we go. I was so afraid of knocking on doors because I was afraid of saying something wrong and having the voter get mad at me or the Red for Ed movement. I definitely had some hiccups early on and some tough interactions with voters, but I survived! I survived and I learned and honed my message and shared what I had learned with other activists. Letting go of perfection allowed us to be creative and take risks, which allowed us to communicate honestly with voters. With a supportive community and a good sense of humor, we can learn from our mistakes and move on.

You don’t have to be bulletproof to be brave. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is reach out when you’re struggling. Being honest when you are feeling discouraged helps bust the myth that activists are always burning with the righteous fire of the cause and never stop or rest. This is a fast track to burnout. You can best serve when you feel creative, joyful, and fired up, so do what you need to do to help yourself feel that way. Sometimes this means admitting that you need support.

Principle 4: Trickery

Invite friends along to canvass with you just as the driver. Tell them that it makes it much easier to have someone drive while you knock. After a few doors, invite them to come to the next door with you. “Think aloud” to your friend about what you say at the door and why, strategies that have worked well, and what motivates you to keep going. Don’t be surprised when your driver decides they’d like to knock doors with you!

Bring babies canvassing or signature gathering (if you have access to babies)! Voters love babies!

If you’re tabling for an initiative or candidate, have candy at the table. This will lure over children and get their parents to sign.

Principle 5: Positivity

Post photos of your work on social media with captions that says how many doors you knocked or how many signatures you gathered. “Like” and comment on other people’s posts. Encourage each other! You’re not bragging, you’re modeling badass behavior. Encourage all others who exhibit badass behavior! This positivity is very motivating and contributes to the development of a strong community in the movement.

Invite people to join you in action. Make these invitations on social media and in real life. Share about how you really feel about the action. Don’t be afraid to acknowledge that action is tough and scary! Share what makes you keep going and why. Show that action can be fun and exhilarating! Scolding people for inaction, especially on social media, is never effective. If you feel frustrated with lack of engagement, share that frustration with trusted friends, but don’t vent it to the world. Instead, put your heads together with your activist pals and get creative about how you can invite people into your movement.

Kate Van Roekel is a longtime educator and brand new education activist. She loves books and bikes, and lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, Dan.