I recently heard (second-hand) that one of my progressive organizations’ board leaders said, “I have no more time for 15-minute organizers.” By this I take to mean, they have no time for anyone who is: NEW TO THE GAME or NOT ALL IN ALL THE TIME or NOT ON BOARD WITH ALL THE ISSUES or I don’t know what else. And I think that by making this statement, they are drawing a lines that excludes basically everyone I know, excepting (perhaps) the local paid employee of that organization. It certainly puts ME out of the game, and I’ve been historically committed to the progressive fight. But more importantly, I think that it fundamentally undermines the way in which the organization ITSELF functions, in terms of how it teaches its people to reach out around issues.
15-minute organizers might be: new; time-limited; single-issue; or operating under under other constraints. If they are NEW, then OF COURSE they should be taught. Expecting someone new to immediately be a fulltime 24/7 activist is akin to throwing someone, not into the deep end of the pool, but into the ocean out of a boat and driving away. If they are time-limited but still WANT to participate, then why not let let them? If you want an ENTIRE organization of fulltime paid employees, then better get a much better budget. And if they are issue-driven, see below:
If ISSUES, not people, are truly what drives us, and we are supposed to be lead by those AFFECTED, then 15-minute organizers ARE VALUABLE. They are going to be issue-driven and motivated. IF they find that the work of organizing is effective and powerful, then they might transition into more long term members of the organization or move to find other progressive outlets that they can work with. IF we can get them to turn out for SOMETHING, then we have a chance to persuade them to return for other things. But even if they do not, then that thing that they DID turn out to help with still gets the benefit.
I hope I have made my case for the value of 15-minute organizers.
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