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These days, we seem to be on a perpetual roller-coaster ride. The political events and social crises happening around the world feel as though we are barely able to get our bearings before the ground underneath us shifts again.
We are living through a time that demands our vigilant attention. The genocide in Gaza, the disorienting run-up to the November elections, and the attacks on DEI practices come on the heels of a worldwide pandemic, an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and the steady dismantlement of individual rights and public institutions.
In workshops and training that I have conducted over the past five years with people of diverse ages and backgrounds about their capacity to be involved with social change, I often hear similar refrains. “I feel overwhelmed and confused about how to address all these big issues,” said a middle-aged volunteer at a faith-based institution. “Sometimes, I feel hopeless,” a college student offered. “Why bother, because no one in power is listening to us anyway?” The executive director of a nonprofit noted: “The ways that we have usually responded to crises are no longer effective or sufficient; we need different community-centered approaches.”
If you resonate with any of these responses, you aren’t alone.
Some of us are feeling weary from confronting, bearing witness, and absorbing the impact of overlapping societal, political, and institutional crises. We are eager for a reset to evaluate, repair, and prepare for what’s next. Others of us are ready to go, motivated and inspired. We have spent time educating ourselves, becoming more conscious of our own privileges and biases. We are prepared to be accountable. Still, others are somewhere in the middle of those phases or lurching between them.
Regardless of which stage you are in now on your social-change journey, there are concrete ways to benefit the broader ecosystem while maintaining your own effectiveness and well-being. The social change ecosystem framework, which I developed in 2017, provides such a roadmap for individuals, organizations, and networks.
In my book, Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection, published by Skinner House Press, I offer a process to incorporate social change efforts into our lives that center values and roles in service to our ecosystems.
1. Clarify Our Values, Skills, and Strengths—and Identify the Roles That Embody Them.
Which values inspire and anchor us? Those are the ones that belong in the center of the map above, with the understanding that we can often be in misalignment with them. But returning to our cherished and core values as individuals and organizations—especially during times of confusion—can ease the feeling of being in constant rapid response mode.
Which values embody the systemic and institutional change that we need? When we recognize what matters and why, we can find deeper clarity and focus.
The ten roles described in the framework (Caregiver, Builder, Healer, Disrupter, Storyteller, Guide, Weaver, Front-Line Responder, Experimenter, and Visionary) invite us to act in ways that can strengthen the broader ecosystem. We shouldn’t be playing all, or even most of, these ten roles, and our roles might change depending on the situation.
For example, many have been responding to the genocide in Gaza using different roles. Disrupters have been rallying on the streets to call for a ceasefire; Weavers are making connections between Black and Palestinian communities; Healers are bringing Jews and Palestinians together to repair and revive bonds; and Visionaries (including the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association) offer us an understanding of collective liberation that includes respecting the humanity of Palestinians.
When we recognize that others are playing different roles for the same cause, we can focus on our own and not feel that we must do it all.
2. Find and Connect Deeply with Our Ecosystem.
Strong social bonds—what Detroit-based activist and scholar Grace Lee Boggs called “critical connections”—are the cornerstone of individual and collective transformation. These connections are the building blocks of social change ecosystems, which can range from mutual aid associations to campus groups to faith-based institutions to DEI taskforces to large-scale movements.
I recently facilitated workshops with the UUA congregation at Cedar Lane in Bethesda, Maryland, where I realized the breadth and scope of social change ecosystems. I learned that the congregation’s members were connected not only to the UUA ecosystem, but to county racial justice taskforces, educator groups, and healing circles.
Consider the ecosystems around you, the ones you are part of and the ones you can build. Do you feel a shared sense of values alignment and connection within your current ecosystems? If so, what could your presence and contribution add to them? If not, are there others to explore—or create? What happens when our ecosystems are more connected?
3. Become Aware of Our Boundaries and Barriers.
Poet, activist, and educator Nikki Giovanni once said: “If you don’t understand yourself, you don’t understand anybody else.” Explorations of our interior selves might seem like a self-centered practice during times of external crises, but when done with intentionality, they can provide invaluable insights that can broaden our social change efforts.
When we recognize that we are playing too many roles or become aware of the toll of playing particular roles, we can make better choices and change our patterns. In my life, I have seen a pattern of playing the role of the Frontline Responder. While I have the skills to play that role well, I also know that I can become numb, ineffective, and burned out if I am not careful, rendering my contributions to my ecosystems less helpful. Recognizing the boundaries of the Frontline Responder role for me has helped me make different decisions at times.
We should expect the roller-coaster ride that we are on to continue in the immediate future. We can choose to get off it altogether, or we can prepare ourselves for the ride by centering our values, clarifying our roles, acknowledging our limitations and boundaries, and connecting more deeply with our fellow riders.