Startup Kit for New Activist Organizations
by Sol Lightman
Steps to starting a group:
1) Get a small core group together, whose job it will be
to start the organization. This should be a group of friends
who don't mind working together and know each other well.
Teamwork is the key to success in any organizing venture.
(Note theword teamwork includes the word `work.' This
means getting things done, if all your friends like to do
is `hang out' then you shouldlook into getting a different
group together.)
2) Spend a lot of time talking about the issue; make sure
you get everyone's feelings out in the open --
this is the most important part, as it lets you all make
sure that you are `on the same side.' At least three to four
two hour long discussions should do it. After you all
agree on everything, or at least have come to terms with each
other's opinions, get some emotion going. Get angry
together; build up some momentum; then you can start discussing
your organization itself. Decide on a formal statement of
beliefs. Here is ours as a sample:
A. Industrial cannabis products: UMACRC believes that the
benefits to the environment and to the consumer of the widespread
utilization of industrial cannabis products, such as
paper, textile, oil, and animal feed, would far outweigh
the benefits that the prohibition of cannabis brings
to certain elements of big business, and therefor UMACRC
believes that industrial cannabis products should be allowed
to freely enter the market.
B. Cannabis Medicines: UMACRC believes that certain cannabis
medicines have been proven very effective in treating certain
ailments, such as glaucoma and nausea from cancer
chemotherapy and AIDS, and have also been shown to have
very few side effects, and therefor UMACRC believes it is
cruel to deny patients access to potentially life-saving
cannabis medicines.
C. Recreational Cannabis: UMACRC supports the removal
of all criminaland civil penalties for the possession and
consumption of cannabis. UMACRC believes that this
is a civil rights issue.
D. Regulation: UMACRC advocates a system of cannabis
regulation that would include age restrictions, public health
and agricultural controls, and taxation of cannabis
for profit. A well-planned system of cannabis regulation
would discourage abuse, protect the public health and safety,
reduce crime associated with illicit distribution,
and raise /large/ sumsof new tax revenues. Regulation is
the inevitable replacement of prohibition
E. Personal Cultivation: UMACRC believes the right
to possess cannabis also includes the rights to grow small
amounts for personal use, to transport, and to make
casual, non-profit transfers of small amounts of cannabis.
F. Drug Abuse: UMACRC believes that drug abuse
is an illness which is best treated by doctors rather
than by prison guards. UMACRC is opposed to drug abuse,
whether legal or illegal drugs are involved. However, UMACRC
recognizes a distinction between use and abuse.
G. Destruction of Criminal Records: UMACRC urges the enactment
of legislation to provide for the destruction of criminal
records of persons arrested for or convicted of cannabis
offenses prior to the enactment of legislation repealing criminal
penalties for such offenses.
H. Public Use: UMACRC recognizes the individual rights
of non-smokers not to be subjected to discomfort, or whatever
health risks may arise from the smoking of any substance
in designated non-smoking areas. However, UMACRC is
opposed to criminal law being used to regulate such activity.
I. Driving While Intoxicated: UMACRC strongly discourages
driving motor vehicles while under the influence of
any drug, and recognizes the legitimate public interest
in the prohibition of such activity.
J. Role of the Military in Law Enforcement: UMACRC
opposes /any/ use of the military in civilian, domestic
law enforcement.
K. Cannabis Eradication: UMACRC is opposed to the
use of Paraquat and all other chemical or biological agents
intended to destroy or identify cannabis under
cultivationin this or any other country. UMACRC supports
the prohibition of herbicides used to spray cannabis as
consistent with the protection of public health and
the environment.
L. Cannabis Research and Women: UMACRC urges revision
of current FDA policies which severely limit cannabis
research on women of child-bearing age. UMACRC
believes that such restrictions are unwarranted, and that
studies on the effects of cannabis on women and men of all
ages are necessary, important, and should be encouraged by
the NIDA and other similar agencies
2) Creating the organization proper.
Once you have a solid core of people committed to this
project (Committed means willing to stick with it, thick
and thin, until some degree of success is obtained.)
starting the organization is mainly a process of `planning
ahead.' Now is the time that you prepare your organization
for as many catastrophies as you can dream up. Seriously
discuss everything that could go wrong, and offer as many ideas
for damage control as possible. Write a constitution which
describes the internal workings of your organization and delegates
the major responsibilities. In our organization, we
have an Executive Board which consists of a President, Vice-President
(activities organizer), Secretary (records
keeping, office organization, and editor of newsletter),
Treasurer (accounting, finance records keeping, fund
raising coordinator), and Public Relations Director (Advertising,
publicity, etc.)
4) Regular business meetings.
Meetings at which the major `goings on' are discussed (and
the important decisions made) should be held on a regular
basis at a stable location. Meetings like this are the
backbone of the organization. They give a sense of stability
to the entire operation. It is not essential that
everyone come to every meeting, but enough people should come
to make the meeting happen every week (day, month,
take your pick.) This way, you can tell new people to drop
by your meetings. This is the best way to pick up new
core members
5) Working with the system.
One of the best things your organization can do is learn how to
work the system. This goes double for college groups. We
encourage all college groups register with their administration.
This not only adds to your credibility, but it also gives you
access to facilities, (like, especially, office space and/or
a business telephone) and gives you an idea of the shape
of surrounding bureaucracies. Since some of these people
are the same ones that will try to shut you down, it is
important to confront them face to face, and to study the
way they operate. Read all policies of your institution
and/or local government thoroughly, with an eye toward
what you can and cannot do. All institutions are required
by common courtesy to supply copies of their policies,
that is, if you have to obey a rule, you have a right
to know the full details of that rule. Sometimes these
policies can even give you ideas for future activities
or protests. Always keep an eye out for opportunities.
Be curious or example, if you see a room or a piece of equipment
and think you can use it, ask somebody what the policies
are reguarding the said item. Always ask questions,
get asspecific as possible, in fact, grill the poor
sap. Remember to thank your hapless victim afterwards and
to introduce yourself if it suits your purposes. Also remember
that administrators are very busy people. This is good.
This means you have them at a disadvantage. If you make yourself
known as a very persistent person who always pursues his
goals and rarely gives up, administrators will be a lot more
helpful -- just to get you out of their hair
6) Activities and events. Activities are things that your
organization does to help the movement. Events are also, to
a lesser extent, but they focus on recruitment, publicity, and
fund raising. Some activities include letter drives,
petitioning, and canvassing. Letter drives are usually
directed at a legislature or organization, and have something
to do witha current event or policy, petitioning likewise.
Canvassing is a multi-purpose activity which mainly serves
to gain support from people who are indifferent toward
your cause.
Another activity is calledguerilla theater.
Get a bunch of out-going rowdy types together and come
up with a short, loud skit which you can perform in about
two minutes and then disappear. Then perform the skit in
a public area, completely by surprise. Guaranteed to shock and
amuse.
There are two major types of events: publicity
`fluff' events which have little or no redeeming social
value, but get you a lot of attention and make you well
known; and public service events, which are a lot less glamorous
but just as important. `Fluff' events include rallies, concerts
and movies. They don't really bring anyone into
direct contact with your organization, beyond possibly signing
up, but are there to let people know you exist. For this
reason, they need to be widely publicized under your organization's
name. Public service events include tables, presentations,
seminars, public speeches, and informational meetings.
They are there to tell the public what you are all about.
These are the events which change people's minds and help you
`network' by meeting and talking with as many people as possible
7) Working IN the system -- Also consider taking aposition
in your student or local government. This way, you
can meet and work with the very people you need to know to
accomplish your agenda. Most governments are understaffed
and would be glad to have the help. The knowledge
of what's going on which you gain from working on the
inside is invaluable. In fact, at Penn State, the cannabis
reform movement took over the student government.
Aim high, but be discrete you don't want to have to answer
any complaints of `conflict of interest.'
8) Fund Raising Here, of course, is the
tough part. Nothing gets done without money, as you will
soon find out. Here are some of the ways we get money:
Soliciting grants from your institution may be possible. If you
can find out what funds you are eligible to petition for, go for it.
Sometimes there are funds that hardly ever get used and then
all get blown on some stupid school sponsored event because
they needed to spend it somewhere. If you have a
student activity fee, it belongs to you, too. We have held
many events with substantial University grants and loans.
`Selling memberships' (read `Donations') usually you
can get a good amount just by letting people `join' the organization
Some of them never want to hear from you again, but
it's the thought that counts.
Merchandising -- buttons, T-Shirts, little hemp bracelets
there are tons of things you can sell, especially if
you qualify as a non-profit organization (which you do.) Running
a `hemp booth' requires a little capital, but as long as
you pay attention to what items are selling, it should eventually
turn a profit. If your organization has its
own mailbox, you can use it to mailorder (legal) merchandise
which your membership is to paranoid to get at their
own address and charge them for the service.
Fund Raising events -- Many ofyour `fluff' events can double
as fund raisers. Showing movies and concerts is a prime example
Generally, think of a way you can get the faceless masses
to shell you out a few dollars each. (Be discrete, now...)
8) Mailing lists Keep an exhaustive phone list, preferably
on a (secure) PC. Designate someone as the person in
charge, and have them copy all the phone numbers you
get onto one big list. When you have a petition, leave a
space for their address and phone number, and copy these, too.
Make sure to add some random addresses into the list in case
it ever gets confiscated --choose them from the phone book,
or better yet, find out the names of important people's relatives
and add them to the list. [Oops, sorry, your Honor, I didn't know that
was your nephew's house that I issued a warrant to search.
Honest.]
9) Personal organization. There are three
kinds of people in the world -- fruits, nuts, and flakes.
(This is called the `Granola' or `Cereal' theory of
life.) Fruits are sweet and smooth,and are very good talkers.
They know how to get things out of people, but usually
have an ego control problem and don't like to take orders.
It is usually best to humor them and make them feel really
important (they are, after all.) Nuts are, as you probably
already know, crazy people. They usually are very stressed
out and have tons of ideas (some of them a little far
out) but have trouble communicating them effectively. They
also have tons of energy, and are almost always willing to
lend a hand at just about anything. Surprisingly, nuts tend
to be rather good organizers.
What theyaren't good at is public relations as a result, nuts
usually work `back stage' where they
can't scare anybody important. Flakes aren't all that
much good for anything. They come on really strong, say they
like your group and support you all the way, but when you
want them to do something they become flat and soggy. There
are a lot of flakes, but that's OK because after theyl ose
their crunch nobody really believes them any more and
they just stick to the side of the bowl and turn to mush
(unless they can make it big as an entertainer.) There
is no such thing as a normal person, so I wouldn't worry about
whether you are a nut or a fruit, JUST DON'T BE A
FLAKE.
How not to be a flake: Play a little game called `reliability.'
Never lose a phone number. Never forget
an appointment or a name. Always say what you will do,
and do what you said you would. Be considerate of other
people -- don't waste their time, patience, or money.
In short, learn how to conduct yourself in a business like manner
as a professional. Most of you should be doing this anyway.
If you can get away with it without feeling like a
nerd, get yourself a daily planner or small notebook which
you carry with yourself everywhere. Tie a pen to it with
a piece of string. This should give you a bit of a head
start. TAKE YOURSELF SERIOUSLY. This is real; you are
actually doing something important; everything you do effects
real people living real lives in the real world. Remind
yourself this if you start to `flake out.'
10) Exercise `constructive paranoia.' While it is never good to
go around trusting nobody, a little tact is necessary in any
reform work. KEEP YOUR ACT CLEAN. You don't have time
to goof off or margin for error. Consider all of your actions
carefully and make sure you are not setting yourself
up for a fall, or leaving yourself open to attacks.
If there is a rule, try to obey it, or at least make doubly
sure you don't get caught at anything. There will probably
be a lot of people who are just waiting for an excuse
to hassle you.
1) Publicity -- make sure every person has no choice but
to know you exist and what is going on. Advertising is
the single most important part in holding any kind of event.
Consider all your options:Posters, leaflets, radio,newspaper,
television, etc Don't just go with one of them, choose at least
three. Take special care to use all the free advertising that
is out there: free social calendars, Public Service Announcements,
etc. Be extremely aggressive, and don't let anything
slip by. Publicity includes advertising but also includes
trying to get the best response from the media after your
events. As with advertising, exploit every avenue: editorials
in newspapers, radio and television interviews,
etc. You should maintain a list of media outlets,
and release a `press release' before and after each event.
The press release should be one page, read like a news
story, and provide all the information that makes you look good.
A contact person should be designated and his name
and number should be put on the press release
2) Show your numbers. Whenever possible, try to make your
organization look big and popular. This not only goes
for rallies, but everywhere. When you have a meeting or a
hearing, invite several members to join you and back you up.
You get a lot more respect this way. Say, for example,
there was a hearing in your student government to decide
whether to give you office space. Having ten or twenty of
your members show up vastly improves your chances of
getting what you want. In general, the more people you have,
the better. More importantly, if you can show that you
have a lot of support, you will get a lot further.
13) Literature
Collect a master file of literature that communicates
your points. Put your organization's name and addresses
or contact numbers on every piece in the kit
14) Research Library Accumulate a library of scientific
studies, news articles, editorials, journal articles,
and anything else you can get your hands on. It is always
important to be able to back yourself up with `official'
facts and figures.
15) Networking Keep in contact with national movements
and initiatives. The best way to get an idea
of what is going on is to have various members of your organization join
other organizations, attend their meetings, and
receive their newsletters. Keep a file of your correspondance.
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