Transformative Organizing Theory: Conscious Organizers Seek to Build Anti-racist, Anti-imperialist Politics Rooted in Working Class Communities of Color

As the “Tea Party” Right rises in U.S. politics and the U.S. Empire continues to reach around the globe, there is an urgent need to build a new left that roots a creative, explicit, anti-racist, anti-imperialist politics inside working-class communities of color. In this session, Ai-jen Poo (National Domestic Workers Alliance), Steve Williams (POWER), Cindy Weisner (Grassroots Global Justice), Patrisse Cullors (Labor/Community Strategy Center) and other prominent organizers will discuss with Eric Mann how his Transformative Organizing Theory, as outlined in a new pamphlet, can help guide and strengthen our work toward this goal. Drawing from Mann’s experience as a veteran of CORE, SDS, the UAW, organizer of the Bus Riders Union and director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center in Los Angeles, Transformative Organizing Theory identifies 7 core elements of social movement building that have powered grassroots organizations on their way to winning historic struggles against slavery, war, apartheid and empire. The 7 Components of Transformative Organizing Theory is a companion to Mann’s forthcoming book, The 21 Qualities of the Successful Organizing: A Journey in Transformative Organizing (2011).