A Vision for the World We Want: Building Cross-Sector Strategy Towards a Radical Democracy & Regenerative Economy

Hosted on April 23rd, 2024

In this webinar, Loan Tran of Rising Majority shares more about building and amplifying collective power and inspiring progressive formations to work together towards greater unity, a clearer vision, and a shared strategy.

Headshot of Loan Tran, National Director, Rising Majority

A Vision for the World We Want: Building Cross-Sector Strategy Towards a Radical Democracy & Regenerative Economy

from Rx Foundation’s Power is a Social Determinant of Health series

Session description: Rising Majority was initiated following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections by Movement 4 Black Lives and a core group of movement organizations who identified the need for us to build a more coordinated, powerful, progressive force on the left. Our multiracial network of organizations serves communities across the United States and covers a wide range of issue areas. In this session, you will learn about Rising Majority’s Vision for 2050, 10-year Strategy, and upcoming Movement Congress. Rising Majority will share more about building and amplifying collective power and inspiring progressive formations to work together towards greater unity, a clearer vision, and a shared strategy.

Watch the Recording

Additional Resources

This site linked below will introduce you to the Rising Majority’s current project, which involves developing a vision of the world we’d like to live in by 2050 and 10 year strategy to make it real.

They believe another world is possible and necessary, and are taking up the political task by working together, side by side, building a movement of movements and centering a vision and strategy that are rooted in political imagination, the needs of our people and the planet, and the belief that we can, will, and must win.

In June 2024, Rising Majority will officially launch the 2050 vision and 10 year strategy.

The 2024 Movement Congress will be a launch point for a new level of unity and joint practice across movement sectors in our ecosystem.

Leaders and organizers will experience a week of relationship building, strategy, culture, and renewed commitments to the fight for the bold alternative.

If you are interested in a Rising Majority membership, want to participate in the Movement Congress, or would like to contribute support to either efforts, please reach out to Rising Majority.

Session Highlights

Rising Majority (RM) has a small national staff, a leadership team representing 11 social movement organizations, and a membership of more than 60 organizations at the national, state, and local levels
RM brought folks together across movements to clarify what questions needed to be answered, and how a multi-racial, cross-sector coalition of movement groups could answer those questions together in a way that respects differences and disagreements. The initial years of relationship- and trust-building, collective mobilization and rapid response laid the foundation for developing a shared long-range vision for 2050 and a strategy for the next 10 years of movement building effort, addressing how movements are in relationship to each other
“Perhaps we’ve spent a healthy amount of time talking about all of the things that we’re against, how do we begin to pivot towards discussing what it is that we’re for?”
We’re in a dynamic moment – if we get really clear about how we fight and build together, we can move the pendulum towards advancing a durable radical democracy and regenerative economy that works for all of us and the planet
Radical democracy means “how do we have the relationships, resources, and infrastructure for our communities to make decisions over their daily lives and in critical aspects like the economy?” Bringing out the fundamental goodness in people to want to take care of each other and want to belong to something that is deeply just and deeply connected
“We shouldn’t underestimate the power of the forces that we’re up against, but we also shouldn’t underestimate our ability to build a really dynamic movement that can be responsive and change the conditions”
Shared vision = something that is collectively agreed upon and can be referred to in moments of conflict, crisis, or difference; to remember that the difficulties are really worth it; Shared strategy = a theory about how to make the vision real, and a guide for building power, which is distinct from campaign or narrative strategy
Three principles went into building a shared vision and strategy: (1) coherence, (2) aggregation, and (3) experimentation
Alignment does not mean absolutely agreement or ideological unity on every struggle, it’s the amount of unity required to continue to organize and build together
Social movements must create a much bigger WE in order to come together and do the things that cannot be done in siloes or in isolation from allies across other movements

PC: Rising Majority

Speaker

Erica Andrade, President/CEO of El Centro

Loan Tran (they/them)

Loan Tran currently lives in Durham, NC. They are a longtime North Carolinian, having grown up in Charlotte, NC after migrating from Viet Nam with their family in the mid-90’s. Loan began organizing as a young queer person for safer schools for LGBTQ students and access to higher education for undocumented students. They consider themselves forged in the migrant justice struggle. After high school, Loan was a Point Scholar who studied Asian American Studies at the University of Washington-Seattle before transferring to the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.

Currently, they serve as the National Director of Rising Majority, a national coalition of 60+ social movement organizations committed to building a shared vision and strategy toward the year 2050. Their work with Rising Majority allows them to be part of an effort to build and rebuild a powerful and anti-racist Left with a vision for radical democracy and a regenerative economy. Loan is particularly interested in what our movements have to become in order to make our visions real and our strategies for power building effective.

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