This month in organizing: November power building updates

🤔 WTF is organizing?! 

In this post-election moment, we’re being told to organize, but what does that even mean? Check out and share this resource explaining why we organize by building teams.  

🔊 Musicians + performers: Be at TCUP’s campaign LAUNCH on Dec 14!  

Join Twin Cities United Performers (TCUP) on December 14 from 10am-12pm at Green Room as we launch a campaign for safety, dignity, and transparent pay in our local music scene. Also, check out TCUP members in the news. A recent Minneapolis survey highlighted what our members know all too well – Minneapolis is one of the cities with the lowest gig pay. We’re organizing to change that. 

🌱 Considering end-of-year giving?  

Become a sustaining member, and support our organizing at a time when local organizing is more important than ever! 

TakeAction teams go to 💥Strategy Camp!💥 

On November 16, members of Duluth Tenants, Twin Cities United Performers, MN United Parents, Youth Organizers, and people who have acted for Not Another Bomb came together to get grounded in the wake of the election, dig into campaign strategy, and plan for the year ahead. We heard from brilliant organizers who have campaigned for big wins for working-class people, including 

• Bozeman Mayor Joey Morrison, who co-founded Bozeman Tenants and ran a successful campaign against Airbnbs pushing renters out of the city. 

• Abbas Alawieh, former Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Cori Bush and co-founder of the Uncommitted Movement, who organized hundreds of thousands of voters to take a stand for peace in Gaza. 

• Asha Ransby-Sporn, co-founder of the Black Youth Project 100 and an abolitionist campaigner on many projects in Chicago including the historic election of progressive mayor Brandon Johnson. 

Our main 💥Strategy Camp💥 takeaways: 

1. Strategy is for everyone.  

2. Strategy is not a luxury.  

3. Strategy is an anchor. 

In a second Trump presidency, there will be a lot competing for our attention. Strategy can move us from scrolling alone to collective action that can move us forward and keep us safe in moments of crisis. Plug into a TakeAction team or become a sustaining member to get involved.  

What team are you part of, and what are you trying to win? I am a part of Twin Cities United Performers (TCUP). In the long term, we are trying to make Minnesota the best place in the world to be a musician! To achieve that, we are first trying to win more consistent and equitable treatment for all performers, and we are taking a huge step towards that goal with our venue & artist outreach campaign which launches publicly on December 14th.

What’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself since you started organizing? I am drawn to organizing because I tend to thrive in the social & interpersonal elements of the work. After spending years organizing on-and-off in different contexts, I’ve seen how that tendency can lead to really strong relationships as the foundation of a movement, but it can also impede action if I consistently prioritize harmony in those relationships over other movement goals. It is not always easy to know when to push forward vs when to pause and hold space, and I am grateful for the wisdom & perspective of my comrades in those uncertain moments.

How can folks build power and act with your team right now? Tell the artists & performers in your life about TCUP, and encourage them to fill out the TCUP post-show survey after each gig for our upcoming Venue Report Card project.

Also, go out and see live music, comedy, and burlesque in the Twin Cities. Especially at the venues who publicly pledge to treat their artists equitably through our upcoming campaign. We want to show that audiences support venues who treat performers with respect.  

Afraid, alone, exhausted, disoriented – that’s exactly how Trump wants us to feel so he can make his agenda real. These 10 tips from organizer and strategist Daniel Hunter focus on how we can make room for these feelings, care for ourselves, and see clearly to act together. The three that I (Laura P.) keep repeating to myself: grieve, find your path, and “use the political space and voice you have.” At TakeAction, we’re finding clarity and resolve in Hunter’s advice.