A Good Vehicle for Organizing

A Good Vehicle for Local Organizing

by Lisa Kauffman

About two years ago, a group of us in West Seattle started the West Seattle Meaningful Movies—free monthly documentary films for the local community, on topics like social justice, the economy, and the environment. Along with providing information, they’ve been a great way to build local connections.

It hasn’t been hard to get a good turnout. For busy, stressed-out people, it seems to be doable to go a nearby venue, eat some refreshments, and sit and watch a movie. And the food and the movies are free (we ask for voluntary donations). Before each film, there’s a half-hour social time in which people can eat and visit with neighbors. Afterward there are community announcements, suggestions for action, and an optional discussion.

The movies have been a great vehicle for making contact with other groups in West Seattle. For example, when we showed a film about soil, we publicized it among local gardeners and used it as a way to connect with West Seattleites interested in growing food. When we showed a movie about the history of High Point, a local community with many immigrants and people of color, we door-belled at High Point and quite a few residents attended. Having community announcements brings in people who want to get the word out about their projects. When people attend, they usually sign up for our e-mail list. Then they hear about future movies and quite often come back.

Sometimes, we co-host a film with another West Seattle organization. The Southwest Seattle Historical Society helped us put on Princess Angeline, a movie about the Duwamish Tribe. Sustainable West Seattle and Cool Moms worked with us on a movie about Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Laureate who mobilized women in Kenya to plant millions of trees. West Seattle Neighbors for Peace and Justice helped us with War Made Easy. When an organization co-hosts, some of its members attend. Then they often keep coming to the movies.

Partly because of connecting at the movies, Sustainable West Seattle and the West Seattle Meaningful Movies have joined West Seattle Neighbors for Peace and Justice in their monthly vigils in the West Seattle Junction (the downtown of West Seattle). The West Seattle Green Party has also joined in and following one of the vigils led a West Seattle march against Shell. West Seattle Neighbors for Peace and Justice recently decided to read and discuss Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything—Capitalism versus the Climate, and announcing it at the movies brought some new people to their discussions.

Organizing locally has many benefits. It’s easy to keep building the relationships: people run into each other at the grocery store; they can easily attend each other’s events. Having a local venue means shorter drives, which saves time and adds less CO2 to the atmosphere. It also makes it more possible to pull in neighborhood friends.

And there are other reasons, besides organizing for social change, to connect close to home. With people who live near to us, it’s easier to cooperate for mutual survival (like after an earthquake); it’s easier to sustain friendships.

Rick and Diane Turner, who spearhead the Wallingford Meaningful Movies, have been a big support to us. They’ve also helped twelve other groups in the Puget Sound area start Meaningful Movies. Rick and others just created a fabulous new website, www.meaningfulmovies.org , with all kinds of ideas and information for setting up and sustaining a Meaningful Movies group. If you’d like to start one, you’ll find a lot of support there.

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