Lessons from the NDP Convention 2009 and the Halifax Buskerfest
Friday, 21 August 2009
Returning from the 2009 NDP convention in Halifax , there were a few surprises about the intersection of politics and people that I thought it would be interesting to share. One of the surprises was how much the Halifax Buskerfest added to the experience of learning about activism, organizing and social movements. The surprises are relevant to the struggle for fun, green and fair production systems necause the discussion often boiled down to questions about priorities and tactics. Things got messy and unreasonable at times but the energy and spirit that came out through discussions and meetings will carry us forward.
Spirited crowds are key at a convention or a buskerfest
The Convention took place against the background of the successful election of Darrell Dexter's NDP government in Nova Scotia. This raised a number of cheers and the energy levels. Other highlights:
Ed Broadbent's call for equity and equality;
Marshall Ganz, Obama campaign organizer, talking about the importance of share values and stories;
Gary Doer, premier of Manitoba, calling for the NDP to focus on getting the power to allow for the realization of our principles.
The Buskerfest took place against the background of the best weather of the summer and the reek of raw sewage in the harbour. The buskers auditioned and came from across the country. A busker has to reach everyone if they are going to make a living. The pitch or patter they use has to adapt to a crowd.
To get the crowd going the Calypso tumblers called out, "If we do something you can't do, clap!" This raised a laugh and cheers from the crowd. The energy level shot up and we were more involved. This is a great lesson for political organizers. Enjoy a highlight reel from the Halifax Buskerfest:
Democracy is messy and awkward
There were something like 300 resolutions to be discussed at
the convention. They varied from calls for support for victims of
injustice to changes to the Party's internal constitution. All of these
resolutions were proposed by a riding association or an affiliated
union, but there was not enough time to talk about everything. This is
a constraint of democracy and the process to prioritize the topics that
would be dealt with was much more important than I had expected.
How could delegates gather interest and support for their resolutions? Through talking to delegates and organizers from across the country resolutions built momentum. The resolutions that made it to the floor often came forward because of an emotional appeal to the delegates sense of justice. This meant that a resolution to support Iranian democracy that probably would have no effect on the actual spread of democracy made it to the floor because of the fact that it was timely and viceral in our imaginations rather than the resolutions worth.
Discussions were long and messy. Premier
Gary Doer (Manitoba) said it best, "We will have lots of resolutions.
Some parties have one member one vote. The NDP has one delegate one
resolution."
So what about action, what about asking for change? At some point, the buskers had to ask for money. Just as organizers have to ask for action from constituents. This appeal work best with an appeal to common values, appreciation for the hard work of the busker or candidates, and some humour: "We work hard and don't get paid to perform here, except for your support. Give us $5, $10 or $50. We also have free T-shirts available for a donation of only $20..."
Reasonable people can disagree about unreasonable things
Delegates could fight about anything, from the obscure semantics of resolutions to change arcane sections of the NDP Constitution to who got to the microphone first. The intentions and commitment to social justice were shared but a lot of energy was wasted because some delegates could not listen and put themselves in the place of their listeners.
Humour and a sense of perspective are great tools to overcome differences.
Where to from here...values and stories
Marshall Ganz, a former organizer for the United Farm Workers and the organizer of President Obama's ground game, spoke eloquently about the importance of stories and shared values to the success of social movements. Potential organizers were brought to "Obama camps" to learn how to work in their communities. They were told that they needed to learn how to tell their story before they could learn to tell the story of Barack Obama or the stories of the people they sought to organize. This approach of sharing, learning and building from a base of volunteers that were given responsibility and held accountable for their actions worked really well. The take away for me was the importance of sharing, listening and perseverance. As Winston Churchill put it, "Never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, give up, never ever give up, never give up..."
