In Bus Riders Union, Campaigns, Climate Justice, Fight For The Souls OF The Cities, Film and Book Club, The Labor Community Strategy Center

The Labor/Community Strategy Center has a new job opening for an organizer with experience working in urban Black communities

 

The Strategy Center is a multi-racial internationalist movement-building organization based on a Black/Latino alliance with the Nations and People of the Third World. While our work is national and international we begin with a focus on the Black and Latino communities in South Central Los Angeles and carrying out a Civil Rights/Climate Justice Strategy. This is a unique opportunity since LCSC fills most positions from our membership and we are excited to attract new people to help strengthen our team.

At the Strategy Center we try to keep politics at the forefront

We have a strategy represented by key formulations and counter-hegemonic demands. (Are these your politics?)

The Core political formulations

  • We Demand the Climate Justice State not the Warfare State
  • Stop U.S. Genocide Against the Black Nation
  • Building a social movement independent and to the left of the Democratic Party
  • Building a united front to protect Black rights, civil rights, democratic rights, and international human rights
  • Supporting the rights of Third World people whose right of self-determination is consistently violated by the United States
  • For a coherent integration of these ideas, we urge applicants to read Eric Mann’s just published article—“It’s Time for the Civil Rights Movement to Once Again Confront the Democrats and Lead the Struggle Against the White Fascists” in Counterpunch.org (https://bit.ly/3pTUa3E) and see if these are your politics

The Black Priority—The Strategy Center is a multi-racial organization open to members of all races and nationalities. Our core strategy is building a Black, Latinx, Third World United Front against racism and colonialism. Given the system’s aggressive and egregious policies of police occupation, forced dispersal, gentrification, mass unemployment, and cultural and political attacks on Black people/the Black Nation all of our members are prioritizing the building and strengthening of a broad united front in the Black community in South Central Los Angeles and nationally as a critical element of that larger strategy.

One element of that Black priority was the City Council Campaign of Strategy Center director of organizing, Channing Martinez, in Los Angeles’ 10th District. The Strategy Center is a non-profit and does not endorse candidates nor use any of our resources for electoral campaigns. But we encourage grassroots organizers to initiate electoral experiments outside of those structures to advance a larger strategy. For those interested in an example please check out channing2020.com

Our Campaign for Urban Reconstruction—Organizing for Systematic Social Transformation Reflecting our larger strategy

The organizer position will involve, among other responsibilities, building new members and public support for our counter-hegemonic demands

  • Free Public Transportation
  • Stop MTA’s Systematic Attacks on Black Passengers
  • No Police on MTA buses and Trains
  • No Police in LAUSD Schools (see Eric Mann’s article, “The Black Led Defund the Police Movement Wins Great Breakthrough in Los Angeles: An Organizer’s Interpretation in Counterpunch.org:https://bit.ly/3j0hCIY)
  • Stop MTA Attacks on Black Passengers
  • No Cars in LA, 3,000 new zero emission buses, double bus service
  • U.S. must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% of 1990 levels by 2025
  • U.S. must contribute $10 billion a year to Third World nations for climate reparations for its climate crimes

Focusing on Door-to-door organizing in Black and Latino South Los Angeles communities and work with high school and community college students. In Eric Mann’s book, Playbook for Progressives: The 16 Qualities of the Successful Organizer (copies available at https://bit.ly/2T4W7vv) the successful organizer must build a base and never walk alone.  We need an organizer with a proven track record of recruiting, involving, training, learning from, and retaining Black urban residents in ongoing structures of participation and political involvement. “A good group builder.”

Carrying out community conversations and research on the state of Black and South Central Los Angeles— and a study of the last 25 years of discriminatory policies against the Black community in Los Angeles. We will be conducting Interviews, conversations, and social investigation of the lives of Black people in Los Angeles—to help us focus on demands for greater social services, COVID 19 vaccine availability, as well as a deeper assessment of the tapestry of the urban crisis. This will be accelerated as we study the impacts of COVID 19 on the Black and Latinx communities.

Going on the trains and buses to investigate MTA and LA Sheriff’s police practices and distribute incident forms to document incidents of police abuses. All of this will require relationship building and listening carefully to the community as well as being able to put forth a clear political analysis that can engage and persuade people to join our movement and organization.

Assisting in Social media organizing through our expanded and redesigned Strategy Center website as well as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms—experience here is helpful. The Strategy Center already has a gifted Media Manager but all organizers must also have social media tactical skills.

Writing and designing flyers, posters, banners and other materials in the organizing process. The political line of the organization is set by the senior leadership but we welcome organizers who can follow instructions and come up with creative applications.

Working on our Movement Art Campaign—The Strategy Center integrates films, books, physical agit/props, poetry, music, and every other form of political and artistic expression—in an effort to do revolutionary explorations of form and content and bring them into the community.

Working on our Strategy and Soul Revolutionary Organizers Film and Book Club. We are looking for organizers with a strong background in political art and its relationship to social movement buildingThis position can involve at least one year and has the chance to be a longer-term position.

This position can involve at least one year and has the chance to be a longer-term position.

Black and Latinx women and men strongly encouraged to apply.

Preferred qualifications

We are looking for an organizer with direct experience in Black communities and Black public school organizing

  • History of work with Black students and adults and history of building groups and membership
  • 3+ years experience and proven track record preferred
  • Strong work ethic and ability to work in group settings as a constructive team builder.
  • Strong writing skills for flyers, pamphlets, online written materials
  • Strong social media skills tied to actual organizing objectives
  • Being from LA or willing to move to L.A.
  • Open to and willing to make relatively long-term commitment to the Strategy Center if things work out for all parties
  • The Strategy Center is a very explicit political organization and people with already existing political affiliations with ideologically defined groups would not qualify for the position

Please send resume and letter of inquiry to Channing Martinez, Director of Organizing, Channing@thestrategycenter.org Salary and benefits to be discussed with potential applicants where there is mutual interest in employment. We pay our people fairly, have strong health care and health benefits, and pay people at levels that can allow them to do their job with peace of mind.

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