The late great Neil Jameson, founder of Citizens UK passionately believed in the core principles Community Organising as the means to overcome racism in our communities. Neil was fond of saying that ‘if we know each other, then we won’t hurt each other’. That is to say, relational power and the pursuit of our shared mutual self-interest and common good are the tools which empower us all to build cohesive communities together, as equals.
Or in other words; the problems which are affecting me and my family, friends and neighbours, are probably the same problems affecting you and yours too, and the best way to overcome them is by building broad alliances to raise our collective voices and solve our shared problems together.
Alliances of Mosques, Gurdwaras, Synagogues, Churches, Tenants and Resident Associations, credit unions, sports clubs and associations, nurseries, community orgs, community councils, trade unions, small businesses, colleges and schools. Alliances of those who are new to Scotland and those who were born here, immigrant and indigenous, black and white, religious and secular, old and young, all simply doing things and speaking together.
Here at Inverclyde Community Development Trust we are currently undertaking this vital work of community organising across Greenock, Port Glasgow and beyond, as our community goes through a major shift in its population demographics, amid a period of significant austerity and hardship for everyone. With more and more of our young people leaving Inverclyde and more and more people moving into the area from outside the UK.
One of the ways in which we are bringing people together to ‘do things’ is through our two Inverclyde Zero Waste Community Food Pantries based in Greenock and Port Glasgow. Our pantries don’t simply exist to alleviate the plight of food insecurity but also to provide spaces for people from all walks of life and backgrounds to meet, work, volunteer, socialise, organise and eat together.
Equally, our Supportive Communities project offers a chance for individuals and families who are New to Scotland, to integrate into the community and make lasting friendships through befriending. Projects such as Supportive Communities and the Pantries are vital, not just for our friends who have recently come here, be they refugees who have come here via the UNHCR resettlement scheme, or asylum seekers or even individuals here on work and study visas, but also for all those born and raised here too.
Activities such as our Warm Spaces and Brew Buddies club, our climate action project, our employability services, our active travel project and home energy advice projects. The projects often provide services and opportunities for all those members of our community who feel disempowered, voiceless and left behind, as well as providing a space to meet other people from different backgrounds.
Indeed, our Trust is nearly 40 years old and has been alongside all the families who have lived here for generations, since the shipyards closed in the 1980s, resulting in mass unemployment. It is unemployment which provides another dark corner for prejudice and fear to spread, especially since the workplace is where mistrust, racism, homophobia and bigotry go to die. The workplace is where real human relationships flourish, it is where people who'd never meet under any other circumstances...black, white, catholic, protestant, religious, secular, gay, straight...build a common life together. The workplace is still the space where you become best mates with the bloke who supports the team you hate. Yet, when there are fewer jobs, then there are less opportunities for us to meet others, make new friends and pull together to get the job done.
This is exactly why a strong civil society fighting against social isolation and atomisation, is so hugely important in the fight against racism. Our societies where once highly associational and voluntary, back when small towns such as ours had their own thriving cultural life and people had some power and autonomy over their own lives, long before the dominance of big cities and the centralisation of capital, subsequently closing down many of our local banks and financial institutions.
Finally, William Beveridge writing on the importance of voluntary action as a way to overcome racism, in the years after the Second World War, had this to say, “The first call should be on developing citizens to take the responsibilities of democracy in choosing leaders and deciding on public issues. The making of a good society depends on citizens acting individually or in association with each other, so the night’s insane (Nazi) dream of power over others, without limit and without mercy shall fade and humankind shall bring back the day”.
So let’s create new associations, ones which allow us to have a voice and together we will build communities based upon trust, tolerance and inclusion.