Solidarity, empowering, Mobilizing
Our Mission, Vision, Activities, & History
Our mission
SOLIDARITY 2020 and Beyond is a “movement of movements” that acts as the roots and sustenance for many different limbs of a strong and broad tree covering the globe. S2020B is led by the grassroots movement leaders themselves, who make up the Global Grassroots Activist Network, GGAN. The GGAN is currently 175+ members strong, comprised of grassroots leaders from around the world utilizing strategic and nonviolent action methods for progressive change in the struggles for environmental justice and against climate change, land and indigenous rights, women’s rights and gender justice, self-determination, racial justice and minority rights, freedom of religion, democratization, and anti-corruption in Southeast and South Asia, North America, Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Europe.
S2020B includes a coalition of international scholar activists, journalists, and practitioners, the Organizing Committee members and allies, that provide support and solidarity for the GGAN led movements around the world.
SOLIDARITY 2020 and Beyond is an umbrella movement made up of grassroots-led movements. Our five pillars of work determined by GGAN members include: 1) enhancing strategic nonviolent resistance training; 2) convening, networking, sharing and amplifying the voices and knowledge of grassroots leaders and relevant locally-led research; 3) psychosocial support, self-care, and trauma healing through sharing best practices and curriculum/services across and within movements; 4) participatory research led by communities in partnership with scholar activists; and 5) provision of general resources to create an enabling environment for activists, organizers, peacebuilders, and human rights defenders in our network such as small and emergency grants, and connections to experts and policy makers and platforms regionally and internationally to build and enhance people power.
We seek to build people power and mobilize effectively to fight for change to create a world that is more equal, just, peaceful, and provides dignity for all.
Our Vision
Solidarity 2020 and Beyond envisions a world where people are empowered, prepared, supported and mobilized to struggle strategically and non-violently for justice, equality, dignity and rights for all (humans, animals and mother nature).
Our Activities
To accomplish our Vision and Mission, Solidarity 2020 and Beyond seeks to be a connector and coalition builder supporting numerous projects, networking, and working group initiatives driven by the voice and requests of grassroots activists and movements. These currently include: interactive webinar series, sharing and convening meetings and presentations of grassroots activists, convenings and meetings of allies, participatory action research and data gathering, emergency funds initiative, advocacy, psycho-social models and support, resource lists, and Social Media Campaigns to include blogs, vlogs, online articles, and podcasts.
The common thread with grassroots activists we support are those waging campaigns and movements utilizing nonviolent resistance to fight for dignity, equality and human rights under international law. Types of struggles include land rights, self-determination, environmental justice, democratization, women’s rights and gender justice, anti-corruption campaigns, indigenous rights, minority rights, religious rights, freedom of speech, human rights and many others.
Our Five Main Work Priorities
Our Story
Solidarity 2020 and Beyond is a global network and initiative that is truly activist-driven and movement-centered, driven by bottom-up people power, local wisdom and needs. How was it born?
Solidarity 2020 and Beyond was envisioned and developed by a team of three Rotary Peace Fellows, returning from our peace building program in Bangkok, Thailand, as COVID -19 was spreading globally. Each of us had different, but complementary interests and areas of expertise—support and training for strategic nonviolent resistance, movement building and human rights; inter-religious dialogue and peacebuilding and transitional justice; and media, journalism and storytelling through documentaries for justice and change. We had in common a commitment and life-long dedication to engaging with grassroots communities across the world working for dignity, human rights, and peace with justice.
Based on urgent requests of numerous grassroots activists from diverse struggles around the world, extensive trust relationships built over the years with these communities, and an understanding of the key “trigger moment” for change that the coronavirus pandemic was creating, we conceived of and launched Solidarity 2020 and Beyond. We organized convenings, one-on-one and group discussions, surveys, resource mappings, and data gathering to receive direction and input from numerous grassroots activists. Additionally, we did consultations and received advice from a diverse group of scholar activists and journalists working in the field.
Our Formation
Grounded in this knowledge, the structure of Solidarity 2020 and Beyond was developed. It is organized into two main pillars—the Global Grassroots Activists Network (GGAN) and the Organizing Committee (OC). The OC members act in solidarity and provide support for the GGAN members. The OC members represent three areas of expertise requested by the GGAN members– scholar activists specializing in nonviolent action and movement building; journalists/media interested and experienced in amplifying oppressed and marginalized voices and communities and reframing the discussion; and self-care, psycho-social practitioners.
GGAN members possess deep connections to their local communities and have experience and knowledge about waging nonviolent campaigns and movements. The OC members are experts in their field and represent geographic, religious, gender, and issue diversity. We are all committed to progressive bottom-up change and a new world after COVID 19. Our work will be done through continuous working groups formed by and among grassroots activists, OC members, and other relevant allies. Solidarity 2020 and Beyond is not an organization, but a global network and initiative that is truly activist-driven and movement-centered, driven by bottom-up people power, local wisdom, and needs.
Solidarity 2020 and Beyond was created in the key year of 2020, a historic “tipping point”, but built for sustainability over many years into the future. We plan to create, implement, build skills, and document new strategies and tactics in nonviolent movements for change during COVID-19. We also plan to determine what specific skills, knowledge, strategies, campaigns, tactics, analytical tools, plans, resources and alliances grassroots activists and organizers need at the local level to take advantage of this “trigger moment” and construct a new and just world beyond. Our litmus test for a project or activity is simple—does it respond to a need, request, or objective voiced by our Global Grassroots Activist Network (GGAN) members? Will it lead to a better chance of success for their campaigns or movements? Are we acting in solidarity and supporting positive change in their communities? Is this initiative connecting and strengthening movements globally?
Overall, Solidarity 2020 and Beyond was formed at this critical time in world history to strengthen and support movement building of grassroots activists and organizers around the world. Through strategic thinking and action and mobilizing millions of people through linkage and solidarity of these grassroots movements, major structural, institutional, and systemic change can be demanded and obtained. A new world is possible.