What Do We Want and How Deeply Do We Want It?

What do we want and how deeply do we want it? What choices can we make that bring ourselves and our whole communities forward through unpredictable conditions? 

Maintaining a sense of radical imagination about the future helps us better understand our collective past. It is our duty to use our collective imagination and use it to shape and direct the tide of change ourselves. 

On December 15 and 16, 2021, Movement Strategy Center (MSC) co-founder Taj James chatted with activists, facilitators, and cultural influencers in a multipart conversation exploring how to live the Practices of Transformative Movement Building on Facebook Live, sponsored by Movement Strategy Network and Beloved Communities Network (BCN).

In the first segment, guests included Autumn Brown of AORTA and Aisha Shillingford and Terry Marshall of Intelligent Mischief. They talked about the lessons shared with them around transformative movement building. They also discussed the courage and hope it takes to imagine a future that collective traumas might otherwise dim. 

Brown reminded us to look for folks practicing the future now and memorably declared that “Blackness is a sight of magic … One of the most magical forces on earth.” Marshall and Shillingford reminded us to look to ballrooms, raves, or cookouts — places where people practice community and can find hope.

Discussion centered on the four elements at the core of transformative movement building and include leading with audacious vision and bold purpose; deeply embodying the values at the heart of the vision; building radical and deep community around the vision; and using all of that — vision, embodiment, and connection — to strategically navigate toward the future. 

Watch the entire conversation below.

The conversation echoes the juicy conversations on Beloved Communities Network Radio. Catch up on the first season of BCR at Beloved Communities Network’s YouTube.