Nicole, this is really excellent in its clarity and passion. Some thoughts and question to advance your worthy efforts.
". . . build relationships that made them feel supported, purposeful, and actualized — meeting the needs at the very top of Maslow’s hierarchy." Please unpack “feel supported,” purposeful, and actualized? Participants need to be heard and what concerns expressed need to be acknowledged.
"Meaningful roles and connections kept newly activated individuals engaged for a significantly longer period of time and supported them to step into leadership." Meaningful roles? What does step into leadership mean? Is leadership the only meaningful role, to become a standard bearer?
How does following a charismatic leader give evidence of the power of social relationships?
The Occupy Wall Street Movement was the most collaborative, most respective of others movement to the point of clicking fingers and waving hands instead of applauding and cheers. How might this collaborative lack of leadership, no one for the media to quote, influence your feelings of being an active part of something much larger?
As you painfully know, more often than not a small proportion of the overall population taking action will not effect change (and sometimes get killed). When only 3.5% does sway the population with effective uses of nonviolent resistance (and not a revolution), what lessons may we take away from it and are they applicable to our situation?
Prioritize cultivating relationships with whom? - to create leaders who will do what current leaders have not done? To be all about change of leaders, about elections, and absent the work of passing responsible legislation, is like putting the cart before the horse – the cart never advances because the horse can never get ahead, no matter what horse it is.
YES! create relationships at the right scale. This will vary with the issue. Stronger relationships start at the small scale where shared deliberative practices are learned and egalitarian team spirit built. Is “purposeful engagement” Agenda-driven, deaf to individual concerns, perspective or beliefs? We want changes, not indoctrination.
