Hi everyone, I’m Aaron! I’m an organizer living in a neighborhood called Crown Heights, in Brooklyn, New York. I’ve been organizing for about 4 years.
People may know me from a past podcast called the Politically Asian! Podcast, or more recently, from some viral videos on Instagram on getting more political slowly, finding friends to organize with, finding a group to organize with, and avoiding burnout in organizing.
I spend my free time organizing with a few groups in Crown Heights and building relationships with people in my apartment complex and neighborhood.
To me, organizing is talking to people near where you live and work. This way, when you’re struggling with an issue, you’re not suffering in silence. We’re talking issues like your heat not being on in the winter, your boss stealing your wages. Or even luxury developers trying to displace a local business.
I make videos that are beginner-friendly, practical guides on organizing. These videos tackle questions I hear from organizers and friends who are interested in organizing. For organizers, some concerns include reducing burnout, communicating in a simple way, and caring for each other. For people who aren’t involved (yet), some barriers include not feeling smart enough or extroverted enough to organize. And some folks feel overwhelmed by the number of options.
I’ve had people message me saying the videos make them feel connected to the broader organizing space. Others have been encouraged to find political friends. And one person was motivated to start their own mutual aid group. I feel grateful to hear that the content resonates with people, and I hope more people take steps to do community organizing who have never done anything before! I want organizing to become the norm. Otherwise, we’re just captives for private equity groups, landlord-developers, and predatory tech companies.
My one recommendation is if you don’t have friends you can organize with, find a friend you can organize with. In this video, I share different ways to find that friend, starting with the most introverted method and moving toward the most extroverted method.
For example, if you use Instagram, one way is to create a close friends list of your most political mutuals. Whenever you want to go to a political event or community event, post about it on your Close Friends story. Ask if anyone wants to go with you and go together.
Once you find a political action-oriented friend, that’ll make other actions easier or unnecessary.
Too many people think organizing means go outside and march in the streets for a day. This piece, Organizing Versus Activism, spells out some key differences, with a big one being that organizing has concrete demands and a sustained focus.
From Gary Economics’ YouTube channel: Understand the Economy Part 1: What is wealth? This guy is good at using simple words to explain how the poor getting poorer is *because* the rich are getting richer. It’s a cause and effect relationship. Whenever I meet someone who’s a billionaire-defender, I point them toward Gary Economics. Maybe this’ll be useful for someone else who knows a billionaire-defender.
Here are some more practical tenant resources from Crown Heights Tenants Union. This is a group in the neighborhood where I live, and I like their resources for tenants. They have templates even for simple things, like a sign-in sheet, to help people organize their buildings step by step.
And lastly, if you’re looking to join an Asian American focused organization, you can always check out 18 Million Rising.
In solidarity,
Aaron & Leyen, Kari, Turner, Van, Sharmin, Allison, and Irma – the 18MR Team
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