2012 CGS Annual Conference

Event Description

Members of Congress hear from few ordinary citizens in person, and fewer still about global issues. The 2012 Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS) annual conference met in Washington, DC, on Thursday 15 March 2012. It ran alongside a lobby day and a White House visit. The recording above is the keynote address. It opened with a hope that the morning’s lobbying meetings had gone well.

Margaret Groarke of Manhattan College gave the keynote and argued that the moment favored activists. The Arab Spring and the Occupy movement against economic inequality had opened a real chance for change, she said. So had communications technology still in its early years. Movements succeed, she argued, when long-time organizers are ready for them. Her examples included the strike by the Solidarity trade union in Poland and the Charter 77 human rights movement in Czechoslovakia. Another was the work of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) before the civil rights movement. She closed with a list of lessons. Be persistent, educate yourself and others, be creative and be brave. Learn from others, and recognize that you are powerful.

See the upcoming CGS events and what CGS runs for young people.

Speakers

Margaret Groarke, Manhattan College and the Peace and Justice Studies Association, spoke on “Lessons in Activism: Opening the Doors to Power in 2012”. Her talk asked what activists can learn from the recent past as they organize for the year ahead. Groarke, a political scientist, studied how people use their vote, voice and activism. She served on the board of the Peace and Justice Studies Association.

Titles are as of the event date.