Change Is In the Air!
Greetings fellow troublemakers and solution seekers! The planet is on the cusp of season change and so are we at Beautiful Trouble. Here are some exciting updates to help you warm up or cool down in whichever hemisphere this reaches you.
NEW! BEAUTIFUL TROUBLE MONTHLY JAM SERIES
We’re so excited about the FREE MONTHLY JAMS we’re offering MOSTLY every second Monday, starting in March! Register for those short and sweet dives that will help you more efficiently use the different tools and resources in the Beautiful Trouble Universe–and be sure to spread the word!
March 13th [2nd Monday] - Intro to BT Universe & Toolbox
April 10th [2nd Monday] - Intro to Trainers’ Resources, BATMo!
May 15th [3rd Monday] - How to Use the Beautiful Trouble Strategy Card Deck
June 12th [2nd Monday] - Intro to Movement Compass
…and if you have a more specific training request, get in touch with us here!
YES! MAGAZINE ARTICLE
Can people-powered movements and NGOs get along? You and we know too well that’s a controversial question that often stirs up a heated debate! That is why Beautiful Trouble teamed up with Amnesty International for a year-long research on how NGOs can adopt a movement mindset to become better allies. In case you missed Beautiful Trouble’s attempt to address this controversy, check out our recently published article in the Yes! Magazine.
Word on the street from our partners in Kenya is that activists are using this headline to say “told you so” to NGOs with feigned allyship.
What are YOUR thoughts and reflections on the article? Hashtag #BeautifulTrouble in your conversations about it!
NEW TOOLBOX CONTENT
Our toolbox keeps growing! We now have a full write-up for Build People Power, then Negotiate:
“…[I]n a moment of popular upheaval, it’s far more important to focus on building and sustaining protests in the streets than rushing into backchannel negotiations.”
and Develop an inside-outside strategy:
“Some people only work through the system. Others only challenge it from outside. But the most powerful strategies will link the two, combining social movement pressure with efforts to win and wield state power.”
Did these excerpts inspire you? Read their full write-ups and explore our interactive and multi-lingual Toolbox for more tactics, stories, strategies, methodologies, theories and principles for making change happen.
We were tweeted in February by investigative journalist Radley Balko (author of Rise of the Warrior Cop)–and enthusiastically REtweeted! Woot WOOOOT!!!
MARCH 21 – INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
In 1979, the UN General Assembly declared a week of solidarity against racial discrimination in all nations. The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination commemorates the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa, where White Afrikaner Police open-fired into a crowd of over 7,000 peaceful Black anti-apartheid protesters, killing 69 people and injuring 180.
63 years later, the struggle against racism continues… Commemorate the day by sharing and hashtagging the #BEAUTIFULTROUBLE entry that inspires you the most from the EVERYTHING ABOUT #RACIALJUSTICE collection in our free and multilingual online toolbox.
You can also share our #BlackLivesMatter and Palestinian Solidarity sets–or create your own set!
Have we inspired or encouraged you? Help us keep on keeping on! We are a small but mighty global team of freelance thinkers, doers and disruptors. We bring you tools and insight needed in the movement for a just world. Your gifts can be one-time or recurring in whatever amount is given in earnest on the scale of your personal economy. Thank you in advance for your generosity!
From all of us at the Beautiful Trouble, Beautiful Solutions, and Beautiful Rising Team – we hope to see you at our first Toolbox Jam session–in our toolbox–or in the streets!
