This year we focus on powering up our community!

We are excited to kick off advocacy trainings on the ‘pitchfork approach’ dubbed by Bob Kafka of ADAPT. He developed a framework for thinking about and planning this approach to grassroots advocacy. The following information is part of the FreeOurPeople.net manual. We acknowledge the amazing work done by ADAPT.

What is a multi-pronged strategy?  

A multi-prong strategy to social change uses a group or community’s coordinated advocacy effort using all the tools in an advocate’s arsenal, all the prongs on the pitchfork, to bring about real changes in people’s lives. When organizing we found, if we were stopped in one avenue, using one strategy or prong, a multi-pronged strategy allowed us to turn our focus to another prong of our campaign and continue the fight.  In addition, work in one area can often push another area to move forward.

The political prong addresses the political system, a state legislature, the U.S. Congress, county commissioners or a city council, in other words elected officials who pass or block passage of laws.  During the political process there are opportunities to meet with the politicians to talk about your issue.  These folks are elected and the whole election process gives opportunities to educate those involved.  Candidates forums, surveys and the like can tell us what the candidates think about our issues, but these are also opportunities to tell them what issues are important to our communities.

The system/administrative prong addresses bureaucracies, state agencies, city departments and other rule making bodies. Believe it or not, once a law is passed it gets “clarified” by bureaucrats who write rules (also called regulations, or regs. for short) with a lot more details about what the law means.  During this process, we can testify, write comments and in various ways let them know our position.  These folks also interpret rules and oversee the programs. If things aren’t happening the way they are supposed to, we can let the decision makers know and force them to deal with the short comings in the system.

Direct action involves using people power to do “street” theater, demonstrations, civil disobedience, anything that directly involves using the people involved in your group.

We have found that many people think that all forms of direct action are illegal, from holding a sign or having a rally to chaining yourself to a door or blocking a bus.  In reality, most kinds of direct action are completely legal; you must break a law for something to be illegal.  Sometimes breaking a law to demonstrate an immoral situation (civil disobedience) is a step you want to take, ADAPT members have done this many times and it can be very effective.  However, there are many other types of direct action to choose from if your group is not ready for civil disobedience.  Direct action can be the most fun prong on the pitchfork and often gets the quickest results. 

Media/education involves getting media (TV, radio, papers, blogs, etc.) or other general education tactics like flyering, websites, social media and other efforts to get the public up-to-speed on your issue. 

Legal refers to the courts, filing suits and the like.  I list it last because so often people turn to that strategy first and then stop; they don’t use any of the other prongs.  Yet legal efforts are often very slow.  The lawyers, judges, mediators and other players in the legal system often take the decision-making and action out of the hands of those directly involved in the issue and put control in the hands of the lawyers. This can be very disempowering. Some lawyers who take our kinds of cases are better about leaving us in control than others.  None-the-less legal can sometimes lead to great results so don’t forget or totally dismiss this last prong.  

By using the diverse individual skills and resources of your group and or your community, a multi-prong strategy allows different talents and ideas to emerge.