The most important role strategic communications plays in social movements is to build narrative power

This week RadComms turns three.

For three years, we've been proud and eager to offer open-source access to resources like press lists, peer-driven communications trainings, and in-person meetups to connect with other social change communicators. We do this because we know narrative change doesn't happen one organization at a time -- and in the fight for justice, it doesn't benefit anyone to keep what we know proprietary or a secret. This is different than the status quo, and we pride ourselves on that.

There are so many reasons this Network is meaningful to me, and one experience, in particular, stands out.

When Micah Xavier Johnson shot and killed five Dallas police officers and injured nine others on July 7, 2016, onlookers began drawing a false connection from him to Black Lives Matter and the Movement for Black Lives. As the then Director of Communications for Black Lives Matter Global Network and co-chair of the Communications Table of the Movement for Black Lives, I was obligated to articulate our communications response to what happened in Dallas and to the rumors that Johnson was among our ranks. Yet, I often look back on this moment awash with shame and regret because I didn't know where to start or what to say.

Until then, if I knew nothing else about communicating on behalf of social movements, it was that there is no one right way to do it. At no time during my tenure at BLM was I more aware of the range of differences in the political beliefs among movement members than when I sat down at my computer to eke out our collective response to the deaths of five police officers at the hands of a Black person. How do you balance illustrating the systematic threat police pose to Black communities while condemning Johnson's tactics? Johnson wasn't connected to us, and our members shared his frustration about unchecked police violence.

That is why after the 2016 election, I opened up to fellow organizers and communicators on Facebook with the most honest question: "how do we address the fact that our values-based messaging has not been winning the progressive fight? How do we address the propaganda driving the erosion of our democracy and strengthening power for the ruling class? Something needed to change radically.

One hundred of us joined the first call on November 17, 2016 -- and became the first cohort of the Radical Communicators Network. Three years later, RadComms has become one of the most dynamic and innovative communities of practice for social change communicators and a hub for advanced skill-building, values-aligned political education, and cross-movement collaboration. Together, with limited resources, this Network has begun to close a gap in strategic communications.
Since 2016, we have:

Democratically elected 8 Leadership Team members.
Hosted 15 #RadSessions, focusing on topics from LGBT- inclusive messaging to measuring cultural change.
Ran an inaugural UnConvening in 2017 with nearly 100 participants from across the network.
Facilitated more than 1,000 online discussions, ranging from narrative power analysis to messaging from an abundance framework
Offered open-source access to resources like press lists, polling data, peer-driven communications trainings, and in-person meetups to connect with other social change communicators.
Grown to a network of nearly 1,200 from all corners of the United States and beyond.
Hosted dozens of regional happy hours in Los Angeles, Oakland, NYC, and Columbus.

Connected those in need of communications coaching with communications coaches all over the country.

Yet, our recent member survey revealed that much work still needs to be done. More than 50 percent of social change communicators have said they are isolated from each other, while more than 70 percent face limited capacity and resources. At a time when the underpinnings of democracy itself are being challenged globally, we cannot afford to lose the power of grassroots communicators.

Our role is critical: we're hope dealers tasked with building political will in a prophetic vision of a world we have never experienced. We are held to account by the social movements we serve and do not sacrifice principles or ethics for strategy. We deconstruct harmful narratives and propagate stories of liberation -- the building blocks of narrative power.

We are the future of social change communications. We believe the most critical role strategic communications plays in social movements is to build narrative power, which, according to Rashad Robinson, changes “the norms and rules our society lives by.”

And together, we have learned that narrative power is not built by one person or one organization at a time -- the global fight for social justice takes all of us.

As we look ahead to 2020 -- and, more importantly -- the next twenty years of demonstrations and demands, I ask myself, and I ask all of us, how can we position ourselves as partners in a global fight for freedom, choice, and democracy?

What I believe most profoundly is that our network of mutuality is vital to answering this question. We invite you to stay with us as we take RadComms to the next level and become a stronger force for making radical, social change a living, vibrant reality.

In community and service,

Shanelle Matthews
Founder, Radical Communicators Network

RadComms Leadership Team

Marzena Zukowska, Hermelinda Cortés, Micky Jordan, Katrina Rogers, JD Davids, Ana Tellez, Chelsea Fuller, Bryce Fields, Shanelle Matthews

RadComms Fundraising Team

Virali Modi-Parekh, Maya Trabin, Zaineb Mohammed, Marzena Zukowska, JD Davids, Shanelle Matthews