Building Power in Place

As Trump returns to the White House, what can we do to prepare our communities for the threats and uncertainties ahead? How do we protect our people today, while building collective power and resilience towards a liberated tomorrow? In this first session of SRC’s 2025 Municipalism Learning Series, we’ll explore these pressing questions through a conversation between organizers working on the frontlines of today’s social movements. While drawing on diverse experiences, perspectives and lessons, our panelists are united by a shared conviction that the safest community is an organized community on the path to self-governance.

Join us for a discussion about the importance of base-building in any community organizing strategy. Building power in place begins with bringing neighbors together in solidarity and empowering growing numbers of everyday people to participate directly in the process of shaping their own community. But how do we go about doing this? What kind of organizational forms and practices make base-building possible? In this second installment of the 2025 Municipalism Learning Series, we’ll explore these critical questions through a dialog between active community organizers.

What does it look like to build a structure and culture of democratic discussion and decision making in your own local community? How do we empower ourselves and our neighbors to participate directly in the decisions that affect our lives? What are the strengths and challenges of organizing popular assemblies in the current moment? Join us for a discussion on these questions, led by community organizers with wealth of experience building grassroots movements based on direct democracy.

What does it look like to build powerful place-based movements capable of transforming society? How do we weave together grassroots institutions into a holistic force that can both challenge and transcend oppressive systems? Join us for a a panel discussion about movements building dual-power around the world, from Brazil to Kurdistan to Jackson, Mississippi.