Imagine that you have been invited to speak (you’re delivering a speech, not reading an essay) at a community forum in Memphis about a new organization that you are developing. The organization will address some aspect of racial oppression. This is a very important presentation because this community forum can provide essential support (including money and/or supporters) for your organization. However, the organizers of this forum have given you only three to five minutes to address the group. Begin the presentation, by telling the audience the name of your organization and the problem you plan to address (like “mass incarceration” or “policing” or “workers’ rights” or “systemic poverty”).
Then briefly describe –
a) the history of the problem from the late 19th through 21st centuries;
b) the specific goals of your movement;
c) the ideal participants you want and why you think you need their support (in other words – elite, middle class, college-educated, religious groups, organized labor, the economically stressed, young people, old people, etc.);
d) the tactics (court challenges, boycotts, marches, cultural developments, etc.) your organization plans to use to address oppression; and
e) how your group will address gender in terms of the problem or the outcomes.
