This idea keeps coming up – let me go back… I’ve been thinking about a conversation I had with some friends about a key to successful organizing, even when you’re feeling beat down.
It’s simple, it’s easy to implement, and it’s the kind of thing that makes you say “right – of course.”
We call it the Ministry of Love.
Fortunately, that conversation I mentioned? It was recorded. This is an excerpt from an episode of the Center for Artistic Activism’s pop culture podcast from the 2010s, featuring C4AA Co-Founder and Research Director Steve Duncombe, our Board Chair Pat Jerido, organizer and alum Linda Sarsour, and yours truly.
Duncombe introduced us all to the Ministry of Love.
Duncombe: In this community activist group that I was part of in the mid-1990s, The Lower East Side Collective, one of our steady working groups was called the Ministry of Love.
And the sole purpose of the Ministry of Love was to spread love around. They were to plan the parties. They were to meet people who came to our meetings. They were to call them later, check in with them. They were to make sure that our meetings didn’t go on too long. They were to make sure that we basically had fun.
And people would rotate through it. So all of us were in the Ministry of Love at one time or another. But I thought that was sort of a really brilliant idea to just say, this is actually part of the movement. That we need to love each other. And because it was the 90s, we made it ironic and called it the Ministry of Love. But the intent was very serious.
Pat Jerido: Especially as a black person in America, my thinking has always been my longevity is my political act, right? That’s giving it to the man. And so I’ve always had that in my consciousness is something, yeah, I need to live long. Yeah, that’s what I need to do.
Linda Sarsour: We have something called the Sunshine Committee… whose job is – first of all, they don’t forget your birthday. They keep track of your yearly anniversary that you’re working there. And then they do something where randomly – it could be every six weeks – it’s your day at the office. So you walk into work one morning and then you find your face plastered everywhere. And it says , “THANK YOU KAYLA!” And you open the door of your office and there’s balloons and stuff all over your office.
And people think it’s really simple. But if you see the faces of the people that are busting their butts every single day, I mean, especially our caseworkers, they work literally from the minute they walk in until they leave. And then you walk into work and you’re like, wait a minute, I have a hard job, but someone appreciates me and I’m feeling loved, I’m feeling embraced. It’s so profound. People have no idea the impact that it has on individuals. So I highly recommend the Sunshine Committee to the larger movement.
Lambert: That’s the kind of thing where even if you knew tomorrow’s my day, I know there will be pictures of me all over the place, it’s still going to feel good when you walk in and you see that.
| Where’s Waldo? Can you spot me? This is from our The Art of Activism book launch. Yes, I did color coordinate my outfit with the book cover. I also spread a little joy (and surprise) by blasting Pat with a confetti canon. |
Look, you gotta make sure every meeting is fun – because it has other benefits! Groups who enjoy getting together are more likely to meet consistently, stay motivated, stick together, work through tough times, and ultimately, be more effective over the long haul.
Check out that full podcast episode here.
There’s a storm of bad news out there, so we can’t forget to celebrate every win. Luckily for us, people frequently share victories and progress others don’t always hear about. This year we’re going to be sharing those stories with you.
Amid some bleak New York Times reporting on the grassroots in 2025, there was this bright spot:
Ezra Levin, the executive director of Indivisible, an organization he co-founded in 2017 to channel grass-roots opposition to Mr. Trump, said the group had registered more new local chapters since November than it had at any other point since 2017.
And then I was encouraged to read Levin say something we emphasize in our workshops:
Indivisible urged its members to focus not just on Mr. Trump and Congress but also on local elected officials […] It conceded that “too often in Trump 1.0, we embraced the aesthetics of protests instead of using them as part of a strategy.”
“You shouldn’t start with a tactic,” Mr. Levin said. “You should start with a goal.”
Levin participated of our very first Unstoppable Voters workshop. Want to get all the insights from our workshops and more? Check out our Campaign Kits.
Looking Forward,
Steve Lambert
Artistic Direct and Co-Founder
Center for Artistic Activism
P.S. I’m honestly proud of the work we’re doing at the Center for Artistic Activism and the ripple effects it has with groups around the world. I saw it again last week at a workshop we did in Jakarta with Greenpeace and Amnesty Indonesia. Folks are hungry for what we’re teaching and leave excited to put it into practice right away. Your support allows us to work with those who need it most So if you can help nudge that work forward with a contribution today, I’m here to tell you it is meaningful.
