Unity Through Diversity Statement

"The only way we can ever be human is together. The only way we can be free is together."

- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South African anti-apartheid leader

What does "Unity Through Diversity" mean?

Unity Through Diversity is an organizing principle that calls for finding common ground with a broad spectrum of people to build movements large enough to overcome the systems we are struggling against. 

Unity, in the context of PAAU organizing spaces, means creating or joining coalitions with groups of people for the specific purposes of reaching organizational goals and amassing people power. Examples of this are PAAU’s  #RepealFACE and #JusticeForTheFive campaigns. This does not mean we are compromising to work with "bad people.” Instead it is engaging with people with whom we do not fully identify or align with in principled ways. By stating our expectations and negotiating protocols around matters of respect, we can navigate potential conflict in ways that are generative and transformational. 

Diversity, in the context of PAAU organizing spaces, means we believe that a wide range of tactics, interventions, beliefs, cultures, and communities are needed to achieve preborn justice. This does not include the use of violence or threats of violence. 

Why is this organizing principle important? 

The pro-life movement will never outspend the Abortion Industrial Complex so we must amass people power. This requires creating broad movements – not clubhouses. As chapter 9 of Let This Radicalize You states, "Effective organizers operate beyond the bounds of their comfort zones, moving into what we might call their 'stretch zone', when necessary."

While this does not mean the extreme of having to work with every single person you disagree with, it is important to increase your capacity to navigate some discomfort and employ empathy towards people who have not had the same access to liberatory ideas. This is how our influence will reach more people, and in turn build more pro-life power.  

Addressing Factors That Hinder Movement Growth 

Three key areas that create wedges and roadblocks to organizing on a mass scale:

1. Mono Culture

2. Racism 

3. Adult Supremacy

The above areas create conflict and discomfort and can lead to a movement culture of excusing oppression. At PAAU, we reject the idea that people's experiences of oppression are natural, correct, or their own fault. Instead, we want to transform the above areas in ways that create shifts in power dynamics, new ways of communicating, and new shared understandings of what the conflicts are about. 

This transformation process looks like:

1. Becoming culturally diverse and inclusive

2. Implementing anti-racist practices and policies

3. Cultivating healthy intergenerational bonds and youth leadership 

The above ideas can allow us to engage with people we strongly disagree with in principled ways. The end goal is developing mutual respect and paths towards just outcomes. 

Navigating Trauma and Discomfort 

It is common for activists to start organizing out of trauma. They may enter movement work from a place of outrage or they themselves have experienced trauma directly. Trying to navigate your own trauma and trauma responses in organizing spaces can manifest in ways that can hinder your work. 

Chapter 9 of Let This Radicalize You further explores the above concept by saying, "Entering spaces where our struggles are recognized can be incredibly empowering. It can also bring to the surface many emotions that society has never given us the space to process or express."

It is important to find a balance with your organizing and emotions. Anger, joy, grief, and hope are all needed to fend off apathy and burnout but staying engaged in movement work in ways that are sustainable involves being intentional with our choices and reactions. 

Ways to increase your capacity to navigate trauma and discomfort: 

1. Create separate processing spaces outside of broader movement work (therapy, journaling, hobbies, art, music, body movement, etc) 

2. Resist reactive responses through:

1. Active listening

2. Engaging Empathy 

3. Asking Questions 

3. Practice patience in contexts that are uncomfortable or even offensive (pausing, breathing exercises, emotional scans, etc) 

To build enough people power to dismantle the Abortion Industrial Complex we need to create relationships with people who are not exactly like ourselves. How close you are or in what circumstances you interact in can be tailored by reasonable boundaries. But first steps are needed. This can look like meeting people where they are at, not as a naive sentiment, but as an intentional effort because you can not “meet someone” when you do not know them.

"Until you have heard someone out, you do not know where they are, so how could you hope to meet them there? Relationships are not built through presumptions or through the deployment of tropes or stereotypes. We must understand people as having their own unique experiences, traumas, struggles, ideas, and motivations that will inform how they show up to organizing spaces." --Let This Radicalize You Chapter 9 

In conclusion, maintaining "Unity Through Diversity" is hard work. Sometimes it will be the hardest challenge set out for ourselves. But a world beyond abortion includes all of us. That means giving yourself and others the grace needed to fumble our way towards justice. 

Resources:

1) Read Let This Radicalize You Chapter 9 (buy the book here)

2) Explore PAAU's Conflict Transformation Framework

3) PAAU’s Anti-Oppression Framework (coming soon)

4) Download Navigating Trauma Toolkit