What Next

Organizers’ Roundtable

Redefining the Win for Movements Today

Conversation with Direct Action Network (DAN) organizers 20 years after the Shutdown of the WTO in Seattle, with David Solnit, Chris Borte, Nancy Haque, Ingrid Chapman, Hop Hopkins, and Stephanie Guilloud. Organizers look forward to the next 20 years and reflect on mass organizing in the 21st century.

"I think that especially now, authentic relationships matter more than ever. People crave connections to something larger than themselves, and we can provide that. We could all remember what it felt like to feel part of a movement, even it was just momentary. It felt like winning. . . I think that we need to keep putting our resources into what organizing means into 2019 and beyond. It’s what helps change the world." - Nancy Haque

Imagining our collective futures 20 years after Seattle and 20 years from today

By Stephanie Guilloud

We remember Seattle 1999 in a moment when the world is exploding with people’s uprisings. What do we need to understand about Seattle to create strategies today that carve liberatory paths for our people over the next 20 years? Shutting down the WTO was a significant success and marked a turning point, but turning points imply a longer story. Another kind of work begins the next day. And for the next twenty years.

We understand the 1999 Seattle shutdown as one moment in an intergenerational chain of struggles for liberation. Today, we take heart from many movements rising, and share a modest list of resources to connect folks to bold visions, big demands, and transformational organizing in the world.