ABSTRACT
Mississippi civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer once said that “there is one thing you have got to learn about our movement. Three people are better than no people.” This is an unambiguous response to the ubiquitous frustration of a community organizer, namely, there are not enough people to do the work that needs to be done. The organizer may feel that people are too busy or do not care, and if there were just more people who were willing to become active, then the overwhelming task of social change would be possible. However, Hamer’s point is that three people are better than two, or one, or no people. Still, the central task of organizing is to enlist more and more people to participate in the struggle for social change, that is, to “build the base” (Fisher, 1994). The base is important because it comprises the people who have the most investment and interest in the outcome of organizing work. Indeed, the base usually comprises the people who actually engage in the day-to-day efforts of effecting social change. In addition, the base carries the struggle on over time, builds organizational or movement capacity and sustainability, and passes on the critical knowledge of the values and practices of organizations.
