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Social change in U.S. history has
always required both structural change – laws, institutions,
constitutional amendments – and cultural change – a shift in shared
values, beliefs, identity, and collective consciousness. However, laws
follow culture. Transformative structural change has always begun with
societal cultural change. People’s beliefs, identities, and shared
sense of justice and inclusion shifted before laws and the
constitution shifted. This sequence appeared across every major
movement examined in this series. Each movement altered culture, some sooner
and more deeply than others, before institutions were significantly
altered.
The effort to pass the We the People
Amendment,
which would abolish all corporate constitutional rights and the
doctrine of money as political speech, has always been more than a
legal and constitutional campaign. It’s also been a cultural campaign
to help supporters reorient how they think about themselves,
democracy, and about who governs. Both are needed for the Amendment to
pass as a first step toward greater constitutional renewal.
Understanding earlier movements offers essential guidance for our
movement in terms of how they changed narratives, built solidarity,
empowered marginalized people, used culture (art, music, stories), and
sustained momentum over years or decades.
I claim no definitive expertise on
any single one of the described movements in this series, lessons for
today, or even whether the chosen movements were the best to draw
upon to compare and contrast with Move to Amend. Rigorous researchers
can, no doubt, challenge particular descriptions and have differing
take-a-ways of the essence of any one of the movements. The
reflections represent simply my perspectives rooted in the privilege
of organizing locally, state-wide and nationally for social change on
a wide range of issues for over four decades, which required being
exposed to people, ideas and historical and contemporary information
on issues of race, gender, economic justice, peace, nonviolence,
democracy, and how to create social movements.
Mindful of these limitations, here
are a few important lessons learned from the ten examined
movements.
1. Human dignity is a core of change
Successful social movements begin
with people asserting their full humanity even when the dominant
culture denies it. Enslaved and formerly enslaved people insisted on
their dignity throughout the long abolitionist and civil rights eras.
Women fighting for suffrage demanded recognition as full persons, not
extensions of husbands or property owners. Blacks struggling for basic
civil rights asserted their humanity through self-naming,
self-education and, in many instances, the affirmation and moral
righteousness from their faith. Queer people, especially after
Stonewall, rejected shame, overcame claims of deviance, and reclaimed
public space with pride. Populist farmers in the 19th century refused
to internalize that they were lazy or ignorant by demanding conditions
to meet their basic economic needs and by joining
cooperatives.
The core cultural shift in these
movements was the insistence that people deserve dignity and rights
because they are human — not because institutions grant them. The
dominant culture created and nurtured by the power elite, by contrast,
strives to instill in the masses a sense of inferiority, inability,
powerlessness and resignation that current conditions are beyond the
possibility of significant change. Individual activism is channeled
into surrogates – electing political representatives who decreasingly
represent those who elect them. Add to this the ever-growing current
plethora of entertaining distractions and an unjust economic system
forcing individuals to work longer for less pay to maintain current
lifestyles that consumes time and energy that could be devoted to
improving society.
There are two related take-a-ways
for Move to Amend. First, we must continue to assert and affirm that
every person has the self-worth, power and right to be involved in
constitutional reform, an arena that is too important to be left
solely to constitutional “experts,” public officials, the corporate
media, think tanks, and other surrogates. A popular revolutionary
movement created colonial independence from Great Britain; drove some
rights for women, people of color and people of different sexual
orientations into the Constitution where they should have originally
existed, and forced other important democratic changes, like the
direct election of Senators. This legacy must continue. We all have
PhDs in what it’s like to live in an increasing corptocracy and
plutocracy. It’s up to us to continue providing support and tools that
enable individuals to feel confident and prepared to educate and
organize others and to challenge the power structure to amend the U.S.
Constitution.
Relatedly, we must continue to
shift the culture to delegitimize the ideas that corporations deserve
the same rights as people and that wealth and money equals free
speech. These undemocratic absurdities must be perpetually
communicated through our education, advocacy and organization with
clarity and conviction. Our movement must uncompromisingly continue to
proclaim that only human beings, not corporations, are part of “We the
People.” and that money is wealth, not speech.
2.
Broad grassroots solidarity is essential
A common feature across the
examined social movements is the capacity to unite people across race,
class, geography, and experience. The labor movement built solidarity
among workers who had previously been isolated. The Populist movement
forged interracial alliances among farmers and workers against
corporate monopolies. The civil right movement included southern
blacks, northern union members, people of faith, and students. The
environmental justice movement connected frontline communities facing
pollution, extraction, and ecological destruction.
These movements succeeded because
they built a shared identity rooted in lived experience and collective
power. However, some past movements often excluded or marginalized
women, queer people, Black people, immigrants, urban or rural people,
or the working-class poor.
For the We the People Amendment, this means uniting workers,
environmentalists, racial justice organizations, Indigenous
communities, students, and many others whose lives are negatively
affected by concentrated corporate power. A mass movement needs masses
of people acting and organizing together. Move to Amend has always
been committed to be inclusive, based on our Statement of Values, across race, gender, class, sexuality,
ability – because corporate rule harms across all these divides, but
also because real democracy and overcoming oppression includes much
more than simply ending corporate rule and ending big money in
elections.
A basic organizing rule to build
grassroots solidarity is to start with people’s interests and
concerns. More effective is fulfilling tangible needs. For the
Populist the tangible offering was economic cooperatives where farmers
could collectively negotiate for a better price for their crops than
if done individually.
Move to Amend must frame the
We the People
Amendment less in terms of
how corporate power and money as speech is politically corrupting or
even profoundly undemocratic and more in terms of how corporate rule
and the influence of money in elections prevents issues like health
care for all, fair wages and benefits, affordable housing, quality
education, safe food and a clean environment from being achieved. And
while Move to Amend isn’t a mutual aid organization that provides
tangible needs like food, clothing and basic supplies, it now has the
ability to address an incredibly important basic need – emotional
support.
That was at least one of the
motivations for launching our new self-paced course, The Way Through: From Overwhelm, Burnout,
Despair & Anger into Effective Action, which guides participants through the
process of cultivating personal awareness, emotional resilience, and
psychological growth. As an anecdote to feelings inadequacy,
depression and paralysis, the course is a potential means for
attracting many new people searching for support and tools to achieve
personal and collective liberation
3. The power of cultural
expression moves people
Past movements used music, art,
poetry, literature, stories and other forms of cultural expression to
humanize struggles, build solidarity, and spread ideas. They
emotionally move people to take action. Political theater by the
colonists, abolitionist literature, suffrage parades and visual
propaganda, labor murals, progressive era political cartoons,
anti-nuclear/peace movement songs and chants, civil rights freedom
songs, and storytelling to humanize gay and lesbian people all shaped
collective feelings that contributed to legislative and/or
constitutional changes.
Cultural expressions also inform
and create a sense of solidarity – both vitally important in
sustaining activism through the many years, if not decades, of social
movements.
Move to Amend in building the
We the People
Amendment movement must
similarly use culture – especially videos, stories, memes,
testimonies, art, and community events – to make the abstract idea of
“corporate constitutional rights” feel real, immediate, and unjust. We
need to dramatically expand our Corporate Rule Stories
that describe the “specific
impacts of corporate power in a town, city, or county that denies the
rights of local democracy.” This could include not only written
stories, but oral recorded stories that are uploaded on our website
and shared on social media.
Move to Amend’s expanded presence
in 2025 on social media has been dramatic. We post on Facebook,
YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter (X), Bluesky, and other platforms.
Our content consists of Reels, long-form videos, memes, text posts and
live streaming. Several of our recent posts have yielded hundreds of
thousands of views, popularizing our mission and work that are
visually attractive, entertaining and informative. The opportunity to
widen our reach is much greater given the increasing popularity of our
focused issues and upcoming plans as we became more adept in the
growing social media arena.
Move to Amend has begun collecting
examples of literature, music, films and poems on our Creative Resistance page. These various forms of expression
“aim to expose the impact of big money in elections and corporate
influence on our democratic processes” and to promote the
We the People
Amendment as part of wider
effort for systemic democratic change.
Finally, our current culture to
achieve a tipping point to make an idea widely popular – and changes
awareness, feelings and beliefs – depends on recognized individuals,
such as entertainers, or social media “influencers,” individuals who
attract massive numbers of followers through their social media
postings and is able to promote an idea or campaign. Move to Amend
need to focus on recruiting such individuals.
4.
Nonviolent direct action is a necessity to dramatize injustice and
needed change
When institutions refused to
respond to injustices, major movements throughout history turned to
nonviolent direct action to create public crises that the power elites
could not ignore. The “Underground Railroad;” suffragettes illegally
voting; environmental blockades; labor sit-down strikes;, the colonial
boycotts and Boston Tea Party that preceded the Colonial Revolution;
Freedom Rides, marches, boycotts and lunch counter sit ins of the
civil rights movement; and anti-nuclear blockades all aimed at forcing
decision-makers to confront the consequences of inaction.
These actions successfully
dramatized injustices, mobilized supporters, and pressured unwilling
political institutions.
The movement to end corporate rule
and the corrupting influence of massive money in elections must
employ nonviolent direct action if political leaders continue
protecting corporate political power and the interests of billionaires
at the expense of the needs of people and communities and to preserve
a livable world. Move to Amend must be committed to education,
training and strategic planning to determine how and when to employ
direct action to have the greatest cultural and political
impact.
5. Building and maintaining independent
organizations builds power and prevents co-optation
A people’s movement, obviously,
needs people, but it also needs what organizations can contribute –
offering members who had always been told they were inferior and
powerless the democratic infrastructure to talk, learn, plan, decide
and build relationships, as well as to work in solidarity for
democratic change.
Movements aren’t composed of random
individuals who show up to march, rally, risk arrest, lobby, organize
or register voters in hostile communities.
Virtually every movement in this
series would not have achieved its success without powerful
organizations educating and organizing its supporters.
Organizations provide the
insulation from the dominant hierarchical culture to overcome
deference and gain self-respect. They also offer inspiration and the
moral courage that comes from being in solidarity with like-minded
individuals. Movement organizations help create movement culture.
Groups that have a long history in working for social change also have
unmatched institutional knowledge, credibility, experiences and
ability to connect past lessons with current struggles continue to
strengthen movements.
But it’s critical that movement
organizations be politically and economically independent of the power
structure. Many movements faltered or became compromised when they
became dependent on elite funding, were absorbed into political
machines, or compromised their vision.
Co-optation of movement language
and strategies occurred in segments of the labor, environmental,
peace/anti-war and Populist movements when agendas became reliant on
funding from foundations, corporations, and/or a few wealthy
individuals. If a movement’s goal is to challenge concentrated power,
it must remain independent from that very power. Co-opted
organizations will never be able to provide the essential radical and
rigorous education and strategic planning to organize and mobilize for
systemic change.
Move to Amend in its nearly 16-year
history has always been politically and economically independent from
the power structure – political parties, big foundations, the super
rich and politically connected individuals, corporations and
governments. This has allowed us to provide radical (i.e., getting to
the root) political education and to organize to add the
transformative We the
People Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution.
That’s why a movement seeking to
amend the Constitution must rely on grassroots fundraising, community
organizing, and many active volunteers that are detached from the
status quo.
6. Reforms are not enough: structural change
Is essential to confront corporate power and plutocracy – and
beyond
Many movements won important
reforms that improved conditions but failed to transform underlying
power imbalances. Civil rights laws outlawed discrimination but did
not end systemic racism. Environmental regulations curbed pollution
but left corporations legally protected in ways that still allow
widespread ecological destruction. Labor reforms improved workplace
conditions but preserved corporate dominance in the political
sphere.
When deep systemic problems exist,
incremental reforms cannot replace structural change.
For Move to Amend activists, the
reality is that electing better candidates, issuing better executive
decisions, or passing better laws – including campaign-finance reforms
– cannot solve the problem of corporate constitutional rights or the
tsunami of billionaire money flooding our elections. Only a
constitutional amendment can abolish corporate constitutional rights
and reject the notion that money is speech.
However, we have come to recognize
this year – along with a growing number of democracy advocates – that
no single constitutional amendment can pass, nor would any single
amendment be enough to confront the scale of crisis we face. Our
Constitution must be transformed to meet the realities of today’s
economic, political, constitutional, social, and ecological
polycrisis. What is required is constitutional transformation – a
bold, comprehensive reimagining that includes the We the People Amendment while advancing a broader set of structural
changes to build a system that is authentically just, genuinely
democratic, ecologically sustainable and publicly accountable. To make
this vision real, we have begun to organize with coalitions of
scholars, movement leaders, influencers, and organizational allies to
advance a new narrative: the Constitution must change, and it’s up to
us to be at the forefront of that change.
7. Follow the sequential recipe to build a powerful
movement for fundamental change
Building a powerful movement isn’t
just about forming independent organizations, the mass recruitment and
capturing of members, radical education or political action. It
requires all of these elements and, just as importantly, implementing
them in the right sequence.
A majority of the examined social
change movements in this appeared to achieve each of these four
stages. Less clear was whether most did so sequentially. This is
critical since, as Lawrence Goodwyn explained in analyzing the
Populist Movement, the degree
of success of each stage is directly tied to the success of the
previous ones. Each stage is a
building block for the next. The growth of the entire movement is severely limited if any
single stage is not fully developed in terms of structures, programs
and strategies seeking structural democratic change. For the
Populists, each stage also created space to build and sustain an “insurgent
culture.”
With the exception of the movement
for independence from Great Britain, no movement examined was as
revolutionary in its aims as the Populist Movement. Its goal was
nothing less than the creation of an authentic, bottom-up political
and economic democracy (via cooperative
economics) that subordinated the corporate state to popular control
through democratic politics.
Achieving this revolutionary vision
required a precise sequence of movement development – one the
Populists largely understood and pursued, but ultimately failed to
complete.
The challenge facing Move to Amend
is even more daunting than that faced by most of these historical
movements, with the possible exceptions of the colonial revolution and
the Populist Movement itself. Enacting the We the People Amendment
amounts to a modern “declaration of independence from corporate rule”
and a direct confrontation with the political power of today’s Robber
Barons—concentrated wealth on a scale never before seen.
Any hope of achieving this goal
against historically powerful corporations and an unprecedented
concentration of wealth in the top one-tenth of one percent requires
that we follow this hard-earned movement-building recipe. That means
confronting and strengthening the weakest link in the process:
developing effective ways to recruit and engage millions of people who
may not identify as “political” or as “activists,” but who are
experiencing real economic hardship and democratic disempowerment.
Suffering through hard times does not automatically politicize and
mobilize people. They can just as easily become paralyzed and/or or
attracted to authoritarian leaders who make appealing promises. Yet,
we must speak to and organize individuals who have been historically
oppressed and currently are suffering – whether through Move to Amend
alone or in coalition with others working toward transformative
constitutional change.
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Changing culture and changing law
together produce fundamental transformation. The movements in this
series reshaped society because they transformed the nation’s cultural
imagination. They made new ideas acceptable and realizeable: that
enslaved people are human; that women deserve the vote; that workers
deserve dignity; that nature has intrinsic value; that queer people
deserve safety and love; that racial equality is non-negotiable; that
war and nuclear annihilation are unacceptable; that farmers acting
cooperatively deserve fair prices for their labor; and that ordinary
people, not elites, should choose their senators.
The We the People Amendment continues this tradition. It challenges the
cultural and legal dominance of corporations and money over human
beings and democratic self-government. By centering human dignity,
building solidarity, strategically engaging culture, maintaining
independence, and turning to direct action when necessary, this
movement – on its own and increasingly connecting with others – can
help forge a society in which the U.S. Constitution, for the first
time, truly advances justice, peace, a livable planet, and an
equitable democracy.
In
solidarity
Greg Coleridge
National
Co-Director
p.s. Go HERE to
register for the discussion of this series later today/tonight at 5pm
PT | 6pm MT | 7pm CT | 8pm ET
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