Walter Bresette: “All Struggles Are Related”

Abstract

“In organizing, one can travel a narrow road and come to view one’s issue as preeminent. But one overriding conclusion in my work is that all struggles are related and many methods are transferable between issues. Our current witnessfor-nonviolence training material and many of our strategies come out of the Southern civil rights struggle and other nonviolence campaigns. Building alliances is about understanding oneself, believing in our own self-interest and cause, and then recognizing the common interests that exist between disparate groups. We ally not because we are ‘alike’ nor to remake each other or to force compromise or correct tactics. We ally to affirm each other’s strengths and to call upon that which we need but don’t have ourselves. If we are to build even stronger alliances for our common goals, we must accommodate and encourage our personal and cultural differences, while tolerating our natural weaknesses, and thereby solidify our political partnerships.”1