SPECIAL REPORT: Organizing in the Face of Insurmountable Odds
Written by Vonica Flear
Organizers Forum International Dialogue in Romania and Bulgaria
As an organizer, hardship is something we grow very familiar with - this is what fuels the work we do. We listen to the issues of the people, and empower them to tackle those issues through collective action and make real change in their communities. But when the issues you’re fighting are no longer about “struggling to get by”, but instead about “struggling to stay alive”, organizers must get creative to maintain the movement, and themselves with it.
During the Organizers’ Forum trip to Romania and Bulgaria, I was confronted with just how easy I’ve had it compared to the adversity that organizers face in these countries. While in Canada, we are often worried about the slowly but steadily rising threat of fascism (especially as we see the growing MAGA movement seeping up from the south), those worries seem almost quaint in light of what we saw and heard in Romania and Bulgaria. To paint you a picture, let me tell you about something that happened on the 5th day of our trip. We had just recently met with folks from Menta Space, an organization fighting for LGBTQ rights in Bulgaria, who shared with us how their group frequently experienced violent attacks by far-right extremists, especially when there were big football matches in the city. Being LGBTQ myself, it was a terrifying wake up call to almost bump into these “football fans” as they marched and chanted in unison - shirts off, heads shaved, all right arms raised in clearly recognizable Nazi salutes. This march happened in broad daylight in the heart of Sofia. We were told by Menta Space organizers that this was a common occurrence during sports events, and the lack of reaction from people passing by the march revealed just how common this was.
The growth of fascism and right-wing extremism was an underlying theme in our meetings with various organizations throughout the trip. One of the most prominent barriers we heard about from local organizations was a severe lack of resources, which wasn’t surprising to me after passing by some of the more dilapidated buildings in Bucharest. While a lack of resources is a common part of grassroots organizing, efforts in Romania and Bulgaria have been impacted on multiple fronts. Several groups described the struggle of trying to find stable grants to fund their work as government cuts lead to fewer and fewer funding sources. Aging infrastructure has forced some groups to pay for expensive renovations to make their facilities safe for public use, putting strain on an already limited budget.
Residents are feeling these financial burdens as well - with a lack of public child care options, low-income parents are forced to either leave children home unsupervised or else children work alongside their parents. Families with disabled children who grow into adults are left in dire financial straits as they struggle to afford care and support workers. In Sofia, entire communities of Roma families saw their homes bulldozed to the ground due to the municipality refusing to recognize the Roma families’ ownership.
Threats and risk of violence was another major challenge shared by many organizations we met with in both Romania and Bulgaria. Roma for Democracy, a group that organizes against corrupt election practices and common issues faced by Roma people, showed us the extensive security upgrades they were forced to install after experiencing countless violent attacks and threats. An activist from the Migrant Solidarity Network told us about how his arms had been intentionally broken during their efforts to support migrants imprisoned in
detention centers and living in encampments. Organizers from Menta Space shared how they had personally been physically beaten multiple times for even mild gender non-conformity, such as women having short hair, and how their home base had to be kept private to protect the lives of the people they support.
As an outsider, the issues organizations face in Romania and Bulgaria seemed almost insurmountable - every step forward seems to be followed by two steps back. I wondered how these people continue to show up each day knowing the behemoth that awaited them at every turn. One organizer from Roma for Democracy shared how they had to build resiliency, because the things they were fighting for would almost certainly not be reached in their lifetimes. In Canada, we frequently get to see our organizing efforts come to fruition with big wins we can then use to grow our momentum even further. Those wins are the fuel that keeps us moving forward each day. But this is a luxury not often experienced in progressive movements in Romania and Bulgaria. What keeps them going? The only answer I can come to after returning from this enlightening trip is this: They keep fighting because they must. There is no other option. If they don’t fight back, nothing will change. Every inch forward is savored as a small victory, and the work continues because they know peoples’ lives depend on it.
We got to see the embers of hope being kept alive in the little victories each organization shared with us. Journalist organizations creating a legal fund to protect their reporters, feminist movements gaining small legislative changes against domestic violence, migrant supporters sneaking resources into camps, social service organizations winning small boosts in government funding for child care and disability supports, LGBTQ organizations building chat groups to alert each other when attacks happen so everyone can swarm in to stop it, self-defense classes being taught to marginalized people to help them protect themselves… These are the small victories that keep the movement alight. Resilience in the face of insurmountable odds - that is how we win.
Vonica Fears directs the London, Ontario office of ACORN Canada and services groups there and in Kitchner and Waterloo.