We are living through a time that demands our attention and requires our consistent action. People around the world are confronting wars, climate disasters, and economic inequity at unprecedented levels. Here in the United States, we face an almost daily barrage of attacks and restrictions on the rights, bodies, and livelihoods of people. The violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in 2021 came on the heels of a polarizing presidential election that followed four years of bans, walls, and raids against communities. The global pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of public systems and institutions that we have long relied upon, from education to housing to public health. The visible presence of white nationalist groups is spurring fear. Transgender youth feel unsafe in schools and on streets. Climate change is a continual threat to everyone on the planet.

As I finalized Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection, we were in the midst of a six-week period that included the massacre of Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed young children and teachers, an economic crisis leaving many people unable to pay their monthly bills, a mounting crisis of homelessness and mental illness related to the pandemic, and the evisceration by the U.S. Supreme Court of the right of people to make reproductive choices.

All of these overlapping crises stem from similar root causes: anti-Black racism, imperialism and colonialism, extractive capitalist models, and histories of oppressive treatment toward communities. People over generations have been addressing and eliminating many of these root causes, and there is still much more work to be done.

Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection is a humble contribution to the vast landscape of existing books, frameworks, and ideas about social change movements and leadership. It provides a roadmap for people and organizations in various stages of engagement with social change efforts. Take a look at the phases of involvement in social change below, and see where you might be, keeping in mind that perhaps you are in between phases, or you occupy multiple ones depending on the situation.

Read the full article about social change activism by Deepa Iyer at YES! Magazine.