From the Roots: Organizing for a Better Chattanooga
Plenty of folks want a better world. Some say you have to vote that world in. Others say you have to be a powerful person, like a politician or rich elite, to make a change. But we think differently. We believe in the people.
Chattanooga Organized for Action is a grassroots social justice organization that works to initiate, support, and connect marginalized community organizations to each other in order to advance the local social justice movement.
That means we work to build the power of everyday people from marginalized and oppressed communities to take control of the circumstances of their lives. We know another world is possible, and we organize together to work collectively with hearts, minds and hands to make that world a reality, and we will not rest until the work is done.
Below, you’ll find information on how we work with communities to advance social justice.
Grassroots Community Organizing
It doesn’t take much to see that our city is in trouble. With rising inequality and poverty affecting more Chattanoogans than ever, the time for solutions is at hand. COA believes that the people themselves have the answer.
Unfortunately, in our world today, everyday people don’t have a lot of individual power over the everyday circumstances that affects their lives. Its only when we, the people, get together to press for change that we can begin to make a better world possible.
When we press for change, we call that grassroots community organizing. That means we’re working with everyday leaders to gain power for the people - the power to make decisions over the circumstances that affect our lives. From the quality of the air that we breathe, to the availability of housing, to the dignity and protection of workers - organizing means winning power for the people.
COA takes a three-pronged approach to organizing in Chattanooga. We initiate grassroots community organizations and support their development through education and partnership, and we also connect those organizations to each other to build a stronger local movement for justice.