On Art, Community-Building & Owning Our Activism — with Shannon Downey

How Change Happens: Stories & Insights from Social Justice Changemakers

This timely episode is, in many ways, a love note to Chicago.

Join me as I get to know Shannon Downey (she/they) — an artist, activist, craftivist, community builder, general instigator, founder of Badass Cross Stitch and Seriously Badass Women, and proud Chicagoan. Among other things, our conversation explores community-building; creative practices as entry points into activism; local organizing and what it takes to identify as an "activist"; how to navigate political violence; and how to grow our capacity for risk-taking.

You'll hear some of the stories that inspired Shannon's book Let's Move the Needle: An Activism Handbook for Artists, Crafters, Creatives, and Makers (how Shannon thinks change happens!) — as well as Shannon's inspiring account of how Chicagoans' across the city are organizing right now to resist ICE and protect each other, and how she and other local organizers are helping them build the skills to do that.

If you appreciate this podcast, please consider sharing it with a friend, colleague, or network, and/or leaving a review.

If this episode resonates with you...

• Subscribe to the podcast using your favorite podcast app,
• Support How Change Happens with ratings, sharing feedback with me, and/or by sharing it with a friend, colleague or network,
• Learn more about Shannon's change work at www.badasscrossstitch.com, follow their Instagram, and subscribe to their Substack, and/or
• Learn more about my (Kai's) change work at www.createknowledge.org, on Substack, and/or on LinkedIn.

References

• Badass Cross Stitch
• Seriously Badass Women
• Rita's Quilt
• Everyone Leads: Building Leadership from the Community Up by Paul Schmitz (correction: Paul Schmitz is the former CEO of Public Allies, not one of the founders)
• Deepa Iyer's Social Change Ecosystem Map
• The Feeling Wheel by the Gottman Institute

Fejezetek

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. How Shannon Believes Change Happens: Creative Community-Building & Inviting Action (00:01:37)

3. Theory In Action: The Story of Rita's Quilt (00:06:30)

4. The Surprise Gift of a (Frustrating) Media Reframe (00:15:05)

5. Designing Workshops To Center Safety, Not Comfort (00:18:01)

6. Shannon's Change Lineage: Growing Up In the Labor Movement, the Roman Catholic Church & RA'ing at UMass Amherst (00:27:33)

7. Chicago Now: "The Most Evil I've Seen This Close" + "The Most Beautiful Community Resistance I've Ever Seen This Close" (00:31:27)

8. On the Power of Identity & Owning Our Activism (00:38:54)

9. From City Pride to Solidarity (00:45:49)

10. On Working with Violence, Scenario Planning & Figuring Out Our Social Change Role(s) (00:49:05)

11. A Love Note To Chicagoans (00:54:01)

12. On Principled Resistance & Growing Our Capacity for Risk (00:55:40)

13. Outro (00:59:33)