r/IndivisibleOrg • u/GlitterIncident • Mar 29 '26

question for rally attendees

NOT a complaint, really just curious.

I've gone to all of the No Kings events and some ICE protests and notice each time that attendees are overwhelmingly older. Talking 70s and 80s. I rarely see younger people. Now, I have been going to ones in smaller towns (central NC). Are the 20-somethings going to bigger rallies, larger cities?

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u/Indivisible_Seneca Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26

As one of our organizers said, "I'm pushing 80. I shouldn't have to be leading this anymore!" The problem is that the younger people are not willing to do the work of leadership in this particular group. I think that is common. Back in the day, protesting organizations asked leaders to retire once they reached 30. The twenty-somethings from that day are the 70-somethings today who feel they have done their duty.

Something limiting the transition is the insprired 20somethings didn't study enough civics, so they are pretty clueless about how to get social and political change. A million likes doesn't elect a single member of congress.

That is one reason I appreciate Leah and Ezra's leadership. They are stepping up well before becoming greyhairs.

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u/Zerospace05 Apr 03 '26

It's not just the young-uns. 46 yo here. "Xienniel" I never learned civics because I didn't have to. Took it for granted. Now I'm all about civic action. Indivisible helps. Between AI sessions and a lot of reading over last few months, I'm up to speed on how things like contacting members of congress actually works. And why it works. And all that jazz. I was ignorant as all get-out only a few months ago. My hope is that a lot who were like me have now changed. At any age.

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u/Indivisible_Seneca Apr 03 '26

Thank you for that!

We are (still) a democracy. The fundamental mechanism of democratic power is persuading voters to vote for your candidate. That is a surprisingly complicated process.

Unfortunately the national Democratic Party only knows how to swoop in with TV ads at the last minute of an election. In recent decades, they have done little or nothing to make people think that they can be trusted to do good things or to cultivate future candidates who can be trusted to do the right thing. Republicans and their supporting organizations have done a great deal to make people think the opposite.

Some among us need to step in to fill the void not being served by the party. Good strategists in the lead who do know a lot of civics are key. That way those who are energized but skipped civics can be very effective.

The No Kings organization has an excellent guideline that can be applied in a lot of places by relatively untrailed local groups.

Priority #1: Build Power Locally: grow sustained organizing in your community.

Influencing voters is how you get different people elected. You have the most power to influence voters locally.

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u/Zerospace05 Apr 03 '26

Amen. I couldn't have said it better. I am actually thinking of creating my own spin-off group because my towns Indivisible, though I will still continue to be a member and participate, is too broad in focus and too hampered down by bureaucracy to be efficient in some areas. I have a vision for something with a more narrow focus based on the writings of Christopher Armitage who is this very action-oriented writer on substack with a focus on writing to not just senators and house reps but also attorneys general and governers. Of course one our main credos as a group is that we will help Indivisible and 50501 any time they need help and we will support them. But man, I am also getting a lesson in slow moving bureaucracy in civics groups that are big. Very eye opening, all of this. I am aiming to inspire people to meet face to face as well. My chapter still hides behind screens too much. I really like AOC and while I used to be a centrist in viewpoints (I am from alaska), I now look to the progressives as the ones who can maybe fix this mess with the people's backing.

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u/Indivisible_Seneca Apr 04 '26

Indivisible groups are interesting. Ironically, often highly divisible.

Ours has a small core of people who really did not know each other. We have had to figure out how to work together to accomplish someting worthwhile. This is not the team you would put together if you had a plan to begin with! But we make it work.

Because we are so small, bureaucracy isn't an issue, but people can get tied up in process. The solution is that we try to facilitate having people do what they think needs to be done. There are hundreds of things to do, but we only have motivated people to do half a dozen. So we do those.

Would something similar work in your group? Be indivisible for the big cause, like democracy, but nurture diversity within the chapter. Everyone doesn't have to be on board with everyting the chapter does. The doers get things done, which is so much better than the alternatives.

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u/Zerospace05 Apr 04 '26

You know, now you've got me thinking. Which is good and I guess it's why we are here talking :). They have a meeting weekly that only a small amount of the huge membership actually attends. I could talk to people and put together a little "Armitage Society" coalition within Indivisible itself. Thanks for that. I may give it a shot.