FORMING ORGANIZATIONS
At least once a week, Helena Wong walks the streets of Chinatown, checking the front doors of apartment buildings. If the door is locked, she moves on. If it is open, Wong heads in.
Inside, Wong goes from apartment to apartment, talking to as many tenants as possible about joining the Chinatown tenant union. Almost all the Chinatown residents Wong speaks to have problems with their landlords, she says, and most are more than happy to tell her about them.
"Most people are willing to talk, that's not an issue. What's more challenging is to get people from talking about their own issue to talking about a community-wide issue," she said. "We're giving them the information so that they know that there's something larger than them and their landlord."
Creating an organized community response from a series of individuals' problems is one of the basic steps of activism. Doing so has been the subject of numerous activist guidebooks. But while it is possible to identify some basic guidelines about organizing, Wong says that persistence and creativity are probably just as important as any particular technique or strategy. She should know. Wong has developed her skills over ten years with CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, the group through which she is now organizing the tenant union.
First attracted to the group as a high school student after a high-profile incident in which a young man was killed by a police officer, Wong has worked on campaigns against police brutality, then on organizing tenants of individual buildings, and now on neighborhood and city-wide tenant organizing.
All of these ventures illustrate one important point, she says: people should take advantage of their numbers.
"If it's in your own building, it's really important to set up a tenant association, or make sure that there's one that already exists, to make sure that everyone's on the same page," she said. "Basically you have to let the landlord know that this isn't just you coming out by yourself. It's the same thing for a neighborhood."
Getting people involved, says Wong, is a matter of connecting someone's particular concern -- confusion about their rent being raised, anger about neglected repairs, frustration in dealing with the city -- to the organization's overall issue. It is also a matter of finding a way to get potential allies to listen.
There are any number of ways to do this. The Citizen's Handbook of the Vancouver Citizen's Committee recommends tapping into social groups by getting people to involve their friends, or by going to meetings of existing community or social networks; it also reminds organizers not to neglect underrepresented populations that will likely require more effort to connect with.
People who are already in a comfortable setting are more receptive to new ideas, the guide says. Wong agrees, adding that the best way to find comfortable places is to go to many places.
"Sometimes we meet people doorknocking and there's no response really, but we have a table out on the street, and we might get their attention that way. or we do a public forum at a senior center, so there's also those ways to reach people," she said. "Sometimes a person just needs to hear your spiel in different places."
Organizing for the tenant union has yielded results. In February, 100 people came to the official launch of the Chinatown tenants union. The event featured dancing, live music, and martial arts performances which Wong described as "awesome."
Wong will continue to look for more people to join. The next step, though, is something with which she has less experience. Her previous campaigns have had short term distinct goals, and have ended when those goals were achieved. Forming and maintaining a coherent organization is a task that comes with new challenges and potential pitfalls.
A guide to neighborhood activism published by the Manhattan Borough President's Office, How to Network Your Neighborhood (in pdf format), cautions against what it describes as "Founder Syndrome": "After using their individual talents to start up an organization, it is often difficult for heads of organizations to let go," it says. "For the long term survival of any organization it is essential to transform to a fully functional organization. Establish committees to handle individual programs. Foster a responsible board. Build in ways for the general community to provide feedback to organizers, and establish other measures that will help to avoid falling victim to founder's syndrome."
To keep people involved in a community organization, the Citizens Handbook adds, it is important to continue to look for newcomers, keep in touch with those already involved while limiting the number of meetings, and to not demand too much of people's time.
These are things that Wong is learning about for the first time. "The tenant union is just getting started," she said. "This is basically creating a new organization. In other campaigns we've never done that."

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TOOLS
Organizing guides for neighborhood activists
How to Network Your Neighborhood (in pdf format)
-- This publication by Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields describes different types of neighborhood networks that are organized to achieve varying goals -- from throwing a block party to
creating a local developement corporation. It discusses the essentials of organizing, from types of communication to volunteer burnout to funding ideas.
The Citizen's Handbook of the Vancouver Citizen's Committee -- This activists' guide offers step-by-step tips for
community activists. There are also links to relevant articles, the sites of other activist tools, and a "citizen's library". Even though the group is based in Vancouver, it has separated the Canada-specific material from content that is generally useful.
Tools for
Organizers, Activists, Educators and Other Hell-Raisers -- This Web page gives
an introduction to organizing, management, and "hell-raising" with dozens of links to specific tools and guides.
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