Six areas of interest—political reform, gun-law reform, human/social services, climate/environment, racial justice, and immigration/human rights—ranked highest in a recent survey of members by the Social Action Committee.
The survey also showed that while many members would like to get involved in direct action, the overwhelming majority see the Society’s role as one of providing information in the form of platforms and workshops. Of those who would like to participate actively, most would prefer to do so after the current pandemic is resolved. Many would like to participate in letter-writing and petition-signing; a few would like to take on leadership roles.
The Social Action Committee conducted the survey after concluding, at our December meeting, that we needed to know what kinds of social action Society members were most interested in pursuing and in what ways. There are so very many directions that our Social Action efforts could lead us, but unless those actions truly reflect the needs of our membership, we felt we would have a hard time engaging members to help us in our efforts.
In January, we finalized a short survey (thanks to Dwight Panozzo’s Google Forms prowess), and in mid-February we were ready to send the survey out to members. Most members responded online, a few responded by mail and, all results were entered into the Google form.
A total of 33 members responded. Collectively, these members belong to 55 outside organizations that are active in social-justice issues. It seems that we are an active and mobilized bunch of people!
Next steps
Armed with this information, the Social Action Committee will collaborate with the Board or Trustees, our new interim leader, the Platform Committee, and Adult Education Committee to plan how best to provide the appropriate outlets for members’ desired Social Action involvement.
Many thanks to all who responded to the survey. It will form the nucleus of Social Action planning at the Society for the next year and beyond.
Anne Wallman, Social Action Committee chair
