How to Build Solidarity Across Difference

鈥淒eep canvassing鈥� offers a model for how anti-racist Americans can practice what they preach and work to promote racial justice narratives.

Sonali Kolhatkar, award-winning multimedia journalist, author, and 大象传媒 Racial Justice Editor, knows the power of storytelling. In her more than 20 years as an independent journalist, she鈥檚 helped to amplify stories from people around the world who are often ignored or silenced by mainstream media. From political candidates to grassroots organizers, Kolhatkar has consistently uplifted the voices and experience of the people driving social change in the United States and abroad. She continues that work today, through her radio and TV program Rising Up with Sonali, her incisive commentary, and her role at 大象传媒.

All of this expertise, passion, and experience is woven through Kolhatkar鈥檚 new book, , which publishes June 27 through City Lights Books. The book offers a hopeful, accessible blueprint for how social change movements can leverage the power of storytelling to advance racial justice. It also spotlights the power of narrative shift to fuel that progress by building understanding, compassion, and ultimately, solidarity across our many differences. As she explains in the preface: 鈥淏y becoming fluent in each other鈥檚 stories, we rise up against racism. Through solidarity, we rise up together.鈥� 鈥�Sunnivie Brydum

The visionary writer and activist , 鈥淲e can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.鈥� I have often thought about this powerful sentiment and worn it as an armor to protect myself from racial trauma. But I come back again and again鈥攑erhaps because of an unfortunate optimism鈥攖o the idea that we can鈥檛 give up on millions of people as hopelessly lost to racist narratives.

鈥淐onflict is a part of life,鈥� , a lecturer at Merrill College and in the education department at University of California, Santa Cruz. Higdon, who is an expert on digital culture, co-wrote a book with Mickey Huff called .

鈥淐onflict, when addressed correctly, can be constructive,鈥� says Higdon. 鈥淲e know there are these hateful ideologies out there.鈥� He adds, 鈥淲e鈥檙e not asking people to get comfortable with a white supremacist鈥� and their views. What he and Huff are advocating for instead is to take a 鈥渟olutions-oriented鈥� approach to conflict. 鈥淚n a democracy, typically, the best ideas win the day when we engage in dialogue and try and change minds.鈥�

He says people 鈥渁re not born with鈥� racist attitudes. These are 鈥渓earned behaviors.鈥�

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e advocating is for people to figure out how to go about these conversations,鈥� says Higdon. According to him, there are certain conditions that must be met. First, 鈥測ou can鈥檛 begin to enter the process of constructive dialogue unless you have reciprocity.鈥� One example of this is for both parties to agree upon what sources of information are considered reliable. If people disagree on what constitutes a fact, there鈥檚 little hope for dialogue.

Second, the venue for discussion is also important, and social media platforms are not appropriate for fostering constructive dialogue. In-person interactions in social settings are more conducive, instead, at family gatherings during the holidays, for instance.

Third, 鈥渞ather than lampooning people or trying to own them, simply asking questions鈥� can be effective, says Higdon. He offers the example of how conversing with a vaccine skeptic might be best met with questions like 鈥淎re you opposed to all vaccines, or are you just opposed to vaccine mandates?鈥�

It turns out that such an approach has been scientifically tested and found to work rather well.

Deep Canvassing

While Robin DiAngelo鈥檚 book hints that there may be no hope for white people who have internalized racist narratives, new research on a technique called 鈥渄eep canvassing鈥� shows that it is indeed possible to change minds with one-on-one conversations.

In 2016, two social scientists undertook a promising study about ways to reduce or eradicate prejudice against transgender people. According to results published in the journal , David Broockman and Joshua Kalla found that 鈥渁 single approximately 10-minute conversation encouraging actively taking the perspective of others can markedly reduce prejudice for at least 3 months.鈥� They recruited 56 鈥渃anvassers鈥� to go door to door in Miami, Florida, and have 10-minute conversations about backing anti-discrimination legislation with voters on their doorsteps.

The effects of the deep conversations created a positive change durable enough to move people to vote for laws protecting transgender people, even when they were exposed to counter-arguments. What鈥檚 even more heartening is that the results were the same whether or not the canvassers were themselves transgender.

In 2020, the political activist organization People鈥檚 Action partnered with the and scientists Broockman and Kalla to see how effective such a method could be to change the minds of voters who were tempted to vote to reelect Trump.

New Conversation Initiative explained that canvassers must aim to have conversations with two priorities:

Nonjudgmentally inviting a voter to open up about their real, conflicted feelings on an issue.
Sharing vulnerably about their own lives, and asking curious questions about the voter鈥檚 life (especially the experiences that have shaped how they each feel about the issue).

As Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has , 鈥渢he most powerful and persuasive things a person can say on any given issue is sharing their personal experience and personal story.鈥�

According to , 鈥渨hen we take this approach, people鈥檚 experience leads them away from prejudice, stigma, or fear, and towards empathy and a willingness to consider progressive solutions.鈥� The organization said deep canvassing is 鈥渢he only tactic scientifically proven to be able to lastingly reduce prejudice, inoculate people against right-wing fear-messaging, and change hearts and minds on many of our society鈥檚 toughest, most divisive issues.鈥�

Based on this, conducted what it called the 鈥渇irst-ever deep canvassing political persuasion experiment鈥� to change voters鈥� minds about Trump and found that it was, 鈥渆stimated to be 102 times more effective per person than the average presidential persuasion program.鈥�

Brooke Adams, the director of Movement Politics at People鈥檚 Action, that the program was 鈥渂uilt to cut through the noise of the propaganda that people are hearing on Fox News,鈥� including 鈥渞acist fear-driven messaging鈥� and disinformation that 鈥渃reates mass confusion.鈥�

Instead of using slick approaches crafted by Washington, D.C.鈥揵ased political strategists, Adams says People鈥檚 Action trained canvassers on 鈥渉ow to listen, how to ask questions, how to engage with curiosity, and ultimately how to build a one-to-one relationship with people.鈥� The results are surprisingly effective in helping people see their common humanity.

Although deep canvassing has yet to be applied specifically to racial justice narrative-changing efforts in an organized and large-scale manner, it offers a model for how anti-racist Americans can practice what they preach and work to promote racial justice narratives.

This excerpt of Chapter 6 from , by Sonali Kolhatkar, is reprinted with the permission of . Copyright 漏 2023 by Sonali Kolhatkar.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽TEDx talk聽of the same name.