Every Organizer Should Know This Fundamental: The Issue Cut

Organizing works because we turn problems into specific and actionable solutions and then demand decision-makers turn those solutions into reality.

When I started organizing in Southern Indiana we had no training or books to show us the way. Still, we did some things right. We listened for problems. The lack of affordable housing topped the list. We gathered people, created pathways for development, and had events. Some, pretty significant in size. 

We did not have a specific demand or a clear target. So, we had rallies, got some media, and raised awareness about housing problems. Absolutely nothing changed. Even if the Mayor or City Council were tracking what we were doing, they felt no direct pressure to do anything, and had no idea what specific solution we wanted. We were stuck, and it is here that many well-meaning social change efforts stall.

Around that time I got invited to a tenant organizing meeting in Indianapolis. There was a guy there, Mike Evans, who seemed to know this organizing thing. After I drove back home, I called him up and said we couldn’t pay him, but we could cover his gas and feed him if he would come down and teach us about organizing. It was Mike who first taught us how to cut an issue. 

I’ve written a lot about the need for us to listen. One of the things we listen for are problems that people want fixed. But, we don’t organize on problems, we organize on issues. Organizing works because we turn problems into specific and actionable solutions and then demand that people with the power to say yes turn those solutions into reality.

Problems feel overwhelming. Facing them, we often feel defeated before we have started. Examples of problems might be poverty, climate change, or racism. So, we “cut out” a more discreet part of the problem, identify a solution, and use that as a stepping stone toward larger structural progress.

“Come to a meeting to talk about the problem of abandoned buildings in the neighborhood.” This sounds familiar and tired. We’ve had that meeting many times. “Come to the meeting about how we pressure the Mayor to demolish the dilapidated abandoned buildings in our neighborhood and turn them into community gardens,” sounds clear and inspiring.

There’s a reason Frederick Douglas’ “Power concedes nothing without a demand” is among our most enduring organizing axioms. We are not just putting forth broad wishes, or generalizations, but specific, actionable demands to a specific decision maker. Douglas is not speaking of power as not some amorphous power structure. But instead, specific people with power, names, and addresses.

In short, cutting an issue requires:

• Identifying a widely and deeply felt problem. A problem that only a small group cares about will not build much power. A problem that everyone agrees on but no one is passionate about will not spark the energy needed to win.

• Turning that problem into a specific and actionable solution, which we call a demand. Essentially, carving out something we can organize on and win.

• A clear target or targets who have the power to say yes to our demand.

There’s more to it, but this is where we start. From there we build out our power analysis, develop a strategy, frame the issue to our advantage, and move to action.

When Mike Evans gave us that first issue cutting training, you could see the light bulbs going off in the room. So simple, but also revelatory. We then organized to develop a clear demand (an affordable trust fund) and identified clear targets (the Mayor and specific City Council members) and we were off and running. We brought pressure to our targets (a tent city outside the Mayor’s office, City Council takeovers, home visits) and won the first housing trust fund in the State of Indiana. If more people knew how to cut an issue, we would have a lot more winning.

One of the great shifts in organizing over the last dozen years is a greater focus on the north star structural changes we are pointing toward. This is a good thing. Now, the challenge is figuring out the stepping stone fights that get us there. 

Sometimes we have to go slow to go fast. By carving out a more manageable and specific demand within the larger fights, we teach people how to win, we leave the comfort of intellectualizing it all, and have experiences that help us get sharp enough and tough enough to win those more structural fights. In a period in which people are searching far and wide for hope, cutting an issue, winning, and building more power for the next fight is one way to meet that need.

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We recently launched a new season of the Fundamentals of Organizing podcast. The latest episode features Saket Soni of Resilience Force sharing what he’s learned about looking for openings through which to move our organizing