Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care

by Kelly Hayes

In highly energetic moments, young organizers or others whose work is in the spotlight are sometimes fetishized. For example, we will sometimes hear that it is time to “follow the leadership” of women, youth, Black youth, Indigenous people, or some other group, usually because a particular effort has caught the spotlight. People who are understandably impatient for large-scale change often want to believe that there’s a shortcut: that one group, movement, or demographic is the truth and the way and that merely cheering on that contingent will spur a revolution. This places undue pressure on whatever group or demographic is being fetishized as a savior troupe. While there are moments when it makes sense for us to take leadership from particular groups, particularly when the struggle at hand centers on their lives, land, or water, there is no one group—and certainly no one person—who can defeat capitalism, end imperialism, or bring down white supremacy alone.