CRESP is embodying a model for social change activism
that breaks the traditional us versus them approach. This
model, inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi's
non-violent action, seeks to turn adversaries into allies,
competition into cooperation, and anger into goodwill. Our
goal is to train, equip, and support the CRESP leadership,
as well as student activists and local social change agents,
with the most effective strategies and methods for inclusive
rather than polarizing activism. Given the diversity of
our Projects, we demonstrate how this transformative action
can be richly expressed across a variety of issues, settings,
and methods for social change.
Transformative Social Action is defined by three
principles:
1) A group will be successful if it can expose injustice.
2) The most effective response to injustice will be positive
actions intended to transform conflict, animosity, and hatred
to cooperation, synergy and goodwill.
3) The major goal of any campaign of Transformative Action
is a proactive approach of constructing better alternatives—creating
a new vision of the community—and working cooperatively
with institutions, agencies, or companies toward a common
goal. The very success of this approach is that it offers
a new perspective on who, indeed, has power and control
over a society—not the governments or corporations,
but the citizens.
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