A Radical Guide has reached an exciting moment in its history. 12 days ago, we reached 200 radical locations. Today (Sept. 20, 2019), we increased that number to 300 locations and the count is still climbing.
This interest shows me that radical history, locations, and groups are important to you and it is not because we are some kind of anarchist Yelp site. It is because you see the potential A Radical Guide has in connecting our movements, organizing, and communities.
That was one of the goals and reasons that I had when I launched A Radical Guide in January 2018. I did it so I could learn about what is happening around the world and connect with the global radical movements and people.
This goal seemed to resonate with you and others, not just because we are growing the number of locations on the map, but because we are starting the conversation that takes us out of our local work and invites us to talk about how to connect across imaginary borders (and real walls).
To highlight these types of conversations, I want to share a blurb from an email I received from a person in Australia stating that they learned about A Radical Guide from a friend in Burma. (I run this site from California, so that is awesome!) In addition to how they found A Radical Guide, they said, “The English-speaking world is almost entirely ignorant of what’s happening in Europe, let alone South America and Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, etc. By that token, the Hispanic, Germanic, and Bahasa groups tend to work very much within their own circles… I think the potential here is to get people working across language zones — A Radical Guide is helping with that.”
To me working across language zones is critical to what is needed in the world. A Radical Guide is contributing to and helping us (including myself) see that we are not alone or in a radical bubble and it is time to organize differently, but first, we must learn about each other and our struggles.
As the locations count, the conversations, and the global connections grow we begin to collectively pave the road to a world that we all deserve. It is a process that sometimes can start slow but the moments of large leaps are the time for celebration, connection, and reflection.
I have taken the time to reflect on the history of A Radical Guide, what we have done, what we have tried, and where we see this project going in the next several months.
I will keep updating this list as new milestones are created, so keep checking back to learn about our journey.
