Four Stages to Social Justice, Consciousness, Practice and Movement

Four Stages to Social Justice Consciousness and Movement 1. Protest - Mobilization - At this stage, people are mobilized around pertinent issues which they view as affecting their lives immediately in personal and collective ways. This is a key path to social engagement, and away from community apathy by focusing people's attention to how any given issue affects their lives directly or indirectly, but requiring some degree and level of social action.tice 2. Organizing - This next level or stage of organization directs people who have been mobilized, into some organizational and/or institutional structure which allows for structured and longer term engagement in social justice activity. Organizational structures harness the collective energy, skills, intellect, and tactical will to achieve intended results over a longer more sustained time frame, while also providing command structure, administrative coordination, and widespread communication back and forth over time. Usually, this stage is mostly more issue based, as opposed to ideologically inspired.

3. Nationalization - This stage not only involves and embraces the prior two stages, but elevates those by engaging people in conscious nation building activity which includes ideology, industry building to increase and expand economic and productive capacity, and institution building which gives permanency to ideological and industrial goals and objectives. In the African context, Nation Building involves the complete unification of African people on a Global level and moving in a common direction, based on our common heritage and history, common culture and values, common life circumstances and common future. 4. Spiritual Ascendancy - In the African ideal, spiritual elevation in our social life and existence is a critical goal and objective. At the center of social justice is the way and manner in which people interact and engage with one another in a value based, ethical and principled social relationships. Structuring social relationships on high values creates the harmony, balance and order needed to sustain a just social order over time. The empirical proof is in the study of Ancient Kemet and the role which the value system of Ma'at played in its longevity. What was proven in Kemet, was how a well defined and practiced value system provides for a social structure which encourages and inspires adherence and allegiance to social principles on a personal and collective level. This kind of spiritual grounding and focus in a social order and culture has the effect of lending itself toward spiritual ascendancy in the personal and social realm.