A few days ago, as H.bomberguy livestreamed a session of Donkey Kong 64 on the gaming platform Switch, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Representative for New York’s 14th Congressional District, entered the conversation as an “[Unidentified Caller].” The event, which was a fundraiser for transgender teens, had already received a call from the whistleblower turned politician Chelsea Manning, but when Ocasio-Cortez (AOC as she is better known online) identified herself the gamers were visibly starstruck. Speaking up on behalf of transgender rights and mixing in a little talk about video games, she gave a masterclass in how to talk so that gaming teens will listen. Inevitably, the clip went viral.
The exchange was significant not only as a display of Ocasio-Cortez’s legendary media savvy – within 12 hours her maiden speech in Congress became C-SPAN’s most-viewed Twitter video – but also of the ways in which the same platforms that foster ethnic, political and religious hatreds can also be used to build bridges. Impressively, at the same time that Ocasio-Cortez has ignited the political interest of US millennials and threatened to turn them into active voters, she has also showed an enviable knack for getting under the skin of the rightwing commentariat which alternately fawns over and enables the president. This, alone, justifies her growing reputation as a political force to be reckoned with. As one of her Twitter followers shrewdly commented “It’s nuts how much real estate she occupies in their collective heads.”
The grassroots activism which has propelled politicians like Bernie Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez to such prominence has also produced extraordinary results in communities on the other side of the Atlantic. The urban renewal of Barking and Dagenham – a formerly crime-ridden and economically depressed area of London that used to be a stronghold of the racist British National Party – is one example of what can be done with sufficient political imagination and funding. Using strategies based on nine years of research into how communities create “bridging networks” rather than reinforce “bonding networks” among people who resemble each other, the borough council funded a £7m five-year urban regeneration initiative called “Every One, Every Day.”
The charm of the project is evident in the language on its website (weareeveryone.org) which describes “a network of 100s of people … working together on different neighbourhood projects around the borough to make everyday life better for everyone.” It encourages anyone who “might like to do practical things with your family, friends and neighbours, including cooking, making, learning, growing, fixing, trading, singing, playing, eating and sharing” to “pop in to one of our two shops and share your ideas for new projects over a cup of tea!”
Launched in November 2017 the initiative has already had a noticeable impact on its community. When Guardian columnist George Monbiot visited, he found “welcoming committees for new arrivals to the street, community potluck meals, cooking sessions and street lunches … a programme to turn boring patches of grass into community gardens, play corners and outdoor learning centres … a bee school and a chicken school … sewing and knitting sessions, places for freelance workers to meet and collaborate, computing and coding workshops, storytelling for children, singing sessions and a games cafe.” There was also football coaching in the streets, some of which are closed to traffic in mid-afternoon so that children can play after school, a studio and DIY film festival, and workshops for spoken-word poetry.
The Caribbean ought to be teeming with similar initiatives. As is evident with Carifesta, the Bocas Litfest in Trinidad and Calabash in Jamaica, or with innumerable best village competitions, arts and craft or photography exhibitions, there is a felt need throughout this region for greater community involvement. Recovering this sense of engagement with ourselves is not only the best antidote to our chronically divisive and zero-sum politics, but also a chance to stop looking for solutions outside of our communities rather than building them up from within.
