Cross-Community Solidarity Pact
They divide you from communities that could be your allies.
Pressure addressed: psychological, displacement, leadership
Time: Years of relationship building
People: Representatives from multiple communities
Resources: Facilitation, meeting space, time and patience
About this tool
Here's their playbook: turn communities against each other. Compete for the same scraps. Blame each other for shared problems. Stay divided, stay weak. Cross-Community Solidarity Pacts break that playbook. But they're not photo ops. They're not joint statements.
How to do it
Identify potential allies
Which communities face similar pressures? Where are natural alignments? Where are tensions that need addressing?
Find bridge-builders
People in both communities who value connection. Start with the willing.
Build trust before asking
Shared meals. Joint events. Relationship before transaction. Don't start by asking for support.
Address tensions honestly
Historical harms can't be ignored. Honest conversation, not avoidance. Work through, don't paper over.
Formalise mutual commitment
When trust exists, formalise the pact. What does each community commit to? How is it activated?
Maintain and activate
Pacts need maintenance. Regular contact. And when crisis comes, activation has to be fast.
Before you start
- Willing partners from other communities
- Facilitation capacity
- Long-term commitment
Implementation guidance
Starting point
- Multi-year relationship built with trust
- Historical tensions acknowledged and worked through
- Formal mutual commitment established
- Rapid activation when either community is threatened
- Reciprocal support demonstrated
- Relationship survives disagreements
Building on it
- Relationship building underway
- Some trust established
- Initial conversations about mutual support
Advanced practice
- Photo-op solidarity without substance
- Pacts that aren't activated when needed
- One-way relationships (taking without giving)
Performative solidarity is worse than nothing, it creates expectations that won't be met, deepening cynicism. Pacts that aren't activated teach communities that cross-community solidarity is meaningless. One-way relationships burn goodwill and confirm suspicions about being used.
Examples
Los Angeles Black-Korean Alliance
25+ years of relationship building after 1992 tensions
From conflict to institutional partnership. Mutual response to anti-Asian violence and police violence.