The Activist Spirit: Toward a Radical Solidarity
“Solidarity evolves from the interconnectedness between all of us in social justice work, which is an important and indispensable part of an activist’s life.” — Victor Narro
A nationally-known expert on immigrant rights and low-wage workers, Victor Narro has been involved with the immigrant and labor rights movements for nearly 40 years. As a project director for the UCLA Labor Center and core faculty for the UCLA Department of Labor Studies and the UCLA School of Law, his profound perspective has changed the lives of students and community members alike.
“The Activist Spirit: Toward a Radical Solidarity,” originally released in 2022, calls on activists to make the struggle for justice more compassionate, fulfilling, caring, and sustainable. Now, Narro has released a Spanish translation of the book, to bring the spiritual core of radical solidarity to a wider audience.
Following the release of this new translation, Narro reflects on the origins of the book and his own experience of cultivating the activist spirit.
This book emerged from my work over the past 12 years, focusing on integrating spirituality, mindfulness, and other best practices into the labor and immigrant rights movements. As part of this work, I provide workshops on grounding oneself and sustainability. I conduct research and write about practicing kindness as it presents itself in advocacy spaces, and teach a class for our Labor Studies Program titled “Spirituality, Mindfulness, Self-Compassion and Social Justice.”
There are many reasons why this book has become a reality. One major reason is my love for humanity in general, and especially my love for all my brothers and sisters who have dedicated their lives to social justice activism to make this world a better place for everyone. Whether you are a labor activist, an immigrant rights activist, a housing or education activist, or an environmental activist, this book is my gift of gratitude for your work and your commitment to it.
As an immigrant rights and labor activist involved in the work for justice, I have learned there is a spiritual core within activism from which we can deepen our solidarity, interconnectedness, creativity, compassion, and depth of love for one another.
Tapping into this spiritual core to find sustenance and meaning is instrumental and necessary in the work for justice. The work for justice is a form of spirituality in and of itself. It is filled with the values attributed to spirituality: love, compassion, empathy for those in need, and a lifelong commitment to bring justice into their lives. This book is a call for all of us to integrate our inner spiritual core into our work making the struggle for justice more compassionate, fulfilling, caring, and sustainable for everyone. To be an activist for justice is to love humanity and all of creation.
This book is designed to help you read, reflect, and go inward. Using the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, I share my reflections following each passage. I bring in messages from Francis of Assisi and what he would say to us as a peace activist. I also integrate the teachings and wisdom of other past and current spiritual activists.
This journey inward will deepen your sense of inner peace and mitigate feelings of despair or powerlessness during the difficult times facing us today in the work for justice. Solidarity evolves from the interconnectedness between all of us in social justice work, which is an important and indispensable part of an activist’s life. As the work for justice is always changing, we must also embrace openness and acceptance of the transformation taking place deep within our hearts, for that is the wellspring of this radical solidarity.
In the work for justice, you become “whole” as an activist if you are able to find the “aliveness” in the present moment and tap fully into love and compassion for others and yourself. Caring for yourself, you could care for others in need; caring for others in need, you could care for yourself.
Finally, what comes to me at this moment is the final verse of Mary Oliver’s beautiful poem, “Wild Geese”:
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
Purchase “The Activist Spirit: Toward a Radical Solidarity” (English)
Purchase “El Espíritu Activista: Hacia una Solidaridad Radical” (Spanish)
