Coordinated Bothering Inspires Action

Image: A colleague and I in a DC lobby meeting

Today, at church, I was struck by a reference to advocacy work in a Bible reading I haven’t read nor heard in quite some time. The focus of our worship service today was Prayer: how we do it alone or together, how it changes us, how it shapes our actions, etc. I listened anew to a passage from the Gospel of Luke that likened prayers toward G-d to advocacy towards policy makers.

Luke 18:1-8 (Common English Bible)

Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged. He said, “In a certain city, there was a judge who neither feared G-d nor respected people. In that city, there was a widow who kept coming to him, asking, ‘Give me justice in this case against my adversary,’ For a while he refused, but finally said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or respect people, but I will give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me. Otherwise, there will be no end to her coming here and embarrassing me.’ The Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. Won’t G-d provide justice to the chosen people who cry out day and night? Will G-d be slow to help them? I tell you, G-d will give them justice quickly. But when the Human One comes, will he find faithfulness on Earth?’”

Image: Me receiving prayers from my congregation

Perhaps this translation from the Common English Bible, written in a rather plainspoken way, jumped out at me because the judge’s reason for granting justice is “because she keeps bothering me.” The word “bothering” is very relatable to me as a busy person in 2022. Don’t we all get bothered by inconveniences? And if we get too bothered, aren't we moved to act on the source of irritation?

Besides considering the main point of Jesus’ assurance that G-d will grant justice to us, I also thought about how this depiction of activism mirrors modern day advocacy. Sometimes we can move the target of our advocacy with stories that remind them of their own moral values. Other times, we might use statistics and economic facts to appeal to a sense of logic. Yet whether one or both or neither of those tactics appeals to members of Congress, the thing that always seems to inspire action is something my oldest kiddo calls “coordinated bothering.”

Coordinated Bothering = Good Trouble

Coordinated bothering is what teams of advocates do when we all reach out persistently with the same request for a legislator to take an action.

Image: Me with Rep. Cori Bush at a public
event where I asked about a global nutrition bill

We might start with a request to their aide, then move on to having each member of the group call their office. If they don’t act, we involve more members of the community to write letters or make our requests public by writing about them in letters to the editor. If we see them out in the community, we are ready to ask them questions about our issue directly!

Friendly, polite tactics might give way to more insistent methods, like daily phone calls or more strongly worded opinion pieces in newspapers. We can show up at town hall meetings in a group to keep asking a question until they give an answer. Depending on the urgency or level of injustice, organized community protests might even be the only way to escalate the discomfort of a person like the judge in the Gospel without moral values or respect for others. 

There’s another name for Coordinated Bothering when it grows to a public and loud level. In the context of civil rights, the late Congressman John Lewis called it Good Trouble. He said, "Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year. It is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.

PUPO (Persistence Usually Pays Off)

Image: Me smiling by a 
RESULTS banner

Some senators and representatives are delightful to work with when they are personally motivated to work on our issues. But most need a metaphorical nudge or a shove to get the wheels of action turning. We have to find the point where their appetite for being bothered is exceeded by our persistence.

RESULTS volunteers have a funny little device used to reward each other called the PUPO award. PUPO stands for “Persistence Usually Pays Off.” We used to get a little sheet of stickers with “PUPO” printed on them. We would give them to a team member who made some sort of advocacy breakthrough because of their persistence.

Don’t be afraid to be persistent! I’ve been called “pushy” by a congressman in a face-to-face meeting when pressed him for an answer after he failed to give a “yes” or “no” to my colleagues asking for help for low-income Americans. I could have taken it as an insult, but I saw it as an acknowledgement that persistence is often what it takes to make sure people struggling in poverty get the nutrition, education, and health care they need. To me, feeding hungry people is worth being pushy about!

In America, Congress works for the people. They work for YOU. So next time you wonder if you if you should make that next phone call or write that letter, remember the widow in the Bible with the unjust judge. Be a bother.

Image: Book cover

Buy an autographed copy of "From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started" at my website www.changyit.com or order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any independent bookstore!