Bold Together February 2016: Letter from the Editor

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately. Recently, I stumbled across a “new” phrase a few times in different places that caused me to reflect as we move into the new year: “Movement moment.” I like how it rolls off the tongue (in English), how its alliterative quality hints at the energy and momentum of what it is describing. When I read it, I suddenly feel connected to something bigger, something outside myself where the power within becomes power that flows into the collective struggle. I can feel the urgency, the overwhelming need to act, like a pot finally coming to boil. I know the moment hides the effort, the struggle, the persistence and tears, the dedication and sacrifices, the humble door-to-door knocking and high level appeals, the disagreements and frustrations that are all part of making a collective dream into reality.

I look back at 2015 and I see international-level examples of coming together through the affirmation of our shared challenges, as manifested in the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement. We know these international agreements represent just a beginning; however, they are notable this time in that they bind the international community together rather than set certain nations apart. I see our grantees and networks agitating all over the world, calling for freedom from discrimination, exploitation, restrictions; calling for greater recognition, redistribution, and accountability; working to break open limited worldviews that hinder efforts to create deep structural change towards a more equitable and just world for all. I see the bubbles forming here in the United States, bringing to the surface urgent challenges of racism, climate change, fanaticism, and oligarchy. I can feel them all around, building momentum. I excitedly think of what is to come in 2016 and turn to you – what will be our movement moment?

Margaret Youngs
Program Officer, Asia and the Pacific