We invited each group to articulate their vision for social change as a ‘living manifesto’ (a statement of each group’s vision that might keep evolving). We consulted the groups about the form of their ‘living manifesto’. The living manifestos are located below as they become available. The research website is one way of bringing together the multiple visions for social change in Aotearoa of six key activist groups at this moment in time.
ActionStation: Te Ira Tāngata: People’s Agenda
Te Ira Tāngata (which translates as ‘the human blueprint’) comes from a community of 180,000 people who have, in all sorts of different ways, helped to build ActionStation, a new force for people who believe in a fair and flourishing Aotearoa New Zealand.
The main focus of our community’s action is in the sphere of government, both holding politicians to account for their actions and – as in the case of this agenda – calling on them to lift their sights above the cut and thrust of daily politics.
With this agenda we are calling on those who hold political power, and those who want our votes, towards a more inspired and inspiring vision of what our country can and must be in the future: a fairer place where all people, and the creatures and wild places we love, can flourish.
In this process, our community asked ourselves what we want Aotearoa New Zealand to be like in 2040, 23 years from now. We chose this date because it will be 200 years since the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed. 2040 is also the date that the Matike Mai report recommends we aim for constitutional transformation.(1)
Read Te Ira Tāngata: People’s Agenda
InsideOUT: Strategy & Shift Hui
InsideOUT completed a strategy document which they have put forward as representing their Living Manifesto. It sets a vision, a mission, and a set of kaupapa and associated goals to guide InsideOUT as it continues it’s valuable work into the future.
Read InsideOUT.Strategy 2019-2020
InsideOUT have also completed a video about Shift Hui, their major event of the year which brings together young members of the rainbow community together to learn and support each other in a safe environment.
Watch Shift Hui 2019
JustSpeak: A Message from 2040
A Message From 2040 explores the history of social change in Aotearoa and outlines the promise of a better future where we build communities, not prisons.
It’s a dispatch from a society that gives everyone what they need while caring for each other and the planet. Where everyone has a roof over their head, food on the table, and time to spend with loved ones. Where we’ve reimagined justice to be about rehabilitation and accountability, not punishment. Where we’ve closed the last prison – for good.
Watch A Message from 2040
SOUL: Voices of Ihumātao
Qiane Matata-Sipu (Photographer, Documentary-maker and Story-teller) and Conan Fitzpatrick (Film-maker and Documentary-maker) interviewed and filmed many of the protectors of Ihumātao. Qiane explained their purpose:
“I want to be able to honour everyone who has something to say…and it’s like what about our whānau that don’t get the same platform but they have something to say. So let’s give them a platform and let’s have something for their mokopuna to see, “Oh this is why my Nan was there or this is why mum was there…”
We are showcasing the voices of two rangatahi, with their permission.
Torerenui a Rua Wilson, 16 years old, won the prepared section of the Ngā Manu Kōrero Waikato regionals with this piece on why she is protecting her whenua at Ihumātao.
Te Puawaitanga Tawha is 15 years old. She wrote this pao (impromptu speech) on the haerenga (journey) to Pōneke (Wellington) to deliver the Action Station petition to Protect Ihumātao earlier this year.
Thursdays in Black (Auckland):
Thursdays in Black (Auckland) wanted to produce a document that collected in one place the history of their group, a sense of the activities and actions they’d been involved in, and some lessons they’ve learned through their activism since 2016 when the group re-formed on campus. It’s a way to connect new members to older ones, and to the institutional wisdom that risks vanishing when people leave a group. Their handbook is community building, statement of kaupapa, and technical guidebook all rolled into one.
