Training for Change partnered up with Spiral Q, an activist puppet theater, to offer a collaborative day-long workshop on puppets and strategy.  The goal: start preparing and creating puppets for protests against the Republican National Convention in New York.  

Daniel Hunter (Training for Change) and Beth Nixon (Spiral Q) offered the workshop with several goals: 1) be more creative about "messaging" for the RNC; 2) deepen participants' understanding of long-term strategic goals; and 3) make puppets!  Since thinking strategically often takes a back-seat to last-minute rushing to create signs and puppets, this was a chance to think proactively about strategy and puppets.

This workshop aligns with Training for Change's Strategy Project, whose goal is to increase activist strategizing capacity.  This workshop covered multiple important areas of development, such as analyzing the myths and lies of society, using images to point towards our vision of another world, and understanding how social movements can use images to influence the norms of societies.

Half the group worked on a major puppet that took on the issue of "homeland security," secrecy and what really creates security.  A banner says "Safety in Numbers vs. an Army of One"; behind it on one side are dozens of colorful fishes – some with flags from around the world and others just painted in an array of colors.  On the other side is a big blowfish with the face of George Bush.  

Reminds me of the song used frequently in the Civil Rights Movement, "Which side are you on?"

For more information on the Strategy Project or this workshop, e-mail Daniel Hunter (Program Director) at: peacelearn@igc.org