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February 24th, 2018 
Awake Goy Bertha: First, movements need to be anchored in grassroots organizations, and let the victims of injustice take the lead as protagonists of the struggle for the control and use of our natural resources, like land and water.
Second, you always have to think about the interconnectedness of these struggles: you can’t separate one issue – such as land – from the others, because it’s a struggle against the whole system. For example, when you’re campaigning for access to school, you’re also fighting for health and healthy food.
Third, we need to build movements that are consistent with our values, and what goes on inside our movements needs to reflect that. It means confronting violence against women in our own movements, because repression can also happen there.
Fourth, it’s important to be internationalist. COPINH is the result of a process specific to Honduras, but it also came out of various uprisings in the Americas, such as the struggles of the many indigenous peoples who have protested against the economic and social system that dominates our continent.
Nonhle: I think the key is to be honest and transparent and mobilized – believing that we are fighting not just for ourselves but also for future generations. It is also critical to put women at the forefront of the struggle. If you look at our struggle, it is mainly led by women – we don’t change our minds so easily. We also know the community cannot be dependent on anyone else, except itself. We know that the government is working hand in hand with companies to oppress our communities, so we have to make it impossible for them to work.
We are demanding the right to say no – what we need is Free Prior and Informed Consent and we are fighting for this. This year in April 2018, we will have a court case, the first in South Africa, to claim this right. If we win the case, it will help other communities. But even if we lose the case or the government proceeds, we will keep fighting regardless to defend our land.
It has also been important for our campaign to get the message out and build solidarity with others. It is difficult in a rural area for people to know what is happening so we need help to pass the message to the media, and build solidarity with other NGOs. If we are just talking here and others don’t know, the struggle will never reach the whole world. We believe you build your house because of other people so this interdependence is crucial.
Medha: First and foremost, you need a broader ideological framework which you then operationalize into specific objectives, linking the micro with the macro. It is not necessary that everyone who participates in a movement shares the full vision – we will all approach issues from different angles and points of view – but key activists in the movement must share a common approach. Besides ideological clarity, activists also must have a deep understanding of people, what they need; the vision and tools that will inspire people and get them emotionally involved.
The goal is to move towards what I call a mass-roots organization (not a grassroots organization as grass can be plucked at any time). In other words, an organization that has many roots, where there is local leadership, where activists are motivating and mobilizing people and building a united force.
Out of this movement comes its articulation, which must happen on various fronts – inside communities but also internationally. For the Sardar Sarovar dams, we had to take on the World Bank and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) that were funding the project. And this required getting support from international quarters and working with international movements.
We also need to work on different fronts because of our understanding of power and human rights. While engaging on human rights relates to the state, and we must use the institutions of law and judiciary to challenge the state, we also believe ultimately in people power, that it is the first pillar of democracy and the foundation of our work. We need constantly to show the power of people and our right to make decisions, otherwise you do not bring people along with you and you are no longer a movement. So we constantly use legal actions and mass actions.
And this isn’t just about tactics either, it is also about values and creativity. In India for example, we are fond of Satyagraha (politics of non-violence) both because it is an effective tactic but also because it demonstrates our values and vision.
We also believe that it is important to educate and also demonstrate alternatives to oppression. So in the National Alliance of People’s Movements, we run schools including real-life schools and projects in areas of health, education and water management. People can’t just spend their whole time fighting, fighting, fighting; we also must demonstrate that there are alternatives.
Source Article from https://popularresistance.org/marching-forward-women-resistance-and-counter-power/
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