Why am I reading Organization Means Commitment?
We just finished James Forman’s Twenty Enemy Forces. Forman names the internal contradictions that slowly destroy organizations — individualism, ego, sexism, laziness, lack of discipline.
But naming the enemy forces is not enough.
Grace Lee Boggs pushes the question further:
If we know what breaks organizations, how do we actually build leaders strong enough to withstand those pressures — and willing to commit themselves to protracted revolutionary struggle?
Organization Means Commitment is about developing revolutionary cadre — small formations of politically developed people who dedicate themselves to study, struggle, reflection, and disciplined practice over time. The patient, protracted development of people capable of transforming institutions — and themselves.
This feels especially relevant right now.
After 2020, many of us started book clubs, collectives, reading groups. That mattered. Political education matters.
But education without discipline and practice produces well-informed individuals which is important, but not enough in this moment.
Or as Fred Hampton put it:
“I don’t care how much theory you got — if it don’t have any practice applied to it, then that theory happens to be irrelevant. Any theory you get, practice it. And when you practice it, you make some mistakes. When you make a mistake, you correct that theory. And then it becomes corrected theory that can be applied and used in any situation. That’s what we’ve got to be able to do.”
Boggs is challenging us to ask:
Are we willing to move beyond discussion and commit ourselves to organization?
Are we willing to subordinate ego to collective purpose?
Are we willing to become more than commentators on struggle?
Cadre is not simply someone who reads or understands the issues. Cadre is someone who commits to struggle — who engages in collective study, accepts accountability, takes responsibility for others, and dedicates themselves to the long-term work of transformation.
That’s what this piece wrestles with. And over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be wrestling through it with you.
Some of us are ready to think seriously about cadre formation. Some of us are still figuring out what commitment looks like in our own lives. This series is an invitation — not to romanticize revolution, but to take organization seriously.
Whether that means strengthening the formations you’re already part of, or asking how your study group might move beyond discussion and into disciplined practice, I hope this creates space for honest reflection.
Not everyone will choose cadre work. But everyone can choose deeper responsibility. And in these times, must choose deeper responsibility.
