Just Do It
Speaking Radically
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Radicals: The label alone conjures images of chaotic protest and far-out ideals. But Jason Del Gandio wants to change that. "If you can't communicate with people, then you can't mobilize," says Del Gandio. He teaches activists how to communicate their message of change clearly and concisely so that their issues won't seem scary or unattainable.
Del Gandio, an assistant professor at Temple specializing in public communication and the author of Rhetoric for Radicals (New Society Publishers), got involved with radicalism while working on the global justice movement (anti-globalization, without Del Gandio's adept PR spin) while a communications grad student.
One of Del Gandio's big points is to couch radical ideas in concrete, real-world examples. "You want to invite people into your world view rather than alienate them. To do that, you need to be able to find a common ground between you and your audience," says Del Gandio. "So if you are radical, you have to find a way to talk about those radical views that is appealing to a wider audience but at the same time you don't want to water down your message." Del Gandio uses the example of universal health care. Instead of espousing detail and theory, compare it to other universal systems already in place, like the fire departments who will put out a fire no matter how much money their client possesses. And that's his message, pure and simple.
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