Moving in

When you move into a new home, you don't wait for every chair to arrive before you start living there. You unpack one pot and make tea. You put a plant by the window. Friends come by and sit on boxes. A house becomes a home because people are already in it.

That is where The Updraft is today. In July, we announced our project: a global creative democracy incubator for people doing democratic work across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The furniture is still arriving, but we can’t wait to open the door. So today we are starting our conversation spaces: this blog, our LinkedIn, and our Instagram. We will build them with you as we go.

An updraft is shared lift

Where did our name come from? Well, we took it from meteorology (🤓!). An updraft is a current of warm air moving upward. Birds ride them to climb, getting carried far higher than they could manage on their own. You can’t see an updraft, though, so birds often find one by watching for other birds already circling in it.

That’s how we’re thinking about our communications. When we share what people in the network are doing, in stories and events and posts and whatever else, the lift becomes visible, and the next person can find it and start climbing too.

And so, one of the elements already in place are the basis of this communications ecosystem:

• We listen first. The most useful knowledge about defending democracy sits with the people doing the work. Our job is to make room for it. 

• We talk with people, not at them. We want these  spaces to be for conversations, not announcements.

• We share how we’re doing things, not just what we’re doing. Hiring, running events, building the fellowship, figuring out whether any of it is working: when we try something, we’ll share how we went about it and what we’d do differently next time. We’re still figuring a lot of this out, and writing it down is how we find out what works and what doesn’t, ideally with other people pointing out the parts we missed.

• We speak many Englishes, and many languages. You don't need perfect English to be part of this. Come as you are and speak the way that works for you. We will work with you to make it inclusive! 

• Some of this will just be for fun. Democracy is serious work. It is also art, music, friendship, and the feeling of belonging to something bigger. We want both in the same place. We’re planning an event called ‘Dance Floor Politics’ and a working group on the role of comedy in social change. 

The stories

We will lead with people: organizers, lawyers, artists, technologists, and everyone in between. We want to tell the story of how they work, what they try, what they learn, and what keeps them going. Some of these stories will be wins. Some will be about holding ground. Some about frustrations and fears. Some will still be unfinished. 

All of them hold something worth learning.

What we'll be talking about

We want to talk about exchanges: what happens when people working in different places meet, compare notes, and borrow ideas from each other.

We want to talk about the law. Law can protect democratic life, and it can also be used to attack it. We will look at both sides, and at the people who find openings even in closing spaces.

We want to talk about technology. Much of the work so far has been defensive, against surveillance, censorship, and shutdowns, and that work continues. We also want to ask what’s worth building, and who gets to build it.

We want to talk about culture. Music, comedy, art, and games often bring people into democratic life before any institution does. We’ll look at how artists and organizers use them to build belonging across borders.

And underneath all of it, we want to talk about belonging: what makes people feel that democracy is theirs, and how we build more of that feeling together.

There is a lot going on behind these walls, and we have much to tell you

We are finalizing the long, careful process of choosing a project manager. We are looking for someone who can give us wings and also bring us back down to earth, so that the things we start also get finished. It is not an easy choice, and we are taking our time to get it right.

We are planning a (crazy, maybe) series of fun events and working groups to appeal to a wide community of people. 

We are also very, very happy to have our Council. These are people who inspire us deeply. They believed in The Updraft early on, and they will be walking with us and supporting the work. We will introduce them to you soon.

Our team is also starting to move. In the coming months, we will be at events and visiting partners in different places. We will share what we see and learn along the way.

Come in!

The shelves are still empty, but not for long. Soon there will be furniture, comfortable armchairs, coffee, mate, potted plants, and fresh juice, but you don't have to wait for any of that. The door is open, and you can come in now.

Stay tuned. Here we go.

— The Updraft team