Five Steps in Building Solidarity in the Suicide Prevention Movement
1) Heal Communal Wounding with Radical Listening and Reflection
“It takes two to speak the truth. One to speak and another to hear.” Henry David Thoreau
Cross-cutting and intersecting identities add richness to our suicide prevention movement; however, in order to accomplish solidarity, we need to be willing to create safe spaces for listening and empathy. As part of this process we must acknowledge that identity fluidity is also expected as people move through various life experiences. Across both lived experiences and academic ways of understanding suicide, we have an opportunity to learn by removing judgment and blame, and seeking compassion — especially when we have been on the opposite sides of fear.
Radical listening is about relating to the root of what Is being said and purposefully focusing on the intent of the speaker. Often this is easier said than done as our own internal conversation and communication filters drown out what is being expressed. Radical listening, thus, is the practice of intentionally allowing “the other(s)” to communicate without interruption so as to fully absorb what they are saying. As a suicide prevention community, we can only do that when we allow ourselves to sit in discomfort of listening to others’ truths –especially when our fears or ignorance have inadvertently caused harm to others in our community.
Several years ago, a young person close to me was experiencing strong suicidal intensity. I was very fearful we were going to lose him and was wrestling with whether or not I should enact my ability as a psychologist to put him psychiatric hold against his will. That night over dinner with colleagues – all men who had survived suicide attempts – I shared my fears and let them know I was debating about what action I should take. They then shared with me their traumatic experiences of losing their civil rights under similar circumstances and gave me some other options to intervene. Though I remained afraid, I trusted their wisdom and learned much that night. I decided to try their less invasive and more dignified approaches, and it worked. I am so grateful that I had them to guide me.
Because the experiences we face are, as in this example, deeply personal, and often riddled with fear, we have unique challenges in forging diverse identities into a “community.” However, we also have many opportunities to explore connecting points, and understand our differences to gain positive alignment. This starts with looking inwardly.
2) Establish a Collective Identity
Shared interests are not enough to mobilize change; we also need social cohesion through an established collective identity. Collective identities are built around shared values and expressed through common symbols and rituals. An individual “I-ness” dissolves, into a collective “we-ness.”
This idea of building a “home” for people with lived experience of suicide was the foundation upon which we built United Suicide Survivors International. Our core values include inclusion, collaboration, courage and action. We believe that by pulling together we lift one another up, and the movement is strengthened.
Over time, a collective identity needs to evolve as new people join the movement, otherwise momentum may decline, as people no longer see themselves represented in the effort. The collective identity is dynamic and expands as new people connect to the existing sphere, pushing against old ideas and raising up new voices.
One interesting example of this sense of collective identity within groups of people with lived experience is the emergence of the semi-colon – on clothing, as jewelry and in tattoos. Originally founded in 2013 by Amy Bleuel, Project Semicolon explains that "a semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you, and the sentence is your life." At first the semicolon was worn mostly by suicide attempt survivors and later also by suicide loss survivors as a symbol of solidarity in the fight against suicide.
With these symbols, “identity talk,” and shared practices, a group pride emerges that is healing for members. Individuals in part define the self as part of a shared accountability to community ideals that is ever evolving and sometimes extends beyond the movement.
3) Create Compelling Frames
Activists know that in order to mobilize potential constituents, we need to make a powerful case for injustice and a collective agency in changing the way forward. “Framing” within social movements involves mobilizing action-oriented sets foundational beliefs that activate change.
When we have discord in our call to action among major pillars of the movement, the movement stalls and even threatens to collapse, as was evident in the Women’s suffrage movement when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony could not reconcile differences with Lucy Stone and others about the ideologies, strategy and tactics. This internal fracturing delayed major advances in the movement as much energy was spent discrediting instead of focusing on the collective frame. In the end, however, the splintering may have strengthened the movement because the effort to work through all of that conflict bolstered the commitment to the shared vision.
When those of us in the suicide prevention movement are organized in our messaging to energize and accomplish our aim – e.g., “that no one should die in isolation and despair”– others will be better able to navigate how they can contribute to our movement.
One of our most successful efforts in to date around developing a compelling frame for suicide prevention was the creation of “The Way Forward,” (National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, 2014). This manifesto serves as a compelling frame shaped by eight core values such as “foster hope” and “preserve dignity.” Solidarity in messaging like “The Way Forward” is useful in shaping the norms of acceptable behavior and assumptions for those already within the movement and those who are being drawn in.
4) Inspire Connective Action
As the collective identity and compelling frames are being formed, connective action is necessary to move from convergence to cohesion. These actions often supersede differences and distance, shifting us from “here and there” and “us and them” to the deeply human “we.” Given the complexity and global nature of the suicide prevention movement micro-mobilization efforts can be effective. For instance, each year the International Association of Suicide Prevention offers the global community a small action to mobilize this experience of solidarity. Annually on World Suicide Prevention Day people are encouraged to place a candle in their window at 8:00PM from wherever they are to honor those who have died by suicide, those who have lived through a suicide attempt, and those who fight suicidal intensity. Participants often subsequently take pictures of this activity and post on social media. This connective action then becomes a “collaborative confessional” of visible, user-generated content, that further engages bystanders, setting in motion further ripples of further connective action.
Another connective action is through increased visibility through shared storytelling. For example, United Suicide Survivors International encourages people with lived experience to work through a process of sharing their hero’s journey of despair, grief, concern and healing thereby turning myths, misinformation and taboo into new narratives of justice, resilience, recovery and community.
5) Engage a Wider Circle
Whenever I speak publicly, I always encourage my audience to pull out their phones and post on social media the things they are learning or questioning during my talk. The main reason is this – people who usually show up to talks like mine are people already in the movement – educators, mental health providers, public health advocates, and people with lived experience. In order to make the movement exponentially more powerful, we need to enroll groups outside of our inner circle. We do this by making alliances with other groups and establishing linkages in goals.
My favorite example of this is my experiencing with the breast cancer movement. In 2001 I was asked to do a three-day walk to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. I had not been personally touched by the issue, but I signed up because I thought the training for it would provide a meaningful way to get back in shape. When I arrived at the walk and witness thousands of people celebrating their fight for life and honoring those who had passed with dignity, I was so movement. Even though I was not personally impacted by the issue, I felt part of the community. Later, after my brother died by suicide in 2004 and I became involved in suicide prevention, I thought, the suicide prevention movement could learn a thing or two from the breast cancer movement on how to enroll partners external to the cause and how to create a tipping point of change.
While we haven’t reached the level yet where full NFL teams are wearing our colors on their cleats, we have seen an uptick in new and needed voices coming on-board like corporations and faith communities and mega-celebrities like Lady Gaga and Michael Phelps.
CONCLUSION
Today, the efforts of the suicide prevention advocacy movement are moving through predictable stages of evolution. While different subgroups are largely in agreement with a central vision – that no one should die in isolation and despair – we sometimes have competing ideas on how we can get there. This tension is not a bad thing. In fact, it is necessary in our growth. If we can find our way to a sense of solidarity – believing that all experiences and forms of expertise matter – and radically listening to communities that hold different viewpoints from ours, we stand a chance of transforming into something so powerfully effective. If we don’t, our house divided may fall.
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