The strength of a social justice movement depends not only on the ideas it advances, but on the connections it creates. Trust, belonging, and shared experience can turn individuals into a community capable of sustained action. While the news media features mass demonstrations around many social justice issues, what does it take to channel those moments of mass resistance into sustainable movements for change? A 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that only 26% of U.S. adults knew all or most of their neighbors, while 44% trusted all or most of them.
That matters for movements because campaigns, advocacy, and organizing ultimately rely on human relationships. People have to be willing to hear one another, engage across differences, and remain involved beyond a single moment of attention. When those connections are harder to establish, reaching beyond people who already agree may become more difficult.
