Note: We are pleased to welcome brother Nathaniel Turner as a member of the BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board. His column �The Gambit� will appear on a regular basis.

Gambit: 1.

An opening in chess in which a minor piece, or pieces, usually a pawn, is offered in exchange for a favorable position 2. a remark intended to open a conversation.

I�ve come to realize that I�m just a pawn on the chess board of life. Not complaining or anything, and I don�t want you to feel sorry for me. Pawns are not powerless. True, we can only move forward, never backward, just one space at a time, and we don�t have the same mobility as the big fancy pieces. Still, the pawn has its strengths. We can impede the flow of an adversary. Carry out guerrilla attacks with other pawns. Best of all, if we stay on the board long enough, we can develop into a coveted Queen and change the whole game!

So you see, low self-esteem isn�t my problem. My problem is: I�m trying to figure out what my next move should be. I�m looking for a way to get more engaged in The Movement, even while holding down a full-time job, a wife, and three children. Here am I. Send me. There must be something more I can do.

And let�s be honest, it�s not like you don�t need me. You need as many as pawns as you can get. Because the numbers just ain�t there. You don�t have enough chess pieces to effect any real social change.

Now, maybe you�re wondering: what�s with all the allusions to an idle game of chess when so much is on the line? Universal health care. Economic justice. War and Peace. Corporate media dominance. Environmental degradation. Xenophobia and on and on.

Well my answer to that is simple: �The game of Chess,� as Ben Franklin wrote, �is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired or strengthened by it, so as to become habits, ready on all occasions.�

This ancient Persian war game, Franklin argued, was a tool that could inculcate four indispensable habits of mind:

Foresight

, which �considers the consequences that may attend an action.� I call it vision or grand strategy. On the left, you can find deep insights but very little foresight. In fact, The Movement right now has about as much vision as Stevie Wonder. Actually, Stevie is one up on the left because he�s figured out a way to sing to the masses and not just perform for the choir. It�s not that there�s a lack of clear values or goals being expressed. It�s precisely that virtually no strategy is apparent, one that delineates a path from here to there.

Circumspection

, �which surveys the whole chess board or scene of action.� To be circumspect literally means to look around. It also means to carefully consider all circumstances and possible consequences, or at least as many as you can manage. In my travels on the margins of the U.S. left community, it�s hard not to be struck by how insulated groups tend to be, often completely unaware of the initiatives of other groups. It�s like every group organizing around an issue thinks their issue is The Issue.

Moreover, in terms of becoming more attractive to the disillusioned and disengaged, progressives don�t talk like ordinary people. They often don�t look like ordinary people, which violates a fundamental tenet of even the most radical of radicals. Che Guevera�s writings on guerrilla warfare noted the importance of blending in with the common people.

Caution

, which is to �not make moves too hastily.� On this score, progressives can be forgiven for being hastily reactive at times, given the urgency of alleviating the suffering of people and the planet. But, when the left does make a move, it is incautious to project a sense of self-righteousness towards mainstream working people. Far too many passionate agitators on the left give off a palpable vibe that they despise ordinary folk - their religion, their entertainment, their food and their unwillingness to fight in the absence of viable and desirable alternative institutions, or at least a clear vision of what that would look like. I once had an exchange with a leftist blogger and asked him: If there was a magic button that could wipe out corporate America and the government overnight, would you push it? Without the slightest hesitation or caveat, he said: Yes! As if it didn�t matter that millions of ordinary folk�s livelihoods and sense of purpose would immediately evaporate without any means or resources to survive. To say nothing of the historical fact that revolution doesn�t happen overnight. Social change, even if it culminates in a radical break from the past, takes generations to unfold.

And, finally, the most important lesson chess offers is learning �the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs; the habit of hoping for a favorable change, and that of persevering in the search of resources.�

That�s where I fall short - in the hope and perseverance department. But being the stubborn, faithful pawn that I am, I�m not content sitting on the back row or the edge of the board. I must move forward.

So, like I was saying: my problem is in figuring out what my next move should be. I�m looking for a way to get more engaged in The Movement, while holding down a full-time job, a wife, and three children. And I�m here to tell ya: my problem is your problem.

Here�s the problem (mine and yours), more specifically: despite the valiant efforts and determined commitment of many activists, as Michael Alpert has pointed out, �dissent has come to mean traveling long distances, staying in difficult circumstances, taking to the streets in militant actions that highlight civil disobedience and street fighting, and even risking arrest and severe mistreatment. If we just pause a minute and think about it, it is obvious that this is a lot to ask of people at any time, much less as their first entry into activism.�

If you�re a college student, or single, or a tenured professor, or independently wealthy, maybe this isn�t your personal problem. But, if you think about hose with serious family obligations, I ask with Alpert: �How many such folks are likely to join a demonstration that seems to demand as a prerequisite great mobility and to involve high risks as their initial step in becoming active?�

Another thing to consider on the outreach front is the obsession progressives seem to have with the Internet. The Internet is an amazing networking tool and can play an important role in raising awareness. But, the truth is: the only people reading progressive websites are other progressives.

Addressing these challenges are paramount because if our numbers don�t grow, The Movement will have reached what Alpert calls �plateau-ed dissent,� which poses no threat to elites. The threat comes only when elites know that The Movement has the capacity to replenish and keep growing.

So what does a married pawn who happens to be the father of two teenage daughters and a five-year-old son do?

If there�s one thing The Movement needs it�s more strategic thinkers. In fact, it�s not clear to me how well progressives understand the difference between strategy and tactics. For example, Saul Alinky�s book Rules for Radicals has an entire chapter on tactics but nothing on strategy. Randy Shaw�s insightful primer, The Activist�s Handbook, has a chapter titled �Don�t Respond, Strategize� but then goes on to discuss �tactical activism� and strategy as if they were one and the same. Writing letters, protest marches, vigils, sit-ins, teach-ins, fasts - those are all tactics, the effectiveness of which are unclear.

But because I�m not a believer in re-inventing the wheel, I�ll continue to employ the usual tactics - when time and space allow. Meanwhile, I�m going to teach my kids how to play chess so they can learn how to think strategically and get in the practice of developing a long-term vision. Maybe I�ll even start a local chess club that can serve as way to draw more pawns to The Movement, engaging the uninitiated face-to-face.

Chess anyone?

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member Nathaniel Turner is a pseudonym for a Gen X writer, newspaper editor and activist.  He is a news analyst who offers commentaries on contemporary issues facing the progressive movements in the USA Click here to contact brother Turner.