Reflections of Community Outreach: In Touch Interviews: Community Engagement Announcements + Srđa Popović: Strategies and Tactics for Making a Difference in Your Community
February 16, 2026: In Touch Interviews from the Reflections of Community Outreach collective, brought to KOOP by KOOP’s Community Council, today celebrates World Radio Day, Lunar New Year, the Japanese/American Day of Remembrance, and Black History Month.
Today’s interview on In Touch Interviews was pre-recorded and published on July 9, 2025 in Bob Greenberg’s Brainwaves Video Anthology. This show features Srđa Popović, an internationally-recognized expert on nonviolent resistance, discussing civic mobilization and strategic activism. Popović was a founder and key organizer of Otpor! (“Resistance!”), the Serbian nonviolent movement that helped bring down Slobodan Milošević in 2000. Following that transition, he served as a member of the Serbian National Assembly. In 2003, Popović co-founded the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS), which he still leads today.
In the video, Popović discusses how people who want to make lives better for themselves, their families, and their neighbors often build the most power and create the most change by working in their local communities. It’s frustrating and sometimes sad to think about all the things that are happening around the country and around the world. By teaming up with other people who care in our local areas, we can affect things like how people get around, how healthy people are, what we learn in schools, and more. Popović talks about getting connected with local groups like KOOP’s Community Partners and participating in actions to make change, like:
- Wearing a t-shirt with a message on it that’s important to you and talk with people about it;
- Checking out Gene Sharp’s 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action, and getting together with some friends and family to choose one or two things to do together;
- Unsubscribing to one or more or your streaming apps to send a message to global business leaders that you’re angry at their support of the Trump administration’s oversight of constitutional protections of US citizens and immigrants;
- Joining the Rosedale Huddle for a Palestinian support banner drop on a Tuesday or Friday; or
- Meeting your City Council representative or County Commissioner and learning how you can support each other. To learn about how to schedule a meeting and/or prepare things to talk about, here’s a guide to meetings with local lawmakers and a [guide to meetings with state and federal lawmakers] ;(https://indivisible.org/resource/how-have-successful-district-office-visit/).
Last thing: Tomorrow, Feb. 17, 2026 is the First Day of Early Voting in Primary Elections (March 3 is voting day). 2026 elections will take place in November this year for one Texas Senator, Texas Congressional Members, Texas state elected representatives, some local positions in the Travis County government, and more.
Some Texas state reps and Congressional reps have made some decisions in the last year that harm Texans’ abilities to go to school, work, and live healthy lives. November elections will be a time when we can put a stop to some of these harmful decisions and show Texas representatives that they better do their jobs and represent us Texans. To make sure we have good candidates to vote for in November, primary elections are opening up for early voting tomorrow, Feb. 17. This is the time when voters can signal to their parties that they want to vote for people who care about them, not just their donors or big business interests.
For Early Voting, registered voters can vote at any Vote Center in Travis County where the “Vote Here/Aqui” sign is displayed. For a map of voting locations, hours or operation, to figure out if you’re registered, or to register to vote in November if you’re not registered already, anyone can go to votetravis.gov.
If you or anyone you know wants to share info. about a Central Texas community group, organization, or resident who’s doing good work to support neighbors, reach out to Lynn Cowles for an interview on Reflections of Community Outreach‘s In Touch Interviews series: 512-522-3220 / KOOPInTouch@gmail.com.