What is the world we want to get back to?Protecting the sacred, embracing conflict and breaking up with whitenessAs more people get vaccinated, glimpses of our “before” life are starting to reveal themselves. As Laurie Penny described “normal life is coming back slow and strange, like plant life after a nuclear blast, and we won't know the scale of the damage until something like safety feels possible”. Which begs the question: “What is the world we want to get back to?” Do we want to return to workaholism and relentless productivity? Do we want to forget that workers are essential and deserving of our appreciation and a living wage? Do we want to go back to conservative policies that discriminate and dehumanize people? Do we want to continue to drill on sacred land and destroy our planet? Or do we want to imagine and envision what the Zapatista movement called “a world where many worlds fit”? We have the most incredible opportunity right now to reject any return to “normal” and choose something better. Let’s not miss it. Kerri (she/her)
The Rise at Standing Rock in 2016 was one of the most significant moments in the Indigenous Rights Movement in a generation. Indigenous youth and environmental activists reignited that movement this week to protest the Line 3 and DAPL pipelines that “snake” through and threaten indigenous land. Along with the 400,000 petition signatures, activists carried an enormous 316-foot-long black snake, representing the oil pipeline. Here’s how you can take creative action from our friends at Beautiful Trouble:
Art @amplifierart @obeygiant Despite an organization’s good intentions around equity, many are falling short because of fear. “Fear of open conflict is destroying workplaces, and it’s disproportionately harming Black and Latinx women workers”. According to “Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture” it looks like ignoring conflict, blaming the person for raising an issue rather than looking at the issue itself, emphasizing politeness and penalizing constructive intervention and feedback. Not only does it uphold white male dominance, it undermines relationships and any opportunity we have to grow together. It’s not whether conflicts will happen, but when conflicts will happen. Conflict is a part of the relational human experience. Cultivating a practice of noticing, understanding, interrupting, and debriefing conflict is a key in creating spaces that allow Black, Indigenous People of Color to thrive. Here are the five gifts of conflict from the Turning Towards Each Other workbook:
Art @orangebeautiful Breaking up is hard to do, but it is also how we GROW. Give yourself permission to let go and open up to what’s next. Art at @fleurdelisspeaks Last chance to sign up for this amazing 50 hour training on embodied social justice (starting next week)! Register HERE. CTZNWELL is community powered and crowd-sourced. That’s how we keep it real. Please consider joining us on Patreon for as little as $2/month so that we can keep doing the work of creating content that matters for CTZNs who care. |