Disability Justice blog info!

Here are some links to blogs about disability justice from my friend John, a fellow Bradenista who facilitated a great workshop for us on the topic:

http://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/ - Mia Mingus' Blog

(this essay/post is one of John's favorite and inspiring essays of all time: http://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/where-ever-you-are-is-where-i-want-to-be-crip-solidarity/)

http://blog.cripchick.com/ - Stacey Milbern's Blog

http://creatingcollectiveaccess.wordpress.com/ - Creating Collective Access' Blog

http://dreaminghome.tumblr.com/ - To the Other Side of Dreaming - Mia + Stacey's letters around their journey from the South to the Bay and disability justice.

http://loveandneutronstars.blogspot.com/ - John's friend Tali's blog

Video from Braden Program Panel Presentations!

Here are some video clips from the fantastic panel presentation we had on Indigenous Resistance and (De)colonization, Visionary Politics, and Anti-Racist organizing. There is some really educational and inspiring material here--check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/user/catalystprojectvideo#p/u

Here also is a link to video of the whole Indigenous Resistance panel.

http://vimeo.com/catalystproject

Audio and Video Pieces from the Braden Program Reader

Catalyst put together a truly incredible (1000+ page) reader for the Anne Braden Program. Eventually, all the readings will be posted online and I will link to them here. In the meantime, I offer you links to the audio and video pieces from the reader. There is so much rich material here--I hope you enjoy it!

Audio

White Supremacy and the United States by James Baldwin
(http://www.freedomarchives.org/Braden%20Audio.Images/BaldwinWeb.mp3)

Indigenous Resistance Part One: Buffy Saint Marie and Joanne Tall
(http://www.freedomarchives.org/Braden%20Audio.Images/Indigenous%20Resistance1Web.mp3)

Indigenous Resistance Part Two: from the Freedom Archives' Roots of Resistance Compilation
(http://www.freedomarchives.org/Braden%20Audio.Images/Indigenous%20Resistance2Web.mp3)

Black Liberation audio Part 1: Sweet Honey in the Rock, James Baldwin, Freedom Songs
(http://www.freedomarchives.org/Braden%20Audio.Images/Black%20Liberation%20Web1.mp3)

Black Liberation audio part 2: Malcolm X and Assata Shakur
(http://www.freedomarchives.org/Braden%20Audio.Images/Black%20Liberation%20Web2.mp3)

Global Resistance-South Africa audio: Winnie Mandela
(http://www.freedomarchives.org/Braden%20Audio.Images/South%20AfricaWeb.mp3)

Global Resistance Africa to Palestine from Roots of Resistance: Amilcar Cabral, Winnie Mandela, Nelson Mandela, Chris Hani, South African national anthem, June Jordan
(http://www.freedomarchives.org/Braden%20Audio.Images/Africa%20to%20Palestine.mp3)

Silvia Federici talk on KPFA's Against the Grain, July 11, 2006
(http://kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=15059)


Video:

Andrea Smith speaks on Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide (Her talk starts at 9:30)
*please note this talk has explicit descriptions of sexual violence*
http://fr.truveo.com/andrea-smith-conquest-sexual-violence-and/id/2342712737

Marilyn Buck: A Tribute, video by the Freedom Archives
http://vimeo.com/16406539

Come September by Arundhati Roy
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=945405493000735497

Transformative Organizing Panel from the US Social Forum, 2010
http://thestrategycenter.org/node/5147

Text
Love Letter to the Clinic by Catherine Jones
www.cwsworkshop.org/katrinareader/node/459

Ocho ocho nueve--si se puede!

I apologize to all that I've been such a sporadic blogger. My new approach is to do quick and dirty posts, with less pressure on myself, but more frequently. Every week I am learning so much, and I find my head spinning constantly, but I firmly intend to write more. Ok.

So, one component of the Braden program is that we commit 4-8 hours per week as a volunteer at a grassroots, people-of-color-led organization. The organization I'm working with is called Mujeres Unidas y Activas. They are a membership organization of Latina immigrant women, and do leadership development and peer counseling, as well as community organizing. You can check out their amazing work at their website:www.mujeresunidas.net

Right now, the major campaign is working in coalition with other immigrants rights groups in California to win a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, similar to the one passed last year in New York. (Woot! You can learn more about the Bill at http://www.nationaldomesticworkeralliance.org/). Basically, domestic workers and farm workers are the two groups that have been excluded from existing labor laws since the thirties--so this bill would give them access to basic protections like sick days, overtime pay, non-desrimination, a safe work environment, as well as some protections based on the unique nature of domestic work--like eight hours of uninterrupted rest for people who live with their employers.

Domestic Worker orgs tried to pass similar legislation in 2006, but failed because of opposition, some of which came from the disability rights groups. The argument is that things like paid sick days and overtime will make it too expensive for those people with disabilities and elderly people that require care attendants to get the care they need--especially in the contexts of deep budget cuts to social services. (As we know, there's enough money for health and social services AND worker protections if we taxed corporations and didn't spend it all on war... but they have us fighting for crumbs. Anyways.)

So, MUA and the other orgs learned learned that domestic worker orgs alone couldn't win the fight for this bill in California. So they decided to intentionally build with disability rights community and organized elderly folks--to clear up some misunderstandings (the Bill wouldn't apply to publicly paid care attendants), but also to explore the reasons why the Bill of Rights might actually be in the best interest of employers and lead to better standards of care. There are some parts which are just tough, and the interests of domestic workers and care attendant employers don't seem to line up. So there have been ongoing "tensions" meetings to dialogue to work through these places--and will maybe change portions of the bill. A National network of employers of domestic workers supporting workers' rights has been integrally involved--they're called Hand-in-Hand. At every event, press conference, lobby day, there are both domestic workers and employers of domestic workers who speak out in support of the bill. I just thought that this real life example of choosing the path of solidarity instead of letting the powerful get away with pitting oppressed communities against each other was really inspiring and strategic!

There is an amazing article by Ai-jen Poo about the campaign led by Domestic Workers United in New York called "Organizing with Love" You all should read it because she is a visionary! I can't find the link now, but I'll link to an interview with her: http://transformativechange.org/transform/2010/06/ai-jenpoo/

p.s. the name of this post is so named because the Bill of Rights is AB889. Which helpfully rhymes with "yes we can!" in Spanish :)

Update

Hi readers--if I indeed have any readers left after neglecting my writing for the last several weeks.

A lot has happened during this time: I've found a job and a place to live. In the Anne Braden Program, we've had sessions on Native sovereignty and de-colonization; Black liberation; class; and imperialism and global people's movements. A program participant and leadership team member organized an outside session on disability justice--which was eye-opening and transformative for many, and allowed us to get into some of the deep exploration of how the political shapes our personal lives. I've gotten a chance to hang out with and work with IJANers based in the Bay, and to learn some more about where IJAN came from and the strategic role it's seeking to play. I had my first meeting with my Braden program mentor. And I've started volunteering at Mujeres Unidas y Activas, a totally rad organization now immersed in the very exciting state-wide campaign to win a domestic worker's bill of rights in California!

Really, so much has been happening that I don't really know where to begin. I guess that's a good thing! I just wanted to give a quick update to break the intertia of not writing, and then hopefully soon to get into some of the backlog of juicy issues that have been coming up.

Education for Movement Building

Someone told me the before the program that Chris Crass (coordinator of catalyst) doesn't talk, he preeches. We experienced that last week, when we were talking about what makes an effective organizer. Something is lost in the transcription, but trust me when I say that he took our breath away with these words:

"We need an ecosystem of roles. Not everyone can be an organizer. Not everyone can be Ella Baker, but Ella Baker helped millions of people play meaningful roles in the movement--while they were raising children, while they were working, sharecropping for most of the hours of the day. They might not have understood all of the political theory, but they knew they were doing something important because she was engaging their humanity.

"Part of so much current activist culture is: you have to show up 100% informed. If you don't know everything when you show up to a protest, you have to front it, fake it, run around so that nobody notices. Look: we are trying to mobilize millions of people to transform society so that we all can lead fundamentally different lives, not to build strong subcultures."

That resonated pretty powerfully, and has been a big take-away point for me on strategy over the past few weeks. I think the statement also articulates a healthier orientation towards learning in movement building, which has been unfolding over the course of our sessions.

This past weekend, we explored the themes of white supremacy, capitalism, and white privilege--with a heavy empahsis on history. Chris started our session by encouraging us not to front or to feel embarrassment when we don't know something, but to open ourselves with excitement to the opportunity to learn something new. He situated our session in a history of working people educating each other and creating theory that described their lives: from midnight schools where slaves went to learn to read, to union halls, socialist and anarchist study groups, consciousness raising groups and liberation schools. There is amazing power in common people developing the confidence that they/we can learn and understand history, and use that understanding to create change. The popular educator and radical historian in me rejoiced at this introduction.

A final thing I will note that relates to education, is how intentional the Catalyst Project seems to be in its leadership development of its own staff. Members of the Leadership Team who completed the Braden Program just a few years back lead many parts of each session. Their segments are thoughtful and well done, but their presentations are not as seemless and polished as those led by more experienced staff. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks: instead of relying on one or two paid staff members to lead the trainings, Catalyst is distributing the work so that a large handful of newer leaders gain experience planning, presenting, and facilitating large workshops. For me, it makes me think: "hey, with a little more experience, I could be doing that!" Really seeing that process of development is new and inspiring to me. And, the presence, participation, and support of a large number of Catalyst staff and coordinators makes it feel all the more like there's a large community of white anti-racist organizers out there who are continuing to develop their capacity, and helping others grow, in turn.

Orientation

Last weekend was our long awaited orientation weekend. It was interesting to gather first impressions of people who I know that I'll get to know in much greater depth over the next few months. The ABP leadership team and staff introduced themselves, and it was inspiring to hear about how they came to political consciousness and to anti-racist work, and to hear about the varied and important work they are doing now. A couple of parts of the weekend stand out to me:

On the second day of orientation, Clare Bayard and Amie Fishman talked about the importance of articulating a vision of the world we are working for, not just critiquing existing oppression (just like you were exhorting, Dad.) They led us in an excercise in visioning. I include below the questions that were used for the excercise, with permission from Amie.

"What is the vision of the world you are working toward? What is your vision of social justice? We all see a lot of violence and harm institutionally and interpersonally. If we could imagine all of that shifting, what would it look like in your home or family... you neighborhood, your town?

"How would people relate to each other?
How would people relate to the work they’re doing?
How would people relate to resources, the planet?
What is valued, who is valued and how?

"What kind of institutions would or wouldn't be in your neighborhood?
What kind of services and what would they look like?
What would the values would the economy be based on?
How would decisions get made about things affecting your neighborhood or town?
How would conflict be dealt with?
What kind of activities might be going on?
Think about other countries or communities. Are there ways they are organized or values that they share that inspire you?
What about things that exist in your life today that you'd want to be part of that vision? What structures, practices, or other things that work well do you want to hold on to? Are there things that you draw from your community or family that inspire parts of your vision?"

The second part of the orientation that will stick with me for a long time was a talk by movement elders Phil Hutchings and Sharon Martinas. It's stressing me out to try to distill their bios into one paragraph, because they both have over four decades of organizing experience. Phil Hutchings worked with both SNCC and SDS in the 60s, has been a part of a bevy of social change organizations in the Bay Area, and co-founded and is currently senior oganizer for the Black Alliance for Just Immigration. Sharon Martinas became an anti-racist solidarity organizer in 1966, was integral in organizing white students and staff to support the strike for Third World/Ethnic studies at SF State University, led by the Black Student Union and the Third World Liberation Front, and co-created the Challenging White Supremacy workshops in San Fracisco with Mickie Ellinger.

They dropped many pearls of wisdom, and I'd be hard-pressed to capture them all. Phil talked about how he moved beyond fear and middle class aspirations to act for liberation, meeting incredible people and learning more from their lived experience than he could have ever imagined. Sharon talked about how she worked to unite bitterly divided white student groups, and was successful because of their shared and absolute committment to the leadership of students of color.

Someone asked about sustaining involvement over the long-term, practicing self-care and avoiding burnout. Sharon responded by challenging both the terms "self-care" and "burnout." She said she doesn't like the term "self-care" because it creates a division within one's self, pitting one side of yourself against another. She said [paraphrased]:

"We absolutely need joy, and to make plans for the short, medium, and long term. When you incude excercise, sleep, eating, and looking at the sunset it's not that you're taking away from your current work: you are sustaining yourself for the long haul marathon of revolutionaries work. The work we are doing is building the power of the people, and last time I checked, I am one."

About burnout, she referenced Ron Chisolm of the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond:

"He said burnout is not about too much work; that's exhaustion. Burnout is a temporary or long term lack of vision. Reflect on why you believe in what you do, otherwise you will be getting coser to burnout. If you keep in mind that vision, it can pull you out of exhaustion."


The session ended with a beautiful statement. I think it was Phil who said this but I'm not positive:


"Once you enter this work, and get involved, you're not the same person as when you started. You never know what you're capable of until you do it. We need to transform what we think we are capable of, and then our politics can become more radical, more embodied, and more instinctual."


Who feels inspired?