When working with me, you can expect that I will take the following principals seriously, and I will try my best to incorporate them into everything we do together. I may or may not be offering advice or ideas depending on what work we’re doing together, although in either case I think it’s good for you to know what principals I hold dear to my heart!: 

 

Collective Liberation:

“The divide-and-control tactics of [those in power] keep us at odds with each other, split and damage progressive movements for change, and reinforce systems of power and oppression. Collective liberation challenges divide-and-control tactics by emphasizing how our fate is bound up with each other. With collective liberation as our goal, we seek to create a society where everyone has access to human rights, food, dignified work, housing, education, and health care. It means that “no one is free when others are oppressed,” and it means recognizing that oppression strips all of us of our humanity, keeping us disconnected and alienated from each other and the planet. Within a collective liberation vision, [for example] white people work to end racism not for or on behalf of the interests of people of color, but because our lives and humanity depend on the eradication of racism as well. We do this work in service of a liberated world where [we] don’t fight each other for crumbs, where people no longer ally ourselves with ruling-class elites who don’t have our interests in mind. 

-from “Toward Collective Liberation” by Chris Crass

 

 

Popular Education:

As an educator, facilitator, and coach, I do not see myself as an authority, I see myself as a collaborator. I learn just as much as you do by working with you. I use popular education strategies, which means I encourage people to think critically about the world around them by reflecting on their own experiences. I also facilitate in such a way that encourages participants to educate each other though interactive, dynamic, collaborative activities. Popular education strives to help people develop as critical thinkers, not just fill brains with facts and figures. A strong tenant of popular education is that it is not enough for us to educate ourselves and gain analysis; we must also pair that understanding with action, and that action is the best form of education for most people.   

Click here to learn more about popular education (thank you practicing freedom for such a great definition!):

http://www.practicingfreedom.org/offerings/popular-education/

 

 

Following Directly Affected Community Members:

Liberation and justice comes through directly affected community members having the resources and support they need to directly shape and lead movements for themselves, and for those in power to follow their lead. If those who have always been in power shape movements for others, the same power dynamics and systemic issues will stay in place. I believe that if the most oppressed people gain liberation, it will come to all of us. This is a value that will be centered in all workshops/facilitation/support I offer.

 

What does it mean to be a directly affected community member? 

Directly affected community members are people who are directly harmed by an oppressive system. For example, women, people of color, and poor folks are directly affected by patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism. Most of us are affected by these systems in some way, but directly affected people are affected by these systems the most.

 

 

Accountability:

Centering directly affected community members and following their leadership does not mean that those in power sit back and watch while directly affected folks do all the work. What it means is that those in power do their work in ways that is accountable to people on the front lines of oppression. There are many ways to act accountably, and we will always make sure accountability is centered in our work together if the members of your group are not directly affected people.

 

What does accountability mean?

Accountability is not an idea, it’s an action. It’s the action of making sure that you are doing your work in a way that is informed by needs and desires of directly affected community members. To be accountable is to act in a way that is rooted in historical and present movements. If you feel like you are trying to save someone, you likely aren’t acting accountably. 

 

 

Jamez Principals for Democratic Organizing:

I will use the decision making process your group has already developed, if you have one, although please know that I come from a place of democratic organizing. 

I try my best to follow the James Principals, which you can read here: https://www.ejnet.org/ej/jemez.pdf

 

On December 6-8, 1996, forty people of color and European-American representatives met in Jemez, New Mexico, for the “Working Group Meeting on Globalization and Trade.” The Jemez meeting was hosted by the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice with the intention of hammering out common understandings between participants from different cultures, politics and organizations. 

You can click the above link to read more about each of these bullet points, although here are the principals in short: 

#1 Be Inclusive

#2 Emphasis on Bottom-Up Organizing

#3 Let People Speak for Themselves

#4 Work Together in Solidarity and Mutuality

#5 Build Just Relationships Among Ourselves

#6 Commitment to Self-Transformation

 

 

Consensus:

While I will use whatever decision making your group has already developed, I come from a place of Democratic decision-making and organizing. 

 

Consensus decision making is a creative and dynamic way of reaching agreement between all members of a group. Instead of simply voting for an item and having the majority of the group getting their way, a consensus group is committed to finding solutions that everyone actively supports - or at least can live with. This makes sure that all opinions, ideas and concerns are taken into account. By listening closely to each other, the group aims to come up with proposals that work for everyone. People who use consensus often believe that a group will come up with better ideas and be more effective, because more brains are involved in making group decisions.

To Learn more about Consensus, click here (Thanks Seeds of Change!!):  https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/consensus

 

 

Diversity of Tactics:

Malcom X was one of the first organizers to articulate “diversity of tactics” by stating, 

“Our people have made the mistake of confusing the methods with the objectives. As long as we agree on objectives, we should never fall out with each other just because we believe in different methods or tactics or strategy to reach a common goal.”

I believe the path toward justice is one in which many tactics are used to achieve collective liberation, and that we should follow our hearts toward the tactics that feel best to us. 

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Decolonization:

Decolonization is the ending of colonialism and the liberation of the colonized. This requires the dismantling of the colonial government and its entire social system upon which control & exploitation are based. Decolonization, then, is a revolutionary struggle aimed at transforming the entire social system and re-establishing the sovereignty of tribal peoples. In political terms, this means a radical decentralization of national power (i.e., the dismantling of the nation-state) and the establishment of local autonomy (community & region, traditionally the village and tribal nation).

Check out this amazing resource: https://warriorpublications.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/colonization-decolonization.pdf

(The above definition comes from this resource)

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Added by me: Decolonization also refers to the process of transforming the way we think and live to reflect a decolonized life. This process can look like reclaiming/practicing your ancestral traditions, connecting with family, disengaging in media that promotes colonization, stopping appropriative behaviors, figuring out ways to exist outside of the capitalist system as much as possible, cooperating with others more, and paying reparations to indigenous peoples and following their leadership.

 

 

Racial Justice:

White supremacy was built into the fabric of the United States by the “founding fathers”, and it is reason the United States was able to become the empire it is today. Slave labor built this country, and the ongoing exploration or people of color’s labor and indigenous land makes the United States the super power it is today. Even though racial justice has been achieved on some levels, white supremacy is carried on through culture and policies, and it is used to divide people who actually have similar interests (for example, breaking people up within a class background based on race to inhibit class solidarity). We cannot make any systemic change without a commitment to stop white supremacy. 

 

 

Queer Liberation/Feminist action: 

Women and queers are the foundations of our communities and often provide crucial unpaid labor such as childcare, medicine making, farming, emotional labor, cooking, etc. Without queer people and women, our communities would fall apart. Many women and queers are also forced to contribute in the above ways, when they would rather be doing other work. Queer people and women also deal with violence, patriarchy and silencing on a daily basis, which prevents us from living full lives and being able to organize our communities in ways that feel good to us. 

At all meetings and workshops pronouns will be respected, bathrooms will become all gender if possible, cis-men will be encouraged to take on roles that typically fall to women and queers, and progressive stack will be used. Progressive stack is a practice in which facilitators keep track of who is speaking in the room, and if people of privilege are speaking too much, they are asked to hold their thoughts while people with less privilege are able to speak. 

 

 

Disability Justice:

If our movements are inaccessible, and if people with disabilities are not able to live full and healthy lives, we can not achieve collective liberation. Half of the people in the US killed by police are disabled, and one in five disabled people are living in poverty. Able bodied people have a long way to go to follow the leadership of people with disabilities.

At all meetings and workshops I will check in with your group to see if anyone has any accessibility needs, and to see if you have any system of checking in with workshop attendees about needs. I will always be honest about my capacity to meet needs, which I won’t be able to do all the time, but I will always try my best.

 

 

Anti-capitalism/Class Struggle:
Your group doesn’t have to nessicarily agree with anti-capitalism to work with me, but I want to be up front about my framework. I believe capitalism is an inherently flawed system and is at the root of much of the violence communities are facing from PoC communities, women and queers, disabled people, people in war zones, poor/working class people, etc., and the destruction of the planet. This analysis is centered in all the work I do. 

Class will always be discussed when appropriate, and I encourage groups to think about the class background of the people who make up their organization and how that may impact their organizing. 

 

 

Climate Justice:

The heart of climate justice is the understanding that the urgent action needed to prevent climate change must be based on community-led solutions and the well-being of local communities, Indigenous Peoples and the global poor, as well as biodiversity and intact ecosystems.

Climate justice is the understanding that we will not be able to stop climate change if we don’t change the neo-liberal, corporate-based economy which stops us from achieving sustainable societies. It is the understanding that corporate globalization must be stopped.

From Global Justice Ecology Project: https://globaljusticeecology.org/climate-justice/

Added by me: Climate Justice understands we must also dismantle white supremacy, patriarchy, ablism, and all forms of oppression to achieve climate justice. 

 

 

Just Transition:

A Just Transition is the idea that we need to transition our communities away from harmful ways of living while at the same time replacing them with healthy, viable options.