7 Notes

i By 2016, geologists concurred that the planet had entered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, so named in reference to the profound geological changes induced by human beings. More recently, environmental historians have begun to refer to the current era of planetary crises as the “Capitalocene,” in reference to the profound social and ecological crises arising from the emergence of capitalism as a system of power relations focused on ‘discovering’ and appropriating ‘nature’ for use by elite power brokers (Altvater et al., 2016; Moore, 2017). This naming is more helpful in identifying root causes of current planetary crises, while also acknowledging that human beings can – and have – had reciprocal relationships with the living systems of which we are part. ii Suarez’s (2018) theories pertaining to practices of mindful-awareness supporting the exercise of liberatory power resonate with the concept of “decolonial love” that Harjo (2019) credits to Leanne Simpson and introduces as part of her theory of radical sovereignty. Both emphasize grounding oneself in expanded awareness and exercising the power to disrupt internal and external narratives of oppression and co-create liberating storylines in community. iii We introduce “promise mapping” as a concept that builds off of a “promise inventory” practice developed by Meaghan McSorley in collaboration with the Harambee House in Savannah, Georgia (McSorley et al., 2021) iv https://valverde-movement-project-dugis.hub.arcgis.com/ v VMP was supported by NSF under the award #2043330, a four-month planning grant allocated in spring 2021. vi “Valverde’s Present” story map: https://valverde-movement-project-dugis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/valverdespresent vii The current version of the map is based on organizational membership. Ideally, future kinship maps would include individual community members and all their internal and external connections, e.g. to show bonding, bridging, and linking social capital.

viii This was particularly helpful when, in the course of everyday logistics planning, conflicts surfaced about ideal actions in messy contexts with wicked problems. For example, when planning VMF, a community leader raised a concern about an upswing in gang violence in the neighborhood and the potential of an acute threat at the event. A district officer from the police department attends neighborhood meetings to provide reports on crime, and the community leader wondered if the officer could help address this concern. A research team member named a concern about whether police presence would support safety, or if it would make people feel unsafe, or even invite problems. VMP’s theoretical approach, rooted in intersectionality, has been influenced by abolitionist theory on crime reduction through community-building and investment. For those of us working to abolish prisons and a police state, the thought of inviting police presence to the event was deeply problematic – not only on principle, but also out of compassion for community members who may not feel safe around police officers. For community members committed to community-building, while living with the realities of neighborhood shootings and threats of violence, inviting a well-known district officer to participate un-uniformed felt like a reasonable way to manage risk. A perfect solution did not exist. Practicing compassion – for ourselves, our team members, diverse community members, gang members, and police officers – we created more spaciousness for dialogue, discernment and intentional action. The result was a choice we were willing to go with, along with side benefits of increased mutual understanding and trust to be invested in future work. Without compassion, we also would have ended up with a decision, but likely at the expense of trust and social capital. At the event, we learned that the threat of violence related to gang and criminal activity is a significant and exceptionally complex barrier to mobility justice in Valverde. ix Precedents include National Science Foundation support of applied, transdisciplinary sustainability research networks with increasing emphasis on community engagement (e.g., https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505707)