discovering justice that comes from love | transform. | july 2010
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Read this version online: http://transformativechange.org/transform/journal/201007.html Download printable PDF version: http://transformativechange.org/transform/print/201007.pdf This month's transform.: http://transformativechange.org/transform/2010/07/
welcome
what's new
Traditionally, the July issue is transform's "Best Of" Issue because the core editorial staff takes a week to deepen our collective practice and learning about the connection between justice on the inside and justice on the outside in our annual "Inner Justice Intensive." This July is no different. Something powerful happens when we take time to reflect on moments in life where critical points of transformation and growth happened.
Framing Deep Change | NEW
We all know that being the change we want to see in the world takes deep reflection, constant nurturing and consistent action. Revisiting those events that left lasting impressions on the way we choose to see our world can give us strength in making it through the challenges that time presents to us. This isn't a dwelling on the past, but a recollection of the energy of moments which can fuel the momentum of our lives now. Allow these stories to help you in changing the world now.
Third Way Press, June 2010.
And because this issue follows the US Social Forum, we want to bring special attention to some initial reflections of some powerful work that happened there, including a mash-up video of People's Movement Assemblies and USSF Report: Doing and Defining Transformation. Finally, because it is timely, a tribute to Oscar Grant points the way to discovering justice for all . Just as we are grateful for our ancestors, let us be grateful to ourselves and to those that still exist. We grow from what has been into being what is NOW.
Publication CXC is both proud and excited to announce our first publication.
framing deep change: essays on transformative social change [ISBN:9780982884508. www.thirdwaypress.org] features seven powerful essays and articulations of transformative social change by leaders in this emerging field. A short compilation from some of the most committed and compelling thinkers, shapers and articulators of what we've come to call Transformative Social Change. Featuring essays by people that have featured in transform., including adrienne maree brown, Robert Gass, Staci Haines, Claudia Horwitz, Ng'ethe Maina, angel Kyodo williams and a joint piece from Movement Strategy Center. Read more... Read it online free @ xsochange library... Download your free copy or order print version
http://transformativechange.org/transform/journal/201007.html
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discovering justice that comes from love | transform. | july 2010
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in SIGHT USSF 50 Peoples' Movement Assemblies Video
and justice for all: discovering the justice that comes from love INcite with angel Kyodo williams [Adapted from a Public Talk recorded July 8, 2010 @ CXC.] Today the verdict for Oscar Grant came down. It was involuntary manslaughter. It was the first time I'd come across information that Johannes Mehserle (the former BART police officer who shot Grant) sobbed when he testified about realizing that he had his gun in his hand. Right away an image came to mind of how many people would think, "Oh, he just made that up." Or, "He put on a good act so he could get acquitted." A lot of people are, justifiably, very angry. It's the first time a police officer has been tried in over 30 years; there's a lot of frustration. And I'm sure there are a lot of people outside, and in this room, who think that involuntary manslaughter is not enough. And I'm sure there are people who believe he should be acquitted. We get very fixed ideas about how things ought to be and its really, really difficult for us to let things be as it is. I wonder if just for a moment, wherever you sit, you might just be with what it is. That it's not just "involuntary manslaughter…" but the loss of life. The loss of life and the pain, that even if it was Mehserle's intention, it must be his to bear. It's the pain that any of us must bear when we harm another. And then, the compounded pain of having to cover that up and get tight, to make ourselves believe it was justified. And then, carrying the pain and frustration of people—and peoples—burdened by a system that doesn't see them.
http://transformativechange.org/transform/journal/201007.html
No video? Click: http://www.youtube.com/watch ? v=3RpxZsty2SI
This video was featured on Saturday June 26, in Detroit, MI at the second US Social Forum. A mash up of the over 50 Peoples Movement Assemblies organized throughout the week, it's just a preview, and doesn't attempt to show all of the assemblies, but it's an inspiring glimpse into the powerful work that was happening all about. Each assembly will be online shortly for viewing. 50 Peoples' Movement Assemblies Video PMAs-Before, During, and After USSF Subscribe to CXC on YouTube
in TIME CXC: The Only Full Range of Practices Designed for Social Change Agents
SIT for Change | 3rd Annual Sit-a-Thon Monthly - newDharma Talk w/ angel Kyodo williams Morning Practice: Yoga and Meditation fearlessYoga Sundays Jo Kata: 31 Moves to Center - Wednesdays Community Thursdays Universal Form: Meditation in Action - Saturdays Drop-In Sitting and Public Garden CXC Practice Schedule
in the CENTER From Gaza to Berkeley At last officially through the political travel restrictions and Page 2 of 8
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political travel restrictions and
Is it just for this one person to carry the burden of those thousands upon thousands of people, with their justifiable anger and resentment? Is it just to rest it on the shoulders of one man? A man who had the wherewithal to sob? Maybe it's an act. But whether the sobs are real or not, you can't deny the suffering. In every direction, you can't deny the suffering. Because if we deny the suffering of others, we deny the suffering of our own hearts. And if we deny the suffering in our own hearts, we make believe that somehow there will be justice if one person bears the burden of a system that has been flawed for hundreds of years —hundreds. Since the birth of this country, it's been a flawed system. It's in the denial of our own suffering that we keep seeking these petty expressions of justice that don't speak to the root. That don't get at what's really wrong here: What is it that we're cutting off in our own lives? What is it that we're refusing to see? Who is it that we're refusing to see, to acknowledge the pain and the suffering of? What is it that gives rise to an entire society that can have this kind of act occur and split us into pieces? Not over how do we fix this system‌but over, "Is this guy going to get sent away to prison for life, or is he going to get acquitted?" He'll never go free; I should say that. No matter what, he'll never go free. Even if he walks out of the court with no time served, he'll never really go free.
on world tour, Gazan hip hop group DARG Team performs at MLK Civic Center Park in downtown Berkeley at SIT for Change on September 18, 2010, the national day of transmormative change! Read more... Take a Stand...SIT for Change | Saturday, September 18, 2010 Join the movement for Transformative Social Change. On Saturday, September 18, 2010, celebrate the National Day for Transformative Change. People, communities, and organizations across the country join together to Take a Stand...and Sit for Change by participating in events featuring various forms of transformative practice. Read more...
from the FIELD Report Back from USSF | Practice Every Moment and A Movement Defined
Thousands of activists from all over the nation gathered in Detroit last month for the US Social Forum. The 5 day gathering was jam-packed full of workshops, people's movement assemblies, direct actions, plenaries,
What is it that we have to see? What do we have to deconstruct? What are we holding onto that it's time to dismantle in our own hearts so that we can create more space for real justice? This is justice that arises, not out of a sense of punishment, but out of a sense of love, justice that serves and embodies love. Not justice that is confused and mistaken for punishment.
performances, cultural events, healing events, and more. Ai-Jen Poo shares her views on transformative organizing, social justice movement work, collaborative dialogues, and important organizing principles and political lessons learned from over 15 years doing
Responsibility and Accountability And that's not to say that people shouldn't be held accountable, because absolutely people should be held accountable. We have social and legal agreements that say folks under 18 can't be held accountable until we classify them as adults. Why is that? How do we make this distinction that if you're under 18 you can't be held accountable for your actions? Because they don't know enough yet. They are not equipped to make decisions in such a way that they're able to be responsible, therefore they can't be held accountable. We have a society that doesn't let people grow up in a way that lets them be responsible. We haven't taught people to be responsible. So we can't really hold people accountable until we take the responsibility as a society to teach people how to be responsible. And no one can be http://transformativechange.org/transform/journal/201007.html
organizing work. This interview was reprinted from the
Organizing Upgrade website. Read more...
inner PRACTICE How Much Time Do We Practice Suffering? Inner awareness practitioners often complain about not having enough time to practice -- for example, sitting meditation, or yoga, etc. But aren't we always practicing? Read more...
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discovering justice that comes from love | transform. | july 2010
responsible, if they can't love. And they can't be responsible for loving others if they can't be responsible for loving themselves. If you can't love yourself, you cannot know how to love others. And if you don't know how to love others—I'm not talking about romantic love, but agape love…Universal Love. I'm not even talking about filial love, but the love that arises out of compassion. Compassion precedes that love. The love that arises out compassion arises out of recognition. If you cannot recognize—if you cannot see—you cannot love. If you can't see people, you cannot love them. If you can't see them for who they are and what they are and where they are in all their differences, not their sameness…in all their differences. That's where it gets ugly: when people are different and you can't make sense of them easily. If you can't see people for their differences, and appreciate their differences— not like them…I'm not talking about like them—who cares about that? I'm talking about love, the magnetic energy that is a vibration of your cells in relationship to other living cells. If you can't see people's differences, if you can't see people for who they are, you cannot love them. And the main reason most of us cannot see others is because we can't see ourselves…we won't see ourselves.
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outer ACTION Communication as Foundation | The Relationship Between Nonviolent Communication & Transformation It is widely accepted that communication is one of the most important factors in a relationship. How we communicate with others and the quality of the way we interact is a mirror of how we commune with and regard ourselves. Relationship, a sense of belonging, and connection are universal human yearnings. The new year is a perfect time to look at the ways in which we communicate, especially if we resolve ourselves towards deep change. Read more... Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg
social CHANGE
It's hard to hold the whole truth of who we are. It's hard. But if you
What's Behind the
don't want to hold the truth of who you for yourself, do it for us. Do it for us, because we need every single one of you. I need you to see me
Boycott?
Whole Foods Can social change
for who I am, and I know you can't do that if you cannot see yourself. I need to be able to hold you accountable for how you show up. But I
actions be deeply radical - meaning
can't do that if you're not responsible for yourself, because you don't even know who you are.
[artwork: Zochi Alonzo Young]
When we don't reconcile the challenge of meeting ourselves, we
only tear down what we don't like and still work? Read
look for false justice. We punish rather than hold accountable. We seek retribution rather than resolution. We try to get our broken
boycott?" from September 2009 issue to recall a
going to the root helping create the world we want to see, rather than this reprint of "What's behind the Whole Foods
hearts met by breaking everything around us in equal measure.
revolutionary way to do direct action.
And when we find that our hearts are not met, we try to break more. It's an unstoppable cycle of violence and trauma and pain and suffering,
in the MIND
and it all begins with our refusal to see ourselves.
Read more...
Making Connections | Statewide Parent Network
There are a lot of dark and unexamined places that our culture teaches us we can buy our way away from, that we can consume our way to the
In recent years, many social change activists have been
land of bliss and happiness never to meet the "me" again. If you just consume enough, you'll eat the pain away. How's that working for you? The thing about our pain and our suffering is this: until it is met and seen for what it is, it doesn't go anywhere. It's like the dark places in your refrigerator, things hidden in little containers that you refuse to open, because you don't quite remember when it got there. So instead of facing the smelly tempeh that might be in there, you eventually run into an infestation of things that can kill you, because you didn't want
http://transformativechange.org/transform/journal/201007.html
exposed to principles, tools and practices loosely referred to as "transformational." Numbers of trainers, facilitators, consultants, coaches and other intermediaries use the word in their work, and there is a growing field of "social transformation." This term and field actually encompass a wide range of approaches, and there is as yet no agreement about what is and what is not "transformation." Page 4 of 8
discovering justice that comes from love | transform. | july 2010
to deal with it when it was just plain stinky. That's really how it is. In fact, in my experience, things are never as bad as the idea you create of them. Somehow, when we get caught in our stuck ideas about ourselves, we create better images of who we are, and we believe worse images of who we actually are. So we create fantasies and we believe fiction. Neither of these things abide in truth. So that you don't leave thinking that I'm all doom and gloom, I'll give you some homework. Take it home with you, but start it right now: Think about one person or situation that you're not allowing yourself to see because to see that will mean that you have to see yourself. And take the first step to opening your eyes. Just one little step. Don't try to fix it all at once, but take the first step to truly seeing.
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"transformation." Read more Statewide Parent Network of New Jersey stone circles Seasons Fund of Social Transformation fearless Meditation is a 3-part signature series that teaches practical meditation within a social justice framework. It's offered for no charge for agents of social change.
"the best workshop i've ever taken. radically changed my work." fearless Meditation I: Aug 6, 2010 & every 1st Friday | 7pm
in the BODY Twelve Months of Fearless
Start the movement toward dismantling punitive justice and discovering the justice that comes from love. Only from here can we
Asana | Matsyasana
Matsayasana or the "Fish Pose" is
hope for a society both mature and compassionate enough to manifest responsibility, accountability and justice for all. —yours in truth, aKw
one of the lesser known but most powerful of asanas in the Warrior Series. It's most beneficial feature is that it restores elasticity in the spine unlike any other posture by completely reversing the way we usually collapse our neck, shoulders and back, increasing mobility and flexibility while opening our lungs...and out hearts. Read more...
dedicated to everyone that loves and would have loved Oscar Grant. and to Johannes Mesherle, in the name of justice, in the name of love.
wellness & being well Lighten up and Enjoy All that
angel Kyodo williams, is founder of urbanPEACE and it's Center for Transformative Change. Happily, she is no longer its director,
You Are Now
but the official Intellectual Guru Emeritus. A social visionary and leading voice for transformative social change, she is the author of
time to Share your gifts and see
Summer is back. Wake up! Its the blooming of "Seeds of
Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace.
Wisdom" planted during the spring. As you externalize and express what you've
Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart
learned, Lighten up and Enjoy All that You Are Now. It's
Facebook: Like angel here
time to celebrate how far you've come!
Twitter: Follow angel for tweets of wisdom on Change
Read more...
Web: http://about.angelkyodowilliams.com angel Kyodo williams' next public talk: Thursday, September 16th @ CXC
july wallpaper
newDharma Talk NewDharma Talk | Atonement During retreats and ceremony at the Center participants read the Verse of Atonement. This last http://transformativechange.org/transform/journal/201007.html
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Inner Justice Intensive (IJI) was no different. This verse helps us reflect on all of who we have been so that we can completely accept all of who we are.
mahattat
This particular talk gives us a chance to consider what it might mean to absorb all parts of ourselves, the ugly, the pretty, the humble and
Train stations, the grand kind, have long been symbolic
the forceful.
They possess both the hope and melancholy that
of journeys, of coming and going and stopping places. underlies our tireless wandering. Mahattat Ramses in
Verse of Atonement
Cairo is no different. Mahattat means literally "stopping places" or stations. Board the overnight train to
All separation ever committed by me
transport yourself to places possessing histories far beyond most of our imaginations where empires have
On account of my beginningless greed, anger, and ignorance,
risen and fallen and still the people live—and travel— on.
Born of my body, speech and mind,
photo copyright 2010. angel Kyodo williams
I now atone for it all.
Download this image as wallpaper with or without calendar for your desktop. Download with calendar...
"We don't want want to cling to the past and drag it with us, but we do want to learn to trust it. We do want to learn from what has already happened. And the only way we can learn from it is if we be one with it and say, "And now I atone for it all.' If I'm "at one" with it now, there's no need to have this sense of something that's dragging behind. It just becomes part of the fullness of who we are." Listen to Atonement Download text of Atonement
Download without calendar...
connect | subscribe | share Connect facebook
YouTube
Subscribe get your own monthly issues of transform. Forward send this issue via email to a friend now
activists, allies & agents of change Grace Lee Boggs | The Answers are Coming from the Bottom A reprint of Democracy Now!'s June 2010 interview with Grace Lee Boggs, "a Detroit-based radical organizer and philosopher. Born to Chinese immigrant parents in 1915, Grace Lee Boggs has been involved with the civil rights, Black Power, labor, environmental justice, and feminist movements over the past seven decades. Along with her late husband Jimmy Boggs, Grace has been at the forefront of efforts to rebuild urban communities."
Feedback editor@transformativechange.org Contribute how are you changing the WAY change is done? Registration and other questions 888.XSOCHANGE (toll free) register@transformativechange.org Center for Transformative Change
Read more... Boggs Center Americans Who Tell The Truth Democracy Now! video interview
2584 MLK Jr. Way Berkeley, CA 94704 · USA +1.510.549.3733 Google the Center
resources for transformative change… Here are some of our 'best of' resources from the past year. Watch brain scientist, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's fascinating TED talk on surviving a stroke. She reminds us of our interconnectedness and how human beings http://transformativechange.org/transform/journal/201007.html
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discovering justice that comes from love | transform. | july 2010
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have the powerful gift of choice to embody that connection. Learn more about street retreats, as a powerful practice of bearing witness. Download your free copy of "The Love That Does Justice | Spiritual Activism in Dialogue with Social Science," 42 essays by activists edited by Michael A. Edwards and Stephen G. Post. And as a tribute to the People's Movement Assembly work done at the 2010 USSF, we've also included the new entry on Transformative Social Change that now appears in the venerable Wikipedia. TED (Technology, Education, Design) Talk | Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor What is a street retreat? The Love That Does Justice | Spiritual Activism in Dialogue with Social Science Transformative Social Change
quote of the month "With the awareness that comes from being in relationship to one's inner life, we can sow the field in which our motivations grow, so that our good intentions for true justice will seed more solutions, rather than aggression; deeper connection, rather than separation; sustainability, rather than burnout. " —angel Kyodo williams, CXC Founder Learn more...
support deep change transform. is published by the Center for Transformative Change (CXC) CXC is the first national center entirely dedicated to bridging the inner and outer lives of social change agents, activists and allies to support a more effective, more sustainable social justice movement. We name, frame and advance Transformative Social Change by both developing practices and programs for agents of social change and working in collaboration with leading organizations to help shape this emerging movement. Most importantly, CXC reflects the field and the movement back to itself by publishing the transform. blog and monthly journal, thus strengthening our collective identity, community, and shared vision. This long-term vision for shifting the paradigm of work for justice, changing the WAY change is done, will fundamentally alter broadbased social change at its very core--from inner to outer--resulting in a more just, equitable society for all. Great vision takes great action and our work is not possible without the generous support and partnership of individuals like you. The publication of transform. is made possible by your direct contribution. No amount is too small‌so make your contribution to deep change today.
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discovering justice that comes from love | transform. | july 2010
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Donate to CXC Visit the Center's website What is Transformative Change? Find out HERE
Center for Transformative Change is a project of urbanPEACE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization whose mission to inform, incite and empower a broad-based, presence-centered, transformative social change movement.
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