Relationship | the CENTER | February 2009
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Read this newsletter online: http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200902.html Download printable PDF version: http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200902.pdf
what's new
welcome
Making a Global Relationship
Happy first day of spring! During Imbolc, from the Celtic tradition, a
Shift
candle is lit to welcome spring. Of course, February is also the time for Valentine’s Day and Black History month, both of which give us a chance to look at our relationship to others—this month’s theme. Although
What do we need to do to make a global shift? In this short clip
relationship can connote intimacy, we tend to forget it is often about connection, good or bad. Our 3 new sections in this month’s newsletter feature having better relationships with ourselves in order to improve our
that; it comes down to the simple power of perspective
relationships with others. Maybe in addition to expressing our love this February we could begin to heal connections as well.
here.
CXC's Director addresses just and collective global relationship. Listen and watch
Watch YouTube clip on Separation Get the full Global Oneness Interview at no cost (shipping & handling charge only) About Center for Transformative Change Room Available at the Center
in TIME Valentine's Daylong Retreat & Practice Period: 27 Days of Change Join us for a powerful daylong retreat of meditation, yoga, dharma talk and community. Now available for FREE for
being all we can be inSIGHT with angel Kyodo williams On March 5th, oral arguments will be heard in the California Supreme Court to rescind Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment passed last November that restricts the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples and eliminated same-sex couples' right to marry. One of my "Friends" invited me to the "I'm still not sure marriage is the right goal" group on Facebook. For those of you that haven't had the increasingly guilty but nevertheless socially productive pleasure that is Facebook, it basically means you have the opportunity to express your alliances by joining groups ad nauseum, without actually having to do anything like show up at meetings, pay dues or
activists, allies & agents of social change. SAVE THE DATES: March 17 - April 12, Practice Period: 27 Days of Change, now includes a Visiting Resident Program. Valentine's Daylong: Wholeness through Relationship Practice Period: 27 Days of Change Schedule of upcoming events
in the CENTER Open House: Back by Popular Demand | Join Us Sunday March 1 You are invited to our first Open House of 2009. We are excited to share all of the NEW projects and programs we have for
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be responsible for the refreshments. It's perfect for this era of more
the year. Join us, bring a friend, and learn how you can
issues to be informed and care about than we have time to actually get involved in.
participate in taking the visions and practices of transformative social change out into the world. Here's a sample of what you'll learn about:
Years ago I appeared in OUT magazine with my then-partner in the first issue featuring gay marriage. The large-format polaroid chosen for what became a full page spread (!) captured us in an uncharacteristic
Read more...
juxtaposition of 'handsome dyke' looming over the obviously more feminine, slightly demure and arguably attractive 'lipstick lesbian.' Back then, someone still had to be the "boy" and someone had to be the "girl"
Sangha Gathering
in same-gendered couples for the world to relate.
Tools to Transform: A Report on the 2009 Annual
inner PRACTICE Can Meditation Change Your
Gay marriage had begun to take root as a more than just a fringe issue by then and was on the national radar. In '93, Bill Clinton flummoxed the
Brain?
gays in the military issue by settling for "Don't ask, don't tell." Since then, we've had an official policy of opting for not owning who you are so you can "be all that you can be." We institutionalized lack of wholeness, lack
When it comes to meditation
of integrity and disregard for basic dignity into the psyche of the people responsible for protecting our nation's safety.
there are a lot of skeptics. But scientists in Wisconsin have discovered that with the practice of meditation we might be able to learn to shift our behavior, changing both aggression and depression into compassion.
Need we wonder how we ended up with Abu Ghraib, watching American women give the "thumbs up" to flagrant disrespect of the religious beliefs of Muslim men? Six years into Iraq, we still self-righteously pretend the only reason we went in is because Bush lied. Sure he did. But it was the
Read more...
outer ACTION
lie we, the People: progressive and conservative; white and black; spiritual and secular; gay and straight, were willing to accept to give ourselves a false sense of security and superiority. If we just [insert
Integrating Somatics and Social
democracy here] the Iraqis will be all they can be, too. 'Cause surely they weren't enough before we got there.
We are constantly being shaped
Justice
by experience. The Somatics and Social Justice Collaborative
The proponents of Proposition 8 want to make sure that some people can't be whatever they want to be...not legally, anyway. The irony is that unlike many states, in California, anyone can marry whoever they
provides a way for people to transform those
want...that is, they can officiate. You just can't get married to who you want. Let's face it, this is solely a religious argument, period. From the civic view, there's nothing remotely constitutionally or morally sound
profound way to make change happen.
about denying one group, those who love the same gender, access to the rights, privileges and responsibilities that another group has always taken
experiences and find ways to strengthen both self and community. These two frameworks point to a new, Read more...
social CHANGE
for granted.
Thai Woman Activist Transforms from the Inside Out
Worse though, is suspending reason long enough to allow the latter group to be the one that decides. The NAACP has seen the specter of danger
Read about the inspiring journey
here and has sounded the alarm: we cannot allow simple majorities to revoke the rights of others through constitutional amendments, revisions or otherwise. These so-called "majorities" are often those that hold the
of Ouyporn Khuankaew, and the transformation of her and her work from the inside out.
majority of the privilege through oppression, money and abuse of power. What if men (the numeric minority but power majority) could go in a room and decide--by a simple majority that cancelled out the sane and fair-minded--what women could no longer have? Shoe industry beware: all those bare feet would tank your business, for sure.
Read more...
in the MIND Peace on the Street in Harlem
President Obama has gone on record saying that he opposes gay marriage, but admits this may be a wrong-headed view drawn from his own
In Spanish Harlem there’s an
religious beliefs. I'm suspicious of the idea that God whispers in anyone's ear and says "you are chosen to have something that other's aren't
Street that changes lives and
organization called Peace on the
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entitled to:" be that right to love or right to land. But since I've only been
minds. It’s a martial/meditation center. Most of the
trying to listen to God rather than talk, maybe She doesn't whisper back to me. So, I'm not one to question Obama's or anyone else's personal relationship with God...why don't we stop questioning anyone's personal,
young people who go there go in order to develop
mutually respectful, consenting relationship with anyone else?
techniques and find they’re useful in dealing with all
martial arts skills, but many come out having learned the value of engaging their minds through meditation aspects of their lives, including keeping their minds
I remember wondering back then why anyone would want to fight to get into the military to begin with... especially a military that didn't want them. It's a relationship to country that I've not yet had the privilege of understanding in my own heart. I understand loving my country...it's just that I can see a clear path to loving everyone else and their country, too. I guess I'm polyamorous in the biggest Way.
calm during encounters with the police. Read more...
"the best workshop i've ever taken. radically changed my work." fearless Meditation is our 3-part signature series that teaches practical meditation in a social justice context:
Negotiating relationships of any kind--with God, Country or Lover--is a tempermental and intensely personal affair. I admit I don't feel left out of those nasty divorces in which the state gets to have a say in who gets to keep everything from the cars to couches to kids.
fearless Meditation I: Fri Feb 6 | 7pm and every 1st Friday
in the BODY
Internally, life partnership means having someone that intentionally and willingly agrees to bear witness to your life. That's a significant promise...one that has the power to liberate us to truly be all we can be,
Somatics for Social Change
and to have who we are refelcted back to us. As far as I can tell, the value of having the challenges and triumphs of that witnessing validated can't be underestimated.
practice in order to do effective
It is essential to have a body work towards changing the world. The body is the vehicle through which we do our work, and by building
So, friends--Facebook and otherwise--I'm not sure marriage is the right goal either, but since I'm not getting married, I don't have to be. Isn't that the point?
relationship with the body... Read more... What is Somatics? Universal Form at MLK Park: Sun Feb 8 | 1pm and every 2nd Sunday
angel Kyodo williams, is founder of Transformative Change (formerly urbanPEACE). A social visionary and leading voice for transformative
wellness & well-being Smiling for Well-being
social change, she is the author of Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace. MTX: Mind Training & Xformation Blog
We are in the midst of some rough times and it is more
www.angelkyodowilliams.com
important than ever that we take
angel Kyodo williams next public talk, February 12, 2009 at: Center for Transformative Change.
care of ourselves so we can truly be available and present for the important work that needs to be done to usher in the much needed change
newDharma Talk The Path: Finding Your Own Way Home Each time we take up practice, we work to clear our view so that we can find our way back to who we are—to find our way home. In this newDharma Talk angel Kyodo williams points out the value of ordinary consistency as a way to find our way home and to support others in doing the same.
that is coming. Read More... Take care of yourself w/this nourishing recipe from Bryant Terry for Creole Hoppin' Jean Health Benefits of Smiling
february wallpaper
Listen to the newDharma Podcast here or
activists, allies & agents of change…
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Using Our Bodies to Change Our Minds Staci Haines has been doing somatic work for 16 years. Staci's workshops are diverse in scope and in attendance. They include 50% or more people of color as well as people from varying economic backgrounds. This April she will be working with several social justice leaders, movement builders (including CXC’s Director), folks from community based organizations and somatics innovators to explore how the integration between somatics and social justice could create a transformative approach to change. During our interview, she had intriguing information to share about the connection between our experiences, our minds and our bodies. To read more about the Somatics and Social Justice Collaborative take a look at our outer Action section. Find out more about the benefits of somatics in the in the Body section. CXC: Can you talk about the Somatics and Social Justice Collaborative? SH: The Somatics and Social Justice Collaborative is a national collaboration of folks; it brings spiritual practitioners and healing practitioners together to create a new social change model. It's a yearlong process. How we go about our social change work has everything to do with the outcomes that we achieve and if we're going about our social change work from pretty traumatized, oppressed, broken places, relationships, [and] organizations then we'll have a hard time achieving the kind of end that we want of liberation, equality, and sustainability. Read more... Learn more about www.somaticsandtrauma.org
This image was taken just outside of Lago Piuray near the village of Chinchero, Peru. Being just south of the equator, the seasons are in reverse from our own, so this winter moon was seen in mid-June. Read more and download this image as wallpaper with or without calendar for your desktop. Download with calendar... Download without calendar...
connect | share | support transform feedback editor@transformativechange.org Share your transformative story tell us how you're changing the WAY change is done. Registration and other questions 866.PEACE.2009 (toll free)
resources for change… This month we offer news anchor Keith Olbermann’s heartfelt comments on Prop 8 and a clip of the amusing Wombat from Global Mindshift. Keith Olbermann Speaks Out on Prop 8 Global Mindshift’s Wombat
register@transformativechange.org Forward this newsletter to a friend Please pass it on. Center for Transformative Change is the first national center entirely dedicated to bridging the inner and
quote of the month
outer lives of social change agents, activists and allies to support a more effective, more sustainable social
“You don’t define people based on the experiences that they have had in
justice movement. The Center is a project of
their lives, but you hold space for the possibility positive things [can] manifest in life. You create a sanctuary in the life of the human being and allow them to expose the gifts as well as the wounds that are in
urbanPEACE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational
their heart.” —Aqeela Sherrills,The Reverence Project
transformative social change movement.
organization whose mission is to inform, incite and empower a broad-based, presence-centered Donate to the Center to support our work. Visit the Center's website. Center for Transformative Change 2584 MLK Jr. Way Berkeley, CA 94704 · USA +1.510.549.3733 Google the Center.
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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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