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Read this newsletter online: http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200905.html Download printable PDF version: http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200905.pdf
what's new
welcome Think globally, act locally. Activist Patrick Geddes came up with that slogan more than 100 years ago. A few years back it was very popular, which may say a lot about where weíve been and where weíre going. Either way, these days weíve got plenty of motivation to improve locally AND globally. That happens through community which is about giving what we can in the effort to make things better for everyone ó sometimes that effort includes money, but these days mostly its time, resources, ideas, skills, and elbow grease. If youíre in doubt about that ask all the laborers out there who celebrated May Day on the first about the determination (and success!) of the underdog. Or ask a Mom (happy motherís day). Until fairly recently most kids were raised by family and community. Within community we have an opportunity to see people minus labels and make vital connections we otherwise mightíve missed.
Ballad of the Big-Hearted Cafe All around the country and in spots around the world there are donation-based restaurants popping up. We discovered one in Ohio, a handful in California (Long Beach, Orange County, Berkeley), and others in Denver, Vienna, Montereal and Melbourne. The longest running, Denver's SAME cafe, has been around for nearly three years. Read more The Generosity of the SAME Cafe
in SIGHT The Meaning of Ubuntu In the spirit of community and connection take a look at this Global Oneness clip as South African Deputy Minister of Health Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge talks about "ubuntu" a Bantu word that is about sharing in a way that encourages folks to see themselves in other people. Watch YouTube video
in TIME
this is our time:
Registration Opens for the Inner
will the real american idols step forward?
Justice Intensive
INcite with angel Kyodo williams
May 24 | Transformative Change: Open House & Brunch
It's our time.
You are invited! Come hear and discuss our NEW
Though it may seem hard to discern through the economic debris that is still falling, that so many of us are picking through the pieces of, this is our time. For far too long we have labored for justice and lurched towards change with far too little
programs developed to support changemakers build a more effective, sustainable, social justice movement. Register Today: June 20 to June 27 | Prep on June 19 | 4th Annual Inner Justice Intensive Week-long Meditation, Yoga, Breath and Study Intensive for agents of social change. Transformative Change: Open House & Brunch | May
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resources, too little cohesion, too few wins too far and few between. But labor we had to—making do with what we had, holding it together best we could, savoring the wins and weathering the losses—thus lurch we did and change we made. A Black Organizer is in the White House. Justice is getting off the bench
24 4th Annual Inner Justice Intensive | June 20 - 27 | Prep June 19
in the CENTER
and in the Game.
fearless Meditation Instructor Training: Built for Justice
It's our time. We're offering a new program,
The era of the lowly grunt that toils for justice being the underappreciated, underpaid underdog is officially overrated. We are now the wunderkinds that can capture the imagination of our nation with our unwavering committment to Hope, resounding call for Freedom and heart-stopping effort to reveal Truth, Justice and a truly New American Way. It's Easy as ABC: rooted by Awareness, grounded in Balance, acting from Center.
the first ever Certification Training Course to instruct meditation—fearlessMeditation— our widely acclaimed workshop, nationwide. fearless Meditation is an in-depth introduction to nonsectarian, universal meditation and it is the only meditation program delivered in a social justice framework. We are choosing to present meditation in a
We, the willing practitioners of a transformative social change, are the
social justice framework rather than a religious,
only ones who can shift the paradigm. We are the moral & inspirational frontline of America. Like no other movement before us, we span the
spiritual or even medical framework...
globe, defy description and transcend all boundaries: some of us wealthy in cash, some in culture, we are cross-class and transgendered, Caucasian and Cablinasian, neo-social and hyper-spiritual, we bow at the altar of
Read more...
inner PRACTICE
Authenticity. Our movement has been moved by door-knockers and dreamers, academics and activists, poets and pundits, writers and rappers, EDs and PhDs: we are all One. We've been a Tribe with a Quest
Practicing Our Egos Off in
to self-liberate even the antidote of what ails us, because complete freedom is the only freedom that matters.
who we prefer to have in our
Community I know we all have ideas about communities: no slackers, no gossips, nobody who thinks too
It's our time.
much of themselves. And by communities, I mean families, households, neighborhoods, any close knit
Auditions are over. We're front and center stage. We must stand up and stand out. We need to take our rightful place as the Real American Idols:
group of people. Generally, we have utopian fantasy
the exemplars of excellence that know there is no justice if justice isn't for all.
mostly gets along, everybody pulls together in a crisis,
versions of what community should be like, everyone no one feels left out. Read more...
We'll create a Mad World in which Adam can take home the prize AND Steve for a Union in any State of his choosing because there's a Whole Lotta Love and this town is big enough for all of it. Our children will want to grow up to be aligned agents of change, not morally bankrupt bankers,
outer ACTION SJL: Not Your MamaÃs Social
broken-down mortgage brokers or exposed wizards of wall street caught with their hands on the levers of peoples' lives. While they all lined their
Change Organization Social Justice Leadership (SJL)
pockets with peoples' pain, We lay the path for possibility and prosperity. We... are...the...champions. It is our time. We'll lift every voice to sing. We'll dance with whole body, mind and spirt. We'll shine from the inside, radiating self-awareness, self-care and self-love. The crowds will go wild. Sitting on the edges of their seats, they'll cheer us on, spellbound by the marriage of head and heart, fierce committment to humanity and strength of humility that wins where it matters, even when the scoreboard says otherwise.
does change differently. Not only does it work on training folks to combine "reflective practice" with "values driven leadership" the staff at SJL follows the model it supports. Rare though this is, theyÌre trying to make sure that more and more organizations get on board with the idea. Transformative Organizing Initiative (TOI) one of their newest programs, works at getting organizations to see the potential they have and where they can improve. Read more... TOI: Making Change Different
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They'll tweet, twitter, digg, fan and follow the triple-threat talent that steals the show every time:
social CHANGE Building Self-Sustaining Communities from the Inside
— Our courage to take on Responsibility for the work that needs to be done.
Out
— Our conviction to be Accountable to our co-workers, communities, and most of all, ourselves.
There are a lot of organizations and individuals using various
— Our clarity of Purpose that is the container of our intention and the vision for our success. This Radical Relationship to self, other and the Mother is ecological,
strategies focused on strengthening their communities
evolutionary and embodied.
interdependence, localism, conservation, permaculture,
because of the current economic situation. These strategies have much in common: self-reliance, alternative energy resources and even alternative local
This is our time.
currencies. But are these methods, visonary as they are, enough on their own to preserve and more importantly,
Well-coiffed and, dare I say, well-dressed, we ARE the bling, we are the Rock Stars, the Sexy Mothers and Mutha...(you get the drift), and Mike
truly transform the human presence on the planet to a
wants to be like Us.
Earth?
more sustainable, balanced existence with all life on Read more...
When the viewers telly and the texts are tallied, we'll be judged by true measures of greatness: how skillfully we exhibit grace under pressure, wield power with precision and receive feedback—even when it seems negative and harsh—with aplomb. Simon says: take what's yours and release the rest. . And when small wins elude us (as they will) we'll flash our pearly whites and see only the opportunity to learn from our missteps, sharpen our
Do Worry. Be Happy.: Get in fighting shape for the coming storms--psychologically, economically, and environmentally
in the MIND Make Me One with Everything
skills and deepen our practice. We'll accept defeat gracefully as we prepare for the next round with abiding love in our hearts, joy in our
Okay, are you ready for this? I
spirits, compassion for others and equanimity in the face of it all.
know the difference between me
can prove that our brains donÌt and you. WeÌre one. We've all
Because we know that when met in this way, two steps back can propel us a giant leap forward, we know Victory is ours because justice has ALWAYS been on our side, and finally, we need only make it so now, now,
heard this before, so often that many of us wonder if
now...
already believes in oneness and compassion. Ancient
itÌs possible. But science, a few years back, discovered its trueÛreally! ThereÌs something in our heads that wisdom triumphs once again.
NOW is our time.
Read more... How Mirror Neurons Work
"the best workshop i've ever taken. radically changed my work." fearless Meditation is our 3-part signature series that
angel Kyodo williams, is founder of Transformative Change. A social visionary and leading voice for transformative social change, she is the author of Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace. Want to read other essays or just keep up with angel? Be sure to read her blogs, join her fan page in Facebook or follow her on Twitter. Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart
teaches practical meditation in a social justice context is offered for no charge for agents of social change: fearless Meditation I: Fri May 1 | 7pm & every 1st Friday fearless Meditation II: practice of the breath | Fri May 22
in the BODY Open Your Heart
Facebook: Fan angel here
In last month's feature article,
Twitter: Follow angel for tweets of wisdom on Change
angel Kyodo williams urged: Save
Web: www.angelkyodowilliams.com
your heart, save the world. Step one to saving your heart is
angel Kyodo williams' next public talk: Thursday | May 14 | 7:20pm @ Center for Transformative Change
learning how to open it — gently and slowly. Explore Cobra Posture and its heart opening affects:
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newDharma Talk Warrior-Spirit Talk "...our verve, our will to live, our essential expression of our humanity is sparked, fed, fueled, engaged, drawn forth, inspired, breathed into and even, even
Check out donation-based, community-minded Yoga to the People
wellness & being well Stone Soup for Social Change
for a fleeting moment, fulfilled by these little signs of life, by these little bits of hope that spring up. And it tells us — that feeling that we have when we have that sense of
In the current time of economic
inspiration — tells us this is what our life is. Our life is to lean in full-hearted with utter commitment in the overwhelming bed of
organizations losing funding,
rockiness, weeds, poisons, dryness, just-don't-careness that plagues all of our lives' gardens." Listen Warrior-Spirit Talk
instability--folks losing jobs, and a ubiquitous feeling of there not being a lot of resources to go around--it seems useful to recall the story of Stone Soup: Read More... Check out this award winning recipe for Stone Soup In the spirit of co-operating, find a food co-op near
activists, allies & agents of change
you
A Quest Called Truth
may wallpaper "If now is not a good time for the truth, I don't see when we'll get to it." - Nikki Giovanni Ng'ethe Maina worked for AGENDA, a grassroots
community-based organization in Los Angeles, from its inception in early 1993, helping to develop it into a leading voice for poor people in struggles for social and economic justice. As a Senior Organizer with AGENDA he helped lead successful economic justice campaigns to win jobs and training for poor people. In the fall of 2003, NgÌethe moved to New York City, where he became the Training Director for New York Jobs with Justice, and launched the Social Justice Leadership Collaborative with Simon Greer. He is currently the Executive Director of SJL. Ng'ethe brings to this position more than a decade of social justice organizing, and several years of transformative organizational change work. He is has participated in extensive leadership trainings with the Rockwood Leadership Program, and completed an executive coaching program with the Strozzi Institute. Read more... Learn more about www.sojustlead.org
resources for change…
High in the mountains of Peru, life is still simple, immediate, rooted in meaning... 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
Part of being in community is about giving and receiving. In an effort to help communities thrive all kinds of things are happening around the country that show that: free clinics, food co-ops, neighborhood gardens,
Share your transformative story
and so on. Here's a clip about a post-Katrina clinic in New Orleans and a Web site link for a California food co-op that show how giving and
Subscribe
receiving go hand-in-hand. New Orleans Since Katrina A California Food Co-Op
how are you changing the WAY change is done
get your own monthly issues of transform. Forward send this issue via email to a friend now Tell-All-Your-Friends
quote of the month “We're not thinking of revolution anymore as violence. We're thinking of revolution as a power of agreement, people can one day say, 'This is what we prefer to have.' And they create that.” —Orland Bishop, Shade Tree Foundation
Registration and other questions 888.XSOCHANGE (new number! toll free) register@transformativechange.org Center for Transformative Change is the first national
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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. Donate to the Center to support our work Visit the Center's website Center for Transformative Change 2584 MLK Jr. Way Berkeley, CA 94704 路 USA +1.510.549.3733 Google the Center
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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