Archives
August 12, 2014
In my early days many of my friends called me too serious because of comments I would make about the racism and sexism in a Disney film or the rampant misogyny and conspicuous consumption in popular music. My kids still think so. But having come to see systems of oppression, it’s hard for me to “un-see” them when I turn to entertainment. Spoken word poet Madiha Bhatti puts out a powerful message. Much better to listen to the whole thing, but check out the refrain to whet your appetite!
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August 11, 2014
Photo by Synopia
A number of readings I’ve come across lately reference the important consideration of organizational structure and how it encourages or discourages collaboration. In a post from last week, I highlighted the book Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux, which focuses on “evolutionary (Teal) organizations” that embrace an ethic of self-organization to facilitate more purpose-driven, holistic and responsible engagement on the part of organizational members. In order to encourage self-organization and intrinsic motivation, these entities adopt less formally hierarchical and fixed-role structures in favor of fluidity and networked leadership. According to Laloux, this brings more timeliness and relevance to the inner workings and responsiveness of these organizations. Read More
August 1, 2014
University of California researcher, Paul Piff, and his colleagues have been studying privilege.
In one study, they set up a rigged game of monopoly. The players who had been randomly assigned to get more money and other advantages began to demonstrate some disturbing differences from the other players. They began to move their pieces around the board more loudly, displayed “signs of dominance and nonverbal displays of power and celebration,” ate more pretzels, and came “ruder, less and less sensitive to the plight of the poor players, and more likely to showcase how well they were doing.” After the game, the rich players attributed their success to their skills and strategy, not the systematic advantages they had over the other player, even though they knew the advantages were real and were randomly assigned.
In a rigged game of Monopoly, denial of unearned privilege has few consequences, but what about in the rigged game called life?
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July 30, 2014
“Re-examine all that you have been told . . . dismiss that which insults your soul.”
– Walt Whitman
Developmental theory is the source of some good healthy discussion within the Interaction Institute for Social Change. On the one hand, some point out that the notion of “stages of development” has been used to classify and oppress people, especially when theories come from privileged and powerful purveyors, are overly deterministic and linear, and do not account for cultural location and variation. On the other hand, some point to the “empowering” notion of evolution and development that can help liberate people from fixed and mechanistic views of the world and humanity. I had this all very much in mind as I read Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux. Laloux brings developmental and so-called “integral theory,” including the work of Ken Wilber, into the palpable realm of organizational practice and through his research, posits an evolutionary trajectory from aggressive (Red) to bureaucratic (Amber) to achievement-oriented (Orange) to culture/empowerment-oriented (Green) to self-actualizing/authentic (Teal) organizations.
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July 29, 2014
Last year, in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing, I was facilitating a group of students and faculty at MIT reflecting on the impact and meaning of the bombing. The participants ranged from people who had been at the marathon site to those who witnessed it on TV. All experienced the lock down that occurred in Cambridge and felt the impact of the death of eight-year-old Martin William Richard, and many of them shared something deeper, the trauma of being an unwilling victim and sometimes perpetrator of planned, unexpected, unwarranted or thoughtless violence. From a former Israeli solider, who asked “do I kill these 4 men in my line of sight because of the threat they may pose?” to a woman who survived a brutal rape, the bombing made visible the deep trauma so many people live with from day to day.
But something remarkable happened that evening. As we sat in circle listening to each story a young veteran spoke up about his experience with violence in the streets of LA and the deserts of Iraq. He spoke with a deep passion that disrupted the quiet reflection of the group. “We can’t just sit around and talk about this. If things are going to change we have to shift something fundamental in ourselves in order to stop the massive violence in our world.” He continued, “For me it is the following commitment I have made to myself and that I tell each person I am engaged with I Will Not Harm Your Children.” Then he stopped.
His words rang true to all of us sitting in the room that night. From that meeting a commitment statement was drafted, that if we were each brave enough to accept and live by, would change the world.
I will not harm your children. I commit to live by this statement. I will do this by asking the following question before I act in the world: Will my action, policy, investment, statement harm children? If that is a possibility, I will find a way to change what I am about to do so that I do not harm a child.
Perhaps it is too simple. Yet I believe the simplicity is what makes it so powerful. Those who want to build a more just world are often hampered by competing visions of what framing should lead. Is it race, economic solidarity, workers rights, women’s rights? Each of these are important to know and understand. But none of them alone provide a guidepost that can help us act collectively across these differences. If we would allow ourselves to honestly commit to saying to those who we are about to engage with “I will not harm your children,” and commit to examining our actions for any possible harm that might occur, we could make a difference.
But for it to work we have to be honest about the multitude of ways in which we can harm children. Some harms are self-evident, like the over 100 children killed and scores injured or left without parents as a result of the bombing of Gaza, or the kidnapping of 200 young girls by Boko Haram, or the 11 year-old killed in a drive by shooting in Chicago, and the mass murder of 20 children in Newtown, CT and the 15 children killed in the Oklahoma bombing.
Each of us probably has our own list of the self-evident harms done to children. But some harms are not as self-evident, though just as wrong. Everyday 25,000 girls are forced to marry, 250 million of the worlds primary school children are not able to read, 16 million children in US live below the poverty line, and before the age of 18 the typical US child will be shown over 16,000 murders on television.
There are many ways we harm children in this world. We can best change that by what each of us chooses to do. So today as you go about your life, ask yourself: Will my action, policy, investment, statement, harm children? If that is a possibility, agree to find a way you can change what you are about to do so that you do not harm a child.
July 29, 2014
I just facilitated the 6th Creative Change Retreat at the Sundance Institute in Utah. The amazing experience leaves me grateful to my friends at the Opportunity Agenda for trusting me with the design and facilitation of such a significant convening.
Today more than ever I am convinced that the change we want to see in the world is a change that demands the evolution of consciousness and culture. As the artist and the activist come together – as they become one – we will be able to join into a different kind of intervention.
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July 24, 2014
The following article appeared in an email newsletter from the Vermont Farm to Plate Network (VTF2P) one of IISC’s clients in network and collaborative capacity building. The author is Beth Cullen, co-chair of the Farm to Plate Consumer Education & Marketing Working Group and owner of Root Consulting, who attended the New England Food Summit that Cynthia Parker and I helped to design and facilitate. It is great to see the power of that two day convening and conversation continuing to ripple out into the region. VTF2P plans on integrating the conversation about equity into their upcoming October convening . . .
New England Food Summit targets social justice to drive change in the food system
The 4th Annual New England Food Summit, organized by Food Solutions New England, convened over 110 delegates in June to discuss racial equity and food justice in the region. Summit organizers unveiled the New England Food Vision, a regional aspiration to locally produce at least of 50 percent of the fresh, fair, just, and accessible food consumed by New Englanders by 2060.
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July 23, 2014
There is growing awareness that current organizational structures can breed irresponsibility. That is, arrangements are created where people are less able to be responsive in helpful ways. This happens, for example, when accountability is bottlenecked in hierarchies and decision-making is distanced from where the action is most timely and relevant. Read More
July 22, 2014
I recently read an opinion piece that seems to validate the work we have been doing for the last number of years. In “The end of genius” Joshua Wolf Shenk successfully argues that “the lone genius is a myth that has outlived its usefulness. Fortunately, a more truthful model is emerging: the creative network.”
THIS! My friends, is what we have been working on.
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July 18, 2014
We partnered with a foundation as they built a network of leaders who shared a deep passion for their city. In the beginning, many of the leaders wanted to do something together quickly. We encouraged them to pause, build deeper relationships, and see what emerged. Read More
July 17, 2014
The following article appeared last month in the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG) newsletter. NESAWG is a 12-state network of over 500 participating organizations. Together, they unite farm and food system practitioners and allies to build a sustainable, just and economically vibrant region. From one network to another, the article profiles Food Solutions New England (FSNE), a network building effort now going into its third year of intentional development. It captures where FSNE was just prior to the New England Food Summit, which advanced connectivity and commitment to both regional action/identity and work for racial equity. NOTE: I have added links, bolded text, and pictures to the body of the article.
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July 16, 2014
I have never observed the Fast of the 17th of Tamuz. Yesterday, I did. I fasted in solidarity with others who were making a stand with our bodies for peace and in mourning lives lost in Palestine/Israel. At a time of horrific violence and avowed enmity between so many Muslims and Jews, it was a comfort to be fasting together, during Ramadan.
The fasting helped me to reflect on the fear and brutality that lead a nation to choose bombing as a means of protection. I have been deeply saddened not only by the murder of four teenagers but the ensuing violence that has left many in fear and over 190 Palestinians and 1 Israeli dead. The disparity in numbers is not to be overlooked, it speaks to power and institutional might. The violence inflicts a wound on all our souls.
We have too many wounds, both our peoples. I am moved by the coverage that has people recognizing our shared humanity: children saying they don’t want children “on the other side” to be in fear either, Israelis visiting the family of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, members of an interfaith alliance in Jerusalem breaking their fasts together last night. It is love – seeing the legitimacy of the other — against the odds. It is love that liberates, that sheds the centuries (for Jews) of scars and fear and chooses instead to be whole.
Let us rejoice that, despite all, we have many acts of love and generosity and bravery, the kind of bravery that is about taking risks and standing together rather than relying on weapons and destruction. May Israel use her power for right, end the racism, and value the lives of Palestinians. May righteous leaders, on all sides of the Israel/Palestine conflict, emerge who can hone the path of peace and love.
