I am glad to see increased interest of non-native people in the work of Indigenous peoples. When non-native people would like to know how to build such relationships, they usually don't know how. One of the best ways to do that is by showing up at Indigenous-led events, such as the Spring Equinox Celebration: Hub Blessing and Land Liberation March 21st at the Great Plains Action Society' s Urban Resilience HUB on March 21.
Category: Decolonial
Practitioner-Bridge
I was intrigued when I began reading about the concept of the "Practitioner-Bridge." Numerous times in the past I found myself at the intersection of various groups I'm involved with. This likely applies to you, if you have been involved in justice work.
Spirituality
I believe our Quaker spiritual practices are uniquely positioned as a format for spiritual seeking and guidance for everyone, or at least for those who are not Indigenous. Even for those who profess to not have a faith tradition (referred to as tacit knowledge).
Decolonized Peace Testimony
This is all rooted in the European colonization of this land. Thus, our Peace Testimony must be rooted in decolonization. That is why, for example, I plan to return to the Great Plains Action Society's Urban Resilience Hub in Iowa City. This decolonial work is my peace testimony today.
War at Home
I've watched in horror as militarized police and National Guardsmen are being deployed to our cities and communities. This is the latest episode of advancing authoritarianism under the current administration. We now have a war at home.
Who is colonized now?
Today, the "Economic Draft" expands the definition of the colonized to include those trapped by manufactured scarcity: the poor funneled into the military through the Poverty Draft, the working class captured by Job Lock through employer-sponsored healthcare, and the educated class held in Indentured Servitude by student debt.
We are called to take away the occasion of all wars and empires
Responsibility is the ability to respond to fused violence with a fused resistance. It is the understanding that we cannot peacefully coexist with a system that requires the destruction of the earth and the erasure of its people. Our task is to build a new world in the shell of the old. We are called to live 'in the virtu of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars-and all empires.
Why Indigenous Leadership is Essential
One of the main lessons I've learned is the necessity of having Indigenous-leadership for this work.
Spiritual condition now
We Friends opposing war should refuse any kind of military service; Friends opposing conscription should refuse to cooperate with the Selective Service System....Holding CO status "blinded us to the evil of the draft itself." 1968 Richmond Declaration on the Draft.
Two Paths to Justice
This dynamic is at work today as I try to get people to adopt the NewCO (new conscientious objector) framework for justice work. Immediately, not gradually.