A lot of work I am doing these days centres on supporting activists. Whether it is through the Art of Social Justice, the work of addressing addictions related stigma in the health system, running a pro-action Cafe for the BC Government Employees Union Human Rights and Equity Conference, changing the conversation about immigration in the United States I am surrounded by people both within and outside of systems and corporate structures that are engaged in changing things. Over the course of the fall I’ve been thinking alot about what I have been learning about action from these folks. I think …
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I was down at #occupyvancouver yesterday getting the lay of the land and looking around. Couldn’t help comparing it to New York and noticed a couple of key differences. First, lots of tents. Yesterday was pouring rain and most people were inside their tents, pitched on palettes to keep them off the wet ground. Thank you City of Vancouver for letting people have their tents. Also noticed not a single police officer anywhere. There were yellow vested security volunteers from the occupy camp, walking around and checking on people. But not a single police car in sight and not a …
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“If you really knew how beautiful you are, you would fall at your own feet” – Byron Katie Working with some organizations, people and communities these days that are going through hard times. Not everyone is dealing with it very well. There is sniping and infighting and distrust and alarm. The narcissism of small difference. But as a consultant that comes and goes with these organizations, I am continually struck by the latent resourcefulness and beauty that lies within the people and the groups I work with. Sometimes I think that my job is just to help groups see themselves, …
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If you are a part of an #Occupy group and are focusing on the facilitation teams, I’d like to offer you some resources from the Art of Hosting community. On my site are scads of Facilitation Resources for use. All of these are offered free of charge of course. In terms of some of the challenges that #Occupy camps are facing, consensus decision making is one of the big ones. I am amazed at the capacity people are showing in undertaking consensus at the General Assemblies. But there will always be frustrations with these processes. My friend Tree Bressen offers …
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Lawrence Lessig has noticed a very important practice that is emerging from the #occupy movement. It is the principle and the practice of non-contradiction: In this movement, we need a similar strategy. Of course a commitment to non-violence. But also a commitment to non-contradiction: We need to build and define this movement not by contradicting the loudest and clearest anger on the Right, but instead, by finding the common ground in our demands for reform. This is a a very useful contribution to the tools that are emerging from the #occupy movement. It is edgy because in traditional social activism …