Tag: Words

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Bridging the gap between apathy and self-determination

Originally published in the Michigan Citizen, May 2012

This is the latest in a series of columns discussing the Environmental Justice Principles drafted and adopted by delegates to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit held Oct. 24-27, 1991.

Through this weekly column we’ve discussed the potential found in attempts to remove our personal and professional blinders by looking at the principles of digital, environmental, and food justice from different vantage points. It is telling that we’ve found real-world manifestations of the issues these justice principles speak to, both in Detroit’s current events and the history of our city.

This week, being mindful of this history of struggle and the current corporate-funded and media-enforced manipulation of Detroiters, the environmental principle on deck is rather daunting. EJ Principle #5 states; “Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental self-determination of all peoples.” That cuts right to the heart of it. From where I sit access to “self-determination” is exactly what is on the auction block in Detroit, that along with the community-owned resources that help to make up our “commons.”

Recently, I’ve been honored to participate in a series of intergenerational conversations around emergency management, potential bankruptcy and consent agreements. These conversations have been transformative for me as I’ve furthered my understanding of how disaster capitalism and institutionalized racism have fostered community-threatening levels of individualism and lack of accountability while propagating both mental and physical apathy and an increased reliance upon external systems. Addressing this apathy, this indifference to the world around us, has been a constant thread in our discussions. Why do so many people, Detroiters and folk across the state of Michigan, appear to be indifferent to or support such measures?

This question sent me into mediation on the nature of apathy itself. While perpetuating the same inability to effect meaningful change, apathy manifests differently for different people. While being a choice for some, apathy is a much less self-determined reality for others. A great disconnect occurs between those who can choose apathy, whether manifest as hipster irony, detached charity, or “tough times, tough measures” posturing, and those who can’t. Insult is added to injury due to the perception of a non-existent equal playing field. This normalizes apathy and somehow makes it acceptable.

One blatantly offensive and detrimental manifestation of the apathy can be found in the comments sections of the majority of online stories around emergency management. The argument runs that incompetence or poor choices justify ‘democracy-lite’ – a reduction in rights. Sadly, the targets of these comments are not just city officials, but also the people of Detroit as a whole.  This incendiary ‘incompetence argument’ isn’t left to unencumbered online rhetoric. It is supported by well-organized replication in the media and has been used to justify the “blank slate/ruin porn” narrative and savior mentality that informs a great deal of interest and investment in the city.

While it would be ludicrous to deny the budget deficit or rampant corruption, I regard these things as symptoms and/or side effects of expedited and disrespectful economic divestments that plagued white-flight and unregulated capitalism hyped-up on a mega-dose of steroid-like corporate personhood. This is not intended as an apology for corruption. Leaders, elected officials and citizens alike should be held accountable through respectable means in good times and bad. That being said, I also recognize that, just like each one of us, historically and currently, Detroit’s city officials are navigating systems that are fundamentally designed to turn a profit by any means.

Cries of corruption, even when well warranted, without checked by our humanity have historically been used to disempowered existent populations and grab resources. Similar motions have been applied rather openly in US foreign policy and secretly, behind closed doors, domestically for generations. Maybe a move towards negating apathy and lack of concern for others is to raise awareness that this argument is part of the same flawed, dehumanizing, profit-driven logic used to exploit and enslave people for centuries.

I don’t want to be entirely theoretical here. Through sharing in the work of the Detroit Food Justice Task Force (http://detroitfoodjustice.org), the East Michigan Environmental Action Council (http://www.emeac.org/) and other grassroots organizations, I’ve become more aware how open and inclusive space for participation and low-stress and accessible means of action around issues can combat apathy. Taking part in and promoting actions like Metro FoodLand’s 27/27 Campaign (http://www.metrofoodland.com/) can get us thinking differently about how we are all connected and the role we can play in supporting the move away from apathy and towards self-determination. Until we change, not only the way that we do things, but also the way that we think about things, we cannot offer up anything more than a temporary band-aids or extensions on already borrowed time. In order to begin to manifest any self-determination in the face of the current climate we need to shift paradigms and challenge the very institutions that perpetuate not only poverty but also political, economic and environmental apathy.

– END-

 

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Recognizing sacred relationships with land and water through ceremony

From the 2012 archives of my Michigan Citizen columns. Cant find the exact date on it now. Gratitude to those who supported the ceremonies behind this post.

This is the latest in a series of columns discussing the Environmental Justice Principles drafted and adopted by delegates to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit held Oct. 24-27, 1991. Environmental Justice Principle 11 ‘recognizes a special legal and natural relationship of native peoples to the U.S. government through treaties, agreements, compacts and covenants affirming sovereignty and self-determination’. (www.ejnet.org/ej/principles.html).

I have to thank my co-columnists for their expressions around this principle. Two week’s ago VG’s ‘Environmental Justice through Tribal Sovereignty’ discussed how important it is for non-native peoples to acknowledge the depth of the relationship between native peoples and the government. Last week, Patrick Geans-Ali followed up by extrapolating “the definition of “native peoples” from the traditional one” to discuss the current political and economic crises here in Detroit to highlight long-range historical leaning of corporate serving governing bodies towards corruption.

I respectfully reference both pieces as they greatly influenced my approach this week. Being someone who presents as white, discussing native peoples rights or attempting to compare and contrast the lived-experience of colonization to my own or anyone else is a slippery slope I attempt to steer clear of. From my perspective, defining and interpreting native or any other oppressed peoples’ experience has too often been used as a tool to further marginalize their population. With this said, as I first read this week’s EJ principle I cringed. Thankfully, V’s advice to take the time and make the effort to seek other perspectives served as a point of entry. I found Central Michigan Universities Clarke Historical Library’s Treaty Rights archive (http://clarke.cmich.edu/resource_tab/native_americans_in_michigan/treaty_rights/treaty_rights_index.html) and began reading over treaties between the government and native peoples drawn up around the geographic area we currently recognize as Detroit.

I certainly do not want to imply that a little online research constitutes any depth of understanding of the ‘special’, as our principle deems it, relationship between the government and native tribes. However, in the time spent reading through these treaties, and a few historical documents for context, I found myself thinking about current land use policies and how notions of land ownership, whether governmental, corporate or private, have not only impacted, but also continue to impact indigenous communities. How does the very way we think about land and the way our culture ‘handles’ land, locally, globally and historically serve to carry forward unchecked corruption that fosters premeditated genocide of populations through efforts that range from salvation-based assimilation to straight-up murder?

As I processed and meditated on these rather heavy questions around “treaties, agreements, compacts and covenants affirming sovereignty and self-determination”, I also felt a natural inclination to amplify or ‘turn-up’ my relationship with the Land itself. Questions began to swell around my own relationship with land, the suburban enclaves I grew up in, and the culturally engineered drive towards home-ownership and the american dream. I have experienced personal transformation around these issues due to my shift in awareness of and emphasis on food, both growing it and eating it. This transformation has come hand-in-hand with a deepening of respect for the earth itself. I’ve always supported my instinctual awareness of the phases of the moon and seasonal changes, but as I work more closely with the land, I find that awareness deepening. For me, there is a deep profundity in this process, and while being non-dogmatic in its expression, it has become extremely sacred.

While I cannot claim understanding of a native perspective in any way, I have found this sacred yet non-dogmatic process to reflect the handful of authentic indigenous ceremonies I have been blessed to partake in. While rather challenging to articulate, I have also found reflections of these ceremonies within many of the grassroots organizations and individuals I’ve been blessed share with. When I began to build more genuine relationships in Detroit, I found myself sitting in circles, creating safe spaces, respecting ancestry and progeny, breathing together, facilitating healing, participating in collective imagining and visualizing, amongst other practices which, based upon my own experience, I consider to be emergent aspects of sacred ceremonies. Of particular interest here is the relationship between these ceremonial motions and the forms of self-governance these organizations, communities and individuals strive toward.

Returning to treaties, in particular the State of Michigan’s Treaty with the Ottawa and Chippewa from 1855, I’m reminded that, from my limited perspective, tribal governance is deeply rooted in ceremony. This awareness was kicked in fully as I read Article 5 “The tribal organization of said Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, except so far as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this agreement, is hereby dissolved; and if at any time hereafter, further negotiations with the United States, in reference to any matters contained herein, should become necessary, no general convention of the Indians shall be called; but such as reside in the vicinity of any usual place of payment, or those only who are immediately interested in the questions involved, may arrange all matters between themselves and the United States, without the concurrence of other portions of their people, and as fully and conclusively, and with the same effect in every respect, as if all were represented.” Through this paper-based dissolution of tribal governance, there is also the attempted dissolution of collective and communal thought and deed, which I perceive as being facilitated through the ceremonies related to said governance.

I perceive a link between governance and ceremony that I intuit as being reflected in our ability to work, live and breathe more collectively and sustainably. While a great many of our ceremonies have been rendered highly dogmatic, thoughtful ceremonial reconnection to the earth, through diverse non-intrusive means that respect all faiths, like growing food and cooking together, can empower us to connect with ourselves and each other more directly. While I cannot interpret the experience of native peoples, through reading these treaties I can point directly to a process of cultural assimilation that I see being utilized strategically in global land grabs and in efforts by political and economic interests right here at home. With gratitude, I can also point to numerous successful efforts in Detroit to counter this assimilation by reconnecting to the earth, to each other and to thoughts, words and deeds that celebrate and revere these connections.

I currently find solace from the weight these questions in community spaces, in the often simple ceremonies we engage in, and through my attempts to recognize all my relationships as sacred. Personally, I’m attempting to listen to my intuition around land and water more. After the announcement of the state’s intentions for Belle Isle, I found myself heading out to watch the sunrise from the island. An elder had recently shared that the native tribes used to gather on the island for ceremony and governance. As I walked through the pastures to a space where the land meets the water, I attempted to hold the image of a gathering in my head. I sat and meditated for a short time after making humble gestures to the land and water, and then walked away in the silence that comes with awe, reverence and gratitude. As we continue to build together as a counter to formidable political and economic forces, I feel we should get and stay rooted in our personal relationships to land and water and no matter our faiths or lack-thereof, strive to celebrate them together as inclusive ceremonies of re-cognition of one another, those who came before and those who will be.

– END-  

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Moving Meditation Workshop: Soul in the Machine


Moving Meditation Workshop:
Soul in the Machine

This was created in 2011 and was supposed to be included in a workshop at the AMC that year, but time was challenged and we only discussed it briefly. 23.

A series of guided journeys that explore the relationship between humans and “smart” technology/media. Based on B. Fuller’s conception of Energy Slaves. This explores environmental justice/digital justice/undoing racism issues through the creation of a personal strategy and “tools” to respectfully, mindfully and more intuitively connect, not only with our technology, but also with the world around us. Includes Yoga specific to unplugging from technology, reclaiming our senses, undo aggressive ergonomic design.

Background
I tend to relate to software and applications more intuitively if I interact with them as though they were sentient tools. With that in mind, I want to share a concept that I’ve been working with since I was tuned into it by FIRST EARTH-Uncompromising Ecological Architecture. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuDkfuziZiI> I submit this as a point of sharing more with the group and for accountability sake. While I find this to be a valuable tool in reframing, I know others could take it in very differently.

I’ve been meditating on the Buckminsterfullerene expression of Energy Slaves and have been “trying it on” as a respectful and just frame for my interaction with technology and resources. You can read extensively about it at the Encyclopedia of Human Thermodynamics site <http://www.eoht.info/page/Energy+slave> but here are a few quick quotes from the site.

“In culture, an energy slave is an abstract conception referring to the technologic-mechanical energyequivalent that a healthy human youth could do. [1] The lifestyle of any person, in this logic, can be equated with a certain number of “energy slaves” equivalent to the number of human laborers required, measured in human labor power energy units, to mediate that person’s way of life. The term was coined by American energy philosopher Buckminster Fuller in about 1944. [2] Fuller proposed the term based on the average output of a hard-working man doing 150,000 foot-pounds of work per day and working 250-days per year.”

“In 1987 commentary on Fullers energy slave theory, author Stephen Boyden commented that “in the USA, the daily use per capita of energy is around 1000 MJ; that is, each person has the equivalent of 100 energy slaves working 24 hours a day for him or for her…. In some developing countries, the rate of energy use is less than the equivalent of one energy slave per person.” [8]”

This Energy Slave abstraction is helping to inspire within me a greater awareness of just how powerful these tools are, and most importantly, that they exist due to blatant and organized violation of the Earth. I share this as I feel it has the potential to become an important part of navigating my environmental justice work while utilizing resource and soul depleting technologies and platforms. 

Workshop Learning and Practice.
These can be offered as breakouts or be imbedded within an agenda

  • Learning Circle – Energy Slaves using the information above.
  • Practice – Eye Health Exercises
  • Tool share – Deprogramming Apps
  • Practice – Undoing Aggressive Ergonomic Yoga Asanas (seated or floor)

©EschatonLife

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I am an anomalous amalgamation

1/29/11 6:01 PM

I am an anomalous amalgamation.  An independent agent, born in captivity, attempting to return to a hive that has no means to integrate me or desire as I smell like the enemy. I want to be in the hive, to share, to support, to be a part of. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ah D______, when hasn’t lex parsimoniae come into it? 🙂 Good to see you and some of the others here. You? a ———? I’m just going to put that down next to my hippie. 

I’m glad you keep popping up here. I’ve been internally mediating my past and my current uber public working mode and would like to use this as an opportunity to tells bits of my story and perspective that I’ve wanted to share. I hope you don’t mind my taking you along for the ride. 

Delete if I outstep any utterly valid public boundaries. One of the reasons Angela and I have been successful in Detroit is that we we try to wear our shit on our sleeve. I still find it odd that the most intuitive things, like sharing our resources and our stories, are twisted up and distorted so they can never threaten the status quo. I try to share a great deal, but I don’t get many opportunities to carry on about my personal evolutionary path, a great deal of which, I’m honored to have walked with you.

Brother, I know it’s perspective, but this paradigm seems more intense than many of our excursions. (that doesn’t decrease the value or extremity of our shared moments screaming through the void) The boy may induce this, but the intensity was here before his manifestation. Ha! maybe its age. 

When last we met I was holed up in Compuware drinking my face off and going into massive debt. 

Actually, you helped send me in this direction with that catholic wedding. I thought I had the will and reserve to successfully navigate corporate America and the suburbs and, frankly, got trapped. Well, is it really getting trapped if the process of escaping gives you the tools requisite for the next chapter? 🙂 

It took yoga three times a day, a series of ceremonies, a journey to India to study with my now passed Guru, a NASTY divorce, and a summer of trying to rub up against anything that would stand still to break out of it. Though I wouldn’t change anything I made some poor choices there that I’ll most likely have to navigate through a few more cycles. 

Two things happened in that process that actually set the stage for the current paradigm, I met Angela (you’ll flip when you meet her, amazing being) and the City of Detroit started to talk to me. 

Recently though, the City stopped talking to me and in its place I began to hear the voices of the people who live here. To my own amazement they sounded like some of the voices I heard on our intense excursions. I’m now dedicated to the the sometimes painful never-ending process of aligning myself with those voices in real time. You know the depths of my misanthropy and I’m sure you can identify what a mf this is. 

But I think I save the rest for another. This should be just the right amount of information to raise eyebrows at the next community potluck. 🙂 Love to you and yours Brother!

-END-

©EschatonLife

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“Real Men” Don’t Do Yoga

A version of this was published and syndicated nationally through Natural Awakenings. There is a huge difference between the text below, which includes a critique of masculinity and what was published. Like most things here I would write it differently today, but feel there is some merit given the ongoing need to grow self awareness and compassion. 23.  

“Real Men” Don’t Do Yoga
An example of Active Compassion written for Men
We come from different places and all of us have different paths to fulfill here. We need to acknowledge our differences, let them be, and find some common ground. This common ground gives us space for the exploration requisite to heal ourselves and to help heal the world around us. Many believe we are at a pivotal point in history.  With out getting too into details (details tend to muck up common ground) we need to do something about the roles that are considered acceptable for Men in our culture.

There is a huge discrepancy between the portrayals of “Real Men” in the media and the men that many of us would like to be and that the world really needs right now. This discrepancy keeps us from engaging in, and gives us the opportunity to avoid, practices that inspire health, well being, and active compassion because they don’t fit acceptable roles. In order to change this we must change ourselves and support and encourage one another.

No matter where we are in our lives, there are some practices we can take up to eliminate the manipulative concept of “Real Men” altogether. As a Yoga Instructor and Massage Therapist, I participate in the emergent compassion connected to such undertakings. Therein lies something quite valuable, compassion itself is hardwired into particular actions and activities.

The Formula
Simply put, it is a formula that we all can appreciate, if we use the tools available to us, we will change. The majority of us are not going to receive overnight enlightenment, but we might feel better, breathe more deeply, and possibly even experience rare states of being, like contentment, empathy and even peace.

Once we realize that through action we can create change in ourselves, we can then postulate the role we can play in changing the world around us. On some levels that may seem quite obvious, but if it is obvious why are we as a culture in general, and men in particular, so seemingly deficient in not only compassion, but health?

We are all aware of the fast pace that the world around us is traveling at, but not everyone is aware that we can choose to participate or not. In cultures focused on agriculture, Men are connected to the natural world through their work, their labor.  The assembly line and cubicle have lessened our awareness of the cycle of life to the point where, in order to redefine our selves it is necessary to pursue and experiment with actions that will facilitate our reconnection. “Real Men” can be obliterated in the process.

The Tools
Three tools with benefits that can come quickly are Yoga, Massage and Diet. Many may perceive these approaches as easily accessible because once you begin using them they become quite natural. But it takes great courage to walk into your first yoga class. Here’s a guide to inform and inspire your journey.

Yoga
Yoga is dynamic. It means many things to many people as it has had centuries to evolve, shift and change while traveling across regions and continents. In our Western setting yoga, until very recently, was perceived as a women’s health activity. The “yoga boom” changed the demographics a great deal, but no matter if you’re waking into a room full of women or not, there are many things to be mindful of your first time out.

  • You should consult your Doctor before making changes to your exercise routine
  • Each yoga session is a little culture unto itself. Yoga is full of traditions, adaptations and social norms co-created by the students, the instructor and the space. At first you may not be able to see some of the more subtle aspects of this, so seek out and be open to instruction.
  • Ask around or search for local classes. Visit the website or the studio to get a schedule. Many studios post guidelines for classes that will help you to get acclimated.
  • Arrive early to class to get settled in and meet the teacher. It is a great honor to share yoga with someone for the first time.
  • Some people take yoga very seriously because that is what they want yoga to be, others practice with a sense of lightness and ease. Visit different studios, “try out” many instructors and traditions, so that you can find a yoga that fits you. Always be mindful that what fits one day may not fit the next.
  • Be gentle with yourself. Even if we are active, many of us quickly realize that yoga gets into muscles we rarely use. This, in addition to the common “no pain, no gain” mindset and our cultural association of yoga with gracefulness and ease give us a good reason to approach a new yoga class mindfully.
  • Remember that even though it is sacred, it is only yoga.

Touch
Human contact is essential to our development and well being, yet touching is a challenge for many. Respect is key in this. But Men can do something much more to reframe and reclaim touch, we can become more aware of how special and sacred it is. No matter whom we touch or how we touch them, it is always an intimate experience.

  • If you’ve never had one, schedule a professional massage. Massage is both a therapeutic modality and an Art form. Though we can’t just pick up the anatomy, physiology and technique required to provide a therapeutic massage, we can demystify touch and experience the health benefits first hand.
  • Cost being a factor these days, consider contacting a local massage school. Many schools have student clinics where massage is offered to the public at a discounted rate. Some of the best massages of my life have been from students.
  • Share this article with your partner, family or friends and open up a discussion about the health benefits of touch and massage. Consider the potential that this could have in reframing touch in your life.
  • If you have a partner, ask them if they would be interested in exchanging non-sexual touch. It’s important to express this and keep to it, as it will provide space for both of you to experience the benefits without pressure or expectations that are often bundled up with sex. Many find that drawing this line with touch improves many aspects of their relationships, including sex.
  • Whether you have a partner, family member or friend you can share touch with or not, touch yourself! Self-massage is a great way to experience the benefits. While many of us may massage our palms or shoulders when they are in pain, give yourself the opportunity to sit and explore the nooks and crannies of your palm and arm.
  • Finally, when you are practicing touch, listen to your partner and listen for your reactions. Keep the lines of communication open and always share what feels good in addition to things that don’t work. Be flexible and remember that this is sacred.

Diet
Food is another powerful tool that is extremely loaded in our culture. Food is actually one of the most frequently defined aspects of “Real Men.” They don’t eat this or they do eat that. The fact, that we all seem to forget all the time, is that “we are what we eat.” To kick the concept of “Real Men” we need to radically change our diets, eliminate the crap we have a tendency to eat because it is so easy, and try new things. For many, this is the toughest tool to get a handle on. These thoughts may help along the way.

  • Changing our food intake is not something to be taken lightly. Consulting your physician is recommended.
  • Increase your intake of whole foods (fruits, vegetables, grains, beans and nuts)
  • Don’t fall for the “Protein Myth.” Eating whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds and dark leafy greens, like spinach will provide you with all the protein your body needs.
  • Diversify your shopping habits. Many of us get into a rut when buying food. Rather than getting your food from one store, visit your local Farmer’s Market for your fruits and vegetables.
  • Try it RAW! Increasing the amount of raw vegetables and fruits that we eat will increase our overall health. We encourage eating at least 50% of every meal raw. Thankfully salad bars are easy to find, just be mindful of the dressings. Find a recipe to make your own dressing using healthy oils like olive or sesame.
  • Find a local healthy food meet-up group to meet others who are making similar changes. Having a support system in place and a resource for new ideas and recipes is invaluable in this work.
  • Like Yoga and Touch, we can do ourselves a great service if we look at the preparation, eating and sharing of food as sacred. Putting something in our mouths can be viewed as one of the most intimate acts.

Download the pdf: NA 0610 RealMenDon’tDoYoga

©EschatonLife