POSTINGS BY ILRPS
Marcie Rendon
ILRP for Natives
I think the work at all levels has been so vast and so integrated into the overall Liberation work of Native folks that I don't even know where to begin. Folks have been discharging continuously.
In the San Francisco Bay Area (California, USA) RCers have been very active in 'walks' to protect the environment, all the while encouraging discharge, two-way listening time, etc. Similar work was done leading up to and at the wide-world event in New York City, USA, where Indigenous people led the walk. That might have been two years ago now. Maine co-counselors continue to lead their state in environmental work.
Maori folks, under the leadership of Heimama Wiremu, counsel and back her leadership to lead. A prime example was her attendance at COP21 in Paris and COP22 in Morocco. Darlene Daniels, in the Winnipeg RC Area, led counseling groups, sessions, and then direct action at wide-world events in the city of Winnipeg, Canada. Ayana Morse, in her Region, has led classes and workshops and has gone to Native environmental events in the cities of Oakland and Los Angeles, USA. Kate Insolia has led classes, support groups, and wide-world events focused on COE in Illinois, USA over the past year and 1/2.
During my time in the Basque country I witnessed Native co-counselors on a very personal level doing everything they possibly could to care for the earth, themselves and each other. It was beautiful. Examples: picnics rather than fast food or eating out, biking, walking, caring for each other; and it was all so integrated into every day life; not a big production at all, which unfortunately occurs more than not here in the USA.
At the Standing Rock camp, here in the US, there was a co-counselor present every day, whether they were visible or not. And we don't have an accurate count of how many co-counselors visited the camp—my guess is around 50, but that is just a guess. To support them we set up phone counseling time for whites, natives, and people who identify as global majority.
I have to be honest and say, I don't know if anyone has actually spent time reading and discharging on the Goal, as a written piece. I think Native folks heard there was a goal, and increased their actions, and then had sessions. That seems to be my best assessment of what has occurred.
Native RCers have also valiantly supported non-native RCers who have taken on COE work, by counseling them, encouraging them and being a resource to them.
And, I think it is important to note, over and over and over again, that the ILRP for COE is an Indigenous woman, Wytske. Her thinking informs the Care of the Environment work.
Sean Ruth, ILRP for Middle Class, is working on claiming his Irish Indigenous heritage. Lorenzo Garcia, ILRP for Chicanos claims indigenous heritage. Dan Nickerson, ILRP for Working Class has been discharging consistently on reclaiming his native heritage. Xabi, Language Reference person, is Indigenous Basque. I am sure I am missing folks who I should mention.
As more and more folks discharge on their Native/Indigenous identities and the genocidal history of their peoples and families and tribes and land connections, and the eco-genocidal policies of corporacracy (is that a word?) we can all think better, individually, about how to address COE issues. And we can think better about our personal and collective connection to the living earth and our mutual responsibility to the environment.
The question we can always ask, is how can we better back the Indigeneity of our leaders? Where can we help them discharge to counter the internalized genocide recordings? How can we support, in every way, their thinking and their leadership, as Indigeneous, tribal people?
What do we, as individuals, have to discharge in order to recognize them, all the time, as Indigenous? With good thinking, good leadership, an understanding of the earth that many have forgotten.
So, as I have been led by these individuals, and have led workshops that they have attended it gets clearer and clearer in our minds and every day practices thinking that can and needs to be applied to the current situation.
Janet Foner
ILRP for “Mental Health” Liberation
During at least two "mental health” liberation (MHL) workshops in the last couple of years I have led classes about care of the environment (COE) and "mental health" oppression (MHO) and how they intertwine. At many workshops I have talked about how things are getting worse in the society and how we need to discharge our fears stemming from MHO, such as feelings about ourselves or others discharging profusely, that keep us from building the RC Community more rapidly. When I talk about this subject, I always talk about climate change being one of the challenges we need to face. I talk about needing to have more people in RC so that we have more power as a group to stand up against the destruction happening in the society, including what’s happening through climate change. At each workshop, I usually encourage someone to lead a topic group on COE and MHL, and there is often a topic group held on same.
Seán Ruth
ILRP for Middle Class
In my workshops I always include a focus on the implications of climate change and the destruction of the environment for the collapse of capitalism. I also talk about the unsustainability of the lifestyles of those of us in richer countries.
Joanne Bray
ILRP for Catholics
At workshops I lead, I either do a class on COE and Catholic liberation, or make time in topic groups, or at tables for this work. I tie the work to a sense of pride where wide world Catholics have taken the lead on climate change (e.g. Pope Francis issuing Laudato Si and gathering activists globally to promote change), or where women religious in communities promote self sustaining environments. I remind everyone of the RC’ers of Catholic heritage who have played key roles in Paris, Marrakesh, or wide world COE education and organizations. Because colonization and genocide is tied to our history, I ask indigenous and global majority Catholic heritage people to speak on the impact of climate change on peoples lives (especially water) where they live. I’ve found it useful to counsel Catholics on giving up “waiting for a Savior” to end climate change. But instead understand it is each of our work.
Cherie Brown
ILRP for Jews
Working with my constituency, Jews, on environmental issues has been important-- and not always easy. As a people that has been targeted for destruction, Jews have sometimes frozen when pleas to work on the environment have been communicated with painful emotion ( the world will end if we don't do something immediately). In addition, our history has been one of not being allowed to own land as well as being dispersed and without a homeland. So lots of discharge is needed about being fully connected to the earth. When we do that discharging, Jews are great activists in and out of RC on environmental issues.
In 2015, at the International Jewish leaders Conference, there weren't any Jewish leaders that initially signed up ahead of the Conference to work on the topic of Jews and the Environment. So I devoted a part of one class to the issue, working with Jews on where it gets challenging. Since then, I have made sure that every Jewish liberation workshop had a class or a topic group on Jews and the environment. In Morocco, there were two Jewish leaders (M— and Sue Coooer) that were a part of the delegation. In Paris, there were a number of Jews either volunteering or a part of the delegation.
To keep my own mind fully engaged and thinking and discharging about Jews and the environment, I have remained on the board of a Jewish wide world organization that has made climate change it's key issue.
Julian Weissglass
ILRP for Wide World Change
In June I led a workshop for Western North America on Wide World Change and COE. As a result of that workshop I wrote an article that appeared in SAL #2, pp. 47 - 50.
At two Healing from War workshops in Poland the year I led a class on “War and Climate Change”. I started writing up my thoughts on that subject but it is going slowly.