In my RC Region (Washington, D.C., USA) everyone has access to the Internet. Classes and support groups went online several weeks ago. We purchased a Zoom account for Community use and are asking for voluntary contributions to cover the cost.
People we haven’t seen in years are showing up [appearing] online, including parents, people with serious health issues, and people who lack easy access to transportation. It is clear that we have unawarely excluded people from certain oppressed groups, and it’s good to correct that.
We have a special project for encouraging connection: getting people to discharge together on the topics that matter most to them. I sent an e-mail inviting people to say which groups they wanted.
As might be expected, hardly anybody read the letter. So, we had people discharge on each paragraph in their classes. Within two days, fifty-four topics were suggested for the online groups. We don’t have that many active RCers in the city!
The only way to convene so many groups has been for lots of people to take a turn leading. I recently met with the first eight people who stepped up [wanted to do it]. They are mostly not certified RC teachers. For some, it will be their first stab [attempt] at leading. Some are in the particular constituency, and some are allies. They will lead groups for people in their twenties and thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, and seventies; hourly workers; people who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19; and for working on early distress. I’m excited that so many people are getting a chance to try leading and doing it in a cohort with other new and experienced leaders.
Here are the important parts of the letter I sent to the Washington, D.C., Community:
The COVID-19 pandemic is happening at a time when the oppressive systems in our country are already spinning out of control. This crisis offers unique opportunities—to work on our early material [distress] and to take steps to guide our society in new, rational, and life-sustaining directions. In order to do this, we need to stay close and continue to deepen our relationships while we are physically separated. We are fortunate to have the technology enabling us to surmount the separation.
The current situation is bringing up all kinds of feelings—early fears about health and the health of loved ones, longings for “normalcy,” distresses attached to survival and death, and so on. We need to keep working on these feelings in order to free our attention and think clearly about the things we need and want to think about. Let’s keep having sessions, mini-sessions, online classes, and so on, to make sure no one gets isolated and everyone gets a chance to keep discharging. Emily Wilson [the Area Reference Person for the New Washington, D.C., Area] and I will be working with leaders in both Areas to support all efforts to keep us connected.
At this time, oppressive forces are clamping down on many populations, and the usual opportunistic systems of economic exploitation are finding ways to take advantage of the crisis. Racism, classism, able-bodiedism, ageism, anti-Jewish oppression, and so on, are showing up [appearing] and having dire consequences for the groups they target. Those of us not in the targeted groups are being encouraged to “go small” and try to protect ourselves rather than come together in unity with all people to make sure we get through this together.
[We will be starting] a series of online gatherings for people in targeted groups and for those in the position of agent of oppression. Some of the calls may be led by me, some by others. I look forward to us having as much online contact with as many people as possible, in as many configurations as we can figure out!