Commitments Against Oppression
A commitment against oppression is a serious promise made by a person (to the counselor, to "nears and dears", to reality, to "God", etc.) to reject the stereotypes and patterns of behavior which constitute the main content of the oppression of particular groups of people in existing societies.
Women
I solemnly (fiercely, cheerfully) promise that, from this moment on, I will never again settle for anything less than absolutely everything.
Men
I promise that, from this moment on, I will be proud to be male, and will seek closeness and brotherhood with every other man of every age, race, nation, and class.
I will permit no slandering or disrespect or blaming of any man for the hurts which have been placed upon him, and I will seek to restore safety to all men to discharge these cruel hurts.
I will fight to end and eliminate the burdening of men with over-fatigue, over-responsibility, and coercion into armed service in which we have been brutalized and forced to kill or be killed.
I will cherish my birthright of being a good, intelligent, courageous, and powerful male human.
Parents
I promise to remember always that I am a good parent, that I always have done the best I could, that I have passed on to my children as few of the hurts that I endured as a child as I could possibly manage, and that someday I'll get a little rest.
Parents
I am a good parent. I love my child/ren. From this moment on, I will relish my excellence as a mother/father, enjoy my precious, resilient child/ren, and discharge my every regret. I hold myself and my fellow parents blameless for the struggles we still face due to our heavy oppression. I am proud of the goodness and commitment of all parents, and am proud of the vital work we do. As a mother/father, I will remember that there will be time to pursue every goal that is dear to my heart.
Young People
I solemnly promise that, from this moment on, I will never again treat any young person, including myself, with anything less than complete respect.
Young Adults
I joyfully promise, from this moment on, to never give up my dreams and goals. I choose to remember always that the whole world is mine, and I need never be alone in figuring it out and making it just right.
Elders
I promise that I will never die, that I will never slow down, and that I will have more fun than ever.
Elders
I promise that from this moment on, I will live my life with unabashed delight and confidence, using my full wisdom, creativity, love, and energy to ensure that the world around me proceeds exactly the way I want it to and en-vi-sion that it can. I will do this by inviting and encouraging others to join with me, think with me, and act in all of our best interests. As a basis for living this fully, I will pay loving and thoughtful attention to the needs of my body, mind, heart and soul, and welcome other people’s love and attention when it is freely given. I will respect and honor other elders and never permit anyone, including myself, to invalidate or stereotype elders again.
Allies to Elders
I promise that from this moment on I will invite, encourage, and expect elders to live their lives with unabashed delight and confidence, using their full wisdom, creativity, love, and energy to ensure that the world around them proceeds exactly as they want it to and envision that it can. I will also encourage them to take loving and thoughtful care of themselves and to make and maintain strong relationships with others based on mutual attention, interest, and affection. I will never again permit anyone to invalidate or stereotype elders. To this end, I will persist in inviting them to notice what is good in the present moment, what their strengths and contributions are, and how deserving they are of my love and attention, as well as the love and attention of others. To assist them in attaining and maintaining a full and vigorous life, I will listen lovingly, respectfully, and attentively to past and present experiences, triumphs, hurts, and disappointments, encourage them to notice and discharge their feelings, and invite them to think about how the world should proceed, how they can be effective in making the world right, and what help they need from me and others to move things along.
Against Racism
I resent and will fiercely oppose racism's crippling limits to the progress of my beloved human race. Always keeping in mind my proud heritage of fighting oppression, and wanting to enrich my present and future, I will engage and join with others to smash racism so that we all may live in a free world.
Persons of Mixed Heritage
Recognizing that we are the people of the future, and that every one of our cultures and our heritages is valuable and to be re-spected and appreciated, we proudly proclaim ourselves to be 100% universal humans, and we invite all human beings to join us in this claim.
Black Persons
For the complete liberation of my beautiful, wise, strong, and courageous black people, I solemnly promise I will always remember our/my own goodness and strength. I will fight against every division that tends to separate us from each other and from other people. I will settle for nothing less than complete liberation, complete equality, complete opportunity, and complete respect for everyone.
Arab
In total respect for the beauty, goodness, generosity, and wisdom of my people, I cheerfully promise that I will cherish my culture and language, our diversity and unity, and remember how delightful and important we are to all human beings and that the world is safe for me to be my full human self.
Jewish
For the long-range survival of my people, I solemnly promise that, from this moment on, I will treat every person I meet as if she or he were eager to be my warm, close, dependable friend and ally, under all conditions.
Raised Poor
I am a bold and brilliant thinker. I can change the world. I refuse to settle for anything less than complete liberation of my mind and the minds of all people from the effects of classism. I will expect and reach for complete respect, complete equality, and complete closeness, and I will take complete responsibility for seeing that all human beings get treated well.
Raised Poor
I solemnly promise to always remember it was never my/our fault that I/we was/were born into a society which uses poverty to perpetuate the oppression of all people. We are the majority and the natural leaders of the entire world. I promise to remember my/our goodness, strength, and intelligence. I will settle for nothing less than complete respect and complete opportunity for everyone. Furthermore, I will personally see to it.
Working Class
I solemnly promise that, from this moment on, I will take pride in the intelligence, strength, endurance, and goodness of working-class people everywhere.
I will remember to be proud that we do the world's work, that we produce the world's wealth, that we belong to the only class with a future, that our class will end all oppression.
I will unite with all my fellow workers everywhere around the world to lead all people to a rational, peaceful society.
I am a worker, proud to be a worker, and the future is in my hands.
Middle Class
I cheerfully promise from now on to stand proudly visible, to be my true self without caution or pretense, to work for the unity and liberation of all working people, and never to be quiet again.
Owning Class
I promise always to remember that I and my people are completely good, and I never need pretend again. No matter how frightening it feels I will give up the control of wealth and the justification for it. And I will come home and humbly take my own place with working-class people in setting the world completely to right.
Against Money Distress
I will do everything necessary to arrange ample funding for all my projects. I will discharge completely any of my patterns that get in the way, and I will counsel anyone who needs to think differently in order to help me accomplish this. I promise that I will never again let money stand in the way of accomplishing my goals.
World Changers
I have chosen the responsibility to change society, but I also choose to be intelligent in the way I do it.
The future needs me, well-rested, well-nourished, and well-exercised. The past is useful as information, but never as a substitute for my own fresh thinking. Mao (or any more recent leader) respected Marx (or any more previous leader), but did his own fresh thinking. I will respect all past thinkers but my thinking will necessarily be more brilliant than theirs because I stand on their shoulders.
If I am not enjoying what I am doing, then there is something wrong with how I am doing it and I will correct it.
Disabled Persons
I cheerfully promise that from now on I will always remember that my body is wonderful and that I am fully human, that I am totally admirable and lovely to be close to, and I will confidently expect to be cherished exactly as I am by all human beings.
Gereformeerde Bevrijding
Ik geloof oprecht dat ik goed ben geboren en gebleven als mens en als gereformeerde. Ik ben heel gewoon en evenveel waard als ieder ander. Ik mag uitrusten zonder dat ik iets heb gepresteerd en tevreden zijn over wat ik doe. Ik beloof dat ik altijd van mezelf zal houden en dat ik nooit zal vergeten dat mijn leven mijzelf toebehoort en dat ik ervan mag genieten. Ik ben gereformeerd en geschapen naar Gods beeld en Zhij zag dat het goed was en dat geldt ook voor mij. Dat betekent __________.
Calvinist Liberation
I sincerely believe that I was born and have remained good, as a human and as a Calvinist. I am just an ordinary person and I am worth just as much as anybody else. I may rest without having achieved a thing and I may be satisfied with the things I do. I promise that I will always love myself and that I will never forget that my life belongs to me and that I may enjoy it. I am a Calvinist, created after the image of God, and S/He saw that it was good and this also applies to me. This will mean ________.
Catholic
I pledge to never again demean or apologize for myself, my family, or my church for being Catholic, but to esteem them all as beloveds of God and all the universe.
Lesbians
Because I am good, and belong, like every other woman, at the center of all matters, I promise never again to accept any limits on my loving, my relationships, or my abilities. I am completely good, I am fully feminine, I am a lesbian.
Gay Men
Beloved brothers, because of our supreme importance to the world now and forever, I promise to always remember that my love is good and my manhood is complete and without limits.
"Displaced" Persons
We have endured loneliness and exile and have survived. We have struggled to keep our roots in the culture of our homeland. We have tried to be excellent guests and win a permanent place in the land of our exile. Now, realizing the common goals and common interests of all humanity, we proclaim ourselves and all other people citizens of our beautiful planet earth, welcome wherever we abide or travel. The world is our home!
Adoptees
From this moment on I will remember that I am completely good and okay and have always been good enough. The universe wanted me and continues to celebrate my existence. I belong everywhere. My birth parents and families always wanted me underneath their distresses and the absence of support from an oppressive society. I have a right to know my origins. I deserve a good, healthy, easy life and can expect loving, healthy, lasting relationships. I am powerful, lovable, and loving. I am not alone. My allies are everywhere. It is safe to connect deeply with other humans.
Incest Survivor
Victoriously proclaiming my total innocence and discarding any shame or secrecy for what was done to me, I joyfully and proudly reclaim my tenderest love for my sacred body, my control over my full sexuality, my unconditional love for myself and others, my full trust in myself and ability to rely on others, my connection with humans everywhere, my joy in life, my unbounded intelligence to think about everything, and my complete power and visibility as a human with unlimited choice and impact in the world.
"Mental Health" System Survivor
I decide that, from now on, I will always be proud of myself and all other "mental health" system survivors. I will remember that I can choose the viewpoint on my life experiences and current situation which gives me the most satisfaction. I am the perfect person to lead all people toward liberation. I can take complete charge of my mind and fulfill my wildest dreams.