With the
recent death of a great leader Mandela
I am back pondering world peace leaders…Please
take a minute to close your eyes and see
what names come to mind when contemplating
world peace leaders…. whose names come rolling easily off your tongue? Nelson
Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Dali Lama, Ghandi, Malcom X, Mother Teresa. Why do you think majority of names in our
minds are men’s names? Why do these names come so easily to us? Why aren’t the names
of great women peace leaders like Aung san Suukyi, Wangari Maathai, Rigoberta
Menchu, Mary Robinson, Nasrin Sotoudu, Buffy Saint-Marie immediately lightly and easily
roll of our tongues? Why aren’t the names of women peace leaders side by side with their great male peace
counterparts? I believe Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Dali Lama, Ghandi would be the
first to acknowledge and ponder too this absence and I believe Mother Teresa would be happy to share that lonely space.
Last
Friday Theo, Maya, Billy (our young friend next door) and I were blessed to
experience a memorable performance by powerful Grenadian youth. Voices of the
Daring Youth spoke of courage, strength and hope. Voices of the Daring Youth
demonstrated personal and collective power in imparting vital lessons, ideas,
morals, teachings of the heart and mind. Voices of the Daring Youth spoke of justice
in a world of injustice; of youth breaking free from attitudes and behaviors
predicted, subscribed, ratified, solidified by the worlds all around them.
Voices
of the Daring Youth was a spoken word production involving talented, positive,
brilliant, brave youth coming together to share the power of the word, the
power of the collective in giving space to youth and the teachings they hold within. Some of the voices spoke of love, intimate
love, the kind of love we perhaps all pray for, the kind of love where two
people respect and hold one another in great reverie. Some of the voices supported,
encouraged women to speak out, to walk away from the kind of touches that
shatter the very interior of our souls, to find another kind of touch, a touch
that speaks of the spirit living within.Some of the voices moved from the
personal to the political questioning negative minds, boxed in minds, limited,
socialized, brutalized minds that continue to confine society’s stone view of youth.
Some of the voices questioned development, the kind that affects all of us, the
kind we let dictate the way forward, the kind that begs the question‘for who and by whom?’. Some of the voices shouted, for too long schools have been spaces to colonize not liberate
minds; promote habitual conditioned patriarchal notions of who and how youth
should be, think, feel.
I
am deeply grateful for last Friday night’s performance as it restored hope,
critical hope, the kind of hope that embraces the positive and transforms the
negative.Positivity ruled the
eveningtearing down the norm of negativity. Last
Friday night was proof of what we all can do if we can find the courage and
compassion to step out of our busy habitual lives and step into the spotlight
of being more than our individual selves, more than what society predicts, more
than what our conditioned minds tell us.
Thank
you Voices of the Daring Youth for picking up the mic, for sharing with us your voices, your hope, your critical hope in a time when the world is in desperate need!
On Friday Maya
and I attended the ending of the Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) Conference.
We walked into the middle of the closing plenary: the Grenada Revolution in
Retrospect: Lessons for the Contemporary Caribbean. I began scribbling notes the
moment we sat down, swept away by talk of revolution in general, and then more specifically
within a Caribbean and Grenada context. I was
immediately carried away by the intriguing voice of one of the panelists who
spoke about revolution being a necessary part of our past, present and future.
Without revolution how else would slavery have been toppled, colonialism
dismantled, he expressed.
Revolution
is a process, a universal construct and yet a word that carries such heavy and
uplifting implications depending on who is defining, how it is being defined
and within which context.The danger of
a single story continued to be underlined heavily across my page as the
panelists and audience shared their views. I beleive the majority of us
attending the session would agree the stories shared that afternoon were critical
stories to learn and unlearn from.I walked
away from this forum with questions such as: Why aren’t these stories an important
and critical part of our children and youth’s education? Why has there been to
a large extent national amnesia around Grenada’s revolution? Why is there a
need to escape this part of history when there are so many teachings, so many
lessons to incorporate into ways of moving forward on a community, national and
regional level? Why must we throw away history because we choose to focus on
single stories of Grenada’s revolution and furthermore who dictates what
stories we settle on or for?
After
inhaling the other educational and empowering forums during the afternoon Maya
and I jumped on the bus to head home. While traveling through and over the
Grand Etang we were hit with the popular soca music of today. After being part
of powerful conversations and revolutionary ‘aha’ moments I literally felt hit in
the head by the lyrics busting out of the bus; lyrics like “Massage the pum”, and “Kick in she back door”,
and “How she like it? Real hard” and “I going home with she tonight” and “Drink drink drink..” My mind went to the
revolutionary music during the late 60’s and 70’s and into the 80’s;music inspired by upheaval and change; music
with political,social, racial,
spiritual implications;the rise of
reggae music and soca with political social messages.I couldn’t help think of the state of music given
play time in Grenada today, music drowning any thoughts of revolution, of transformation,
of critical consciousness; music that dehumanizes, trivializes, sexualizes, oppresses
the human race. What happened to the political, spiritual, emotional, class
conscious music of the past? And why aren’t people questioning the shit that is
hitting and dominating the airlines today? Why are we dancing to it, celebrating it, defending
it in the name of freedom of speech, and whose speech, whose freedom? The words
of one of the panelists struck me at that moment,“We must
not contribute to our own stifling, our own dehumanization, our own deliverance
back to the plantation”.
Feeling down
and out after the bus ride Maya and I walked up the old cocoa road on our last
leg home when a jeep full of Caribbean womyn stopped alongside; beautiful
warrior rainbow womyn journeying through the country side after spending a week
at the conference.They were heading to our house to drop the
movie projector I lent them for the launching of the 7th edition of
ARC magazine. They were squished happily into the jeep vibsing on African music
and high from the week spent together. Revolutionary hope was restored as Maya
and I piled into the jeep and inhaled the power within that vehicle, the power
to affect change, the power to revolutionize and transform, the power to ignite
critical hope!!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Building Cultures
of Peace through Spoken Word and Community Yoga
Giving
thanks and praise for the power of yoga and poetry bringing people together
through movement; through mindful attention to the body, mind and emotions;
through words expressing the internal; through
taking poses that lean, balance and depend on one another; through speaking words of
self and others; through being in kinship while bending, stretching, balancing,
twisting, reaching, moving our bodies, our minds.
I give
thanks and praise for the youth who blessed these evenings with presence and
courage; playfulness and strength trusting in the process of words and movement.
I give
thanks and praise for Damarlie Antoine and Malaika
Brooks-Smith-Lowe for facilitating
these powerful sessions and continuing their creative critical work in personal
and social transformation!
Especially when they get mad
No matter how hard you try
No easy way to slip inside
So the solution to get inside
Cause she lock down she house so tight
Whether rain or sun
Morning, noon or night
Is the only way to win this fight.
What to do?
Kick in she back door
Kick in she back door
What ah mean?
Kick um in
And she bawling murder
[more screaming]
Gender Based Violence is Everybody's Business
Over the weeks I have been trying
to understand a few things in relation to gender based violence in Grenada. For
instance I am trying to understand the criticism towards Grenada National
Organization of Women (GNOW) for standing up and against the soca song ‘Kick in She Back Door’ (a song that promoting
violence against women) and why some people think it is a waste of time for
GNOW to pursue this issue. I am also trying to understand those who recognize
gender based violence as a serious problem in Grenada and yet continue to
criticize the work of GNOW and I am trying to understand why many people
believe gender based violence is a women’s issue and therefore the responsibility of women and women’s
organizations alone.
I write in order to understand. For example if people
believe violence against women is wrong; if you as man or woman would be
enraged, frightened, shamed to have your daughter, mother, sister, auntie,
grandmother’s back door kicked in by a man who is trying to get in when he is
not welcomed then you too should be speaking out against this song. This is not
an issue of freedom of speech this is an issue of violent lyrics that are
promoting violence against women. Whether you believe it should come off the
radio or not you should be speaking out. Many critics of GNOW say why this song
and not all the other violent songs. This I believe is a question that must be
asked and reflected upon by all of us. Along with, why are we waiting for GNOW
to do the work? Gender based violence is not a women’s issue it is a social,
health, political, economic, environmental, spiritual issue, it is a ‘we’
issue, a man and woman’s issue. So why aren’t churches, government ministries, non-government
and community organizations, businesses speaking out against this song and
other violent songs.
People question why focus on songs when there are many other
urgent issues to deal with related to gender based violence and this too is
true however I believe without getting at a deeper more critical understanding
of the root causes of gender based violence then the more urgent issues will be
treated at a surface level without understanding where violence comes from. There
are many of us who don’t understand that violence is a learned behaviour. We
learn how to be violent through various socialization processes. Music is one
of them. Music is a huge part of our culture so why not make this song and
other violent songs a place where we begin to bring attention to one of the
ways violence is learned and reinforced. I agree there is no escaping what many
people defend as freedom of speech, however what are we teaching our children
and youth if we are not questioning and critically analyzing these forms of
socialization but rather defending them.
I believe we need to begin critically analysing violence in
all its forms in order to understand how violence is learned and how violence
is reinforced, normalized, glamorized and internalized. We need to teach our
kids and youth critical thinking so they can analyse these songs themselves and
come up with their own means of understanding the negative and violent effects
of songs like ‘Kick Down She Back Door’. Perhaps then it won’t only be women’s
organizations like GNOW speaking out but also men, women, youth, radio
announcers, teachers, ministers of parliament, and church people.
I make a special plea to the men of our society, gender
based violence is your problem too! The major victims of violence are not women
alone it is men too. Men and boys are being murdered, imprisoned, assaulted,
raped by other men. Check out the statistics for yourselves. I believe it is in
everyone’s interest to examine the concept of masculinity and the socialization
of masculinity. Violence is no longer recognized as deviant behaviour but an
accepted form of masculinity. This must change in order for changes to take
place at a personal, community, institutional and cultural level.
We are all responsible for the violence in our society. We
are all responsible for the violence perpetuated by and against men, women,
children and youth.Before you criticize
the work of GNOW please ask yourself what are you doing to stop the violence? Every one
of us must ask ourselves what we are doing to resist, reduce, eliminate
violence in our children, youth, men, and women’s lives. Gender based violence affects all of us. Gender based violence is everybody’s business.
Martin Luther
King once said, ‘It is not the words of our enemies but the silence of our
friends that will hurt us in the end.”
We need to break that silence.
I would like
to give a big ‘Shout Out’ to Mr. Claude Douglas (sociologist, political
analyst, adult educator, inspirational speaker, and author) for taking the time
to facilitate a peace-building session with the young men of Harford
Village.Another big ‘Shout Out’ to the
young men of the community for showing up and sharing their perspectives on
peace and peacelessness on a personal, community and national level.The community session confirmed the essential
need for safe positive spaces where boys and men come together and take part in
the dialogue for peaceful change.
The evening
session began with an activity that enabled young men to explore and examine
different personal states of peace and peacelessness in their lives. Mr. Douglas pointed out that in order to break
the cycle of violence that is prevalent in our families, communities,
workplaces and society on a whole we must address peace on a personal level. “Peace
begins within,” said Mr. Douglas, “If you find and strengthen your own state
of peace than you will not be controlled by what others think or say about you.”
Concluding
the opening activity Mr. Douglas sat in circle with the young men and shared
his perspective based on the participant’s contributions. Mr. Douglas spoke
of the root causes of conflict and violence in men and boy’s lives and
subsequently women’s lives. He spoke of gender socialization and how men/boys
are socialized from a young age to be tough, hard, not to show or speak their
emotions and if they do they are often ridiculed and punished for being weak. Mr. Douglas believes the suppression of
emotions is one reason men and boys find themselves in situations where acts of
uncontrollable violence are the means to deal with conflict.Mr. Douglas also spoke of power relations
and how men and women are taught from an early age that men are superior to
women and that we live in a hierarchal power-driven world where we believe
there is always someone better or less then us. He told the young men repeatedly “Never believe
anyone is better or less then you. We are all equal in our humanness.” Mr.
Douglas believes the socialization of gender roles, attitudes, and behaviour
needs to be addressed on a community and national level.He shared examples from his own marriage and
told the young men he was not afraid to cook, or bake, or wash his wife’s
clothes; he was not afraid to look weak in the eyes of his male friends by
picking up the phone and calling his wife to tell her where he was during the day
or evening.
Mr. Douglas reinforced repeatedly that conflict was an inevitable part of life; however how we deal
with conflict was a choice. He stressed that violence was a choice and that we
needed to teach boys and men alternative non-violent ways to deal with
conflict. The session confirmed the need
to have community sessions where male mentors like Mr. Douglas take the lead in
mobilizing spaces where men and boys come together to unlearn violence and
relearn non-violent ways of being in the world. Mr. Douglas expressed the need
to confront and address socialized gender roles that are deeply affecting our
ability to see one another as equal human beings.
Recently Grenada
has witnessed a continuous cycle of violence from the beating of a Principal by
an 11 year old school boy with a cricket bat, to numerous domestic violent
incidences that resulted in women losing their lives or being seriously
injured, to the incarceration of boys and men for violent crimes. Now more than
ever there isneed to explore, examine,
and create paths to building cultures of peace within our relationships,
families, schools, communities, organizations and country. Thank You Mr.
Douglas for sharing your time, wisdom and compassion and thank you Harford
Village men for being part of the peace process!!!
Giving thanks and praise for my dear friend and sister, Cathy Gerrior. Once again Cathy shares the teachings through personal reflections, a path to helping all of us love one another back to life. With love, respect, and deep gratitude i share hope and healing with you from a very important woman in my life! Blessings. maureen.
In Hopes of Healing
The journey to healing can be
a long and winding road. At least that's
what i thought until recently.
i had the amazing honor of
gathering with residential school survivors for a five day workshop called
"Returning to Spirit". It is an emotionally intense program that
requires the participants to return to that moment in our childhood when our
spirit was broken and our souls scarred by something that happened to us. We learned that we cannot go back in time to
change what happened, but we do have the power to change the impact on our
lives now.
i wonder if you could imagine
what it's like to sit in a room and listen to people speak of the most
unimaginable and unspeakable things that were done to them as innocent
children. The horror deepens with each
story. What is surprising and most
amazing is the genuine love, caring and support shown by these very same people
who were tortured, brutalized, and victimized for much, if not all of their
childhood. It speaks to me deeply about
the resiliency of our people. Despite
everything done to us over seven generations, we are still here.
i have always struggled to
hear these stories from the people who lived them. And when i think it can't get any worse in
terms of the horrors inflicted on them, it does. So much worse. Yet each time someone trusts enough to say it
out loud, it is with the hopes of
healing, both for themselves and for their people.
i recall one story years ago
told by a survivor. She was being beaten very badly after being accused of
speaking her language. In the midst of
that beating, when her face was being smashed into the kitchen counter, she
somehow realized that although they could physically control her, they could not
control what she thought. They couldn't hear
her thoughts so they couldn't reach her there.
She spoke of how that freed her at that moment. She was no longer a helpless victim.
As a child of a survivor i
had my own story to tell and it was not easy either, but so many little
kindnesses happened between us all; a hug, a chant, a song, kind words, a
listening ear, a smile, and a lot of laughter, that it became possible to share
my deepest darkest pain with a whole group of people. We all took the risk together and, it was a
process, but through that process we were able to understand how the impact was
still influencing our lives today. And
we learned how to not just stop it, but to change it.
There is something to be said
for going back in time and looking at an event or situation from the
perspective of an adult. You can learn
to see, and to even believe that it wasn't your fault, that you didn't deserve
what happened to you. You are not bad,
or evil, or unlovable, or that there's not something wrong with you. Bad things do happen to good people and even to
innocent children. That is not our
fault. It is our responsibility though
to give ourselves permission to work through it and to move on, because it is
our lives and our families lives who get punished for it, over and over again
when we don't.
There is so much more to us
than our pain. i learned that
there. Outwardly i was not living my
life as a victim. Inside i still was. i was not reliving the event(s) over in my
head. i was living out the belief that i
had no value that resulted from those things that happened to me. i learned that belief i held was only a story
i created in my head because as a child, that is what made sense. If bad things were happening to me, then it
must be because i'm bad. If no one is
protecting me, then it must because i'm not worth it. i also learned that i quite
like how i feel and think about myself and my world when it is no longer tainted
by that brush. It took only five
days.
We are not finished yet. We will be going back to work on
reconciliation. You see, people
connected with the church took the same workshop the week before we did. They too carry the legacy of the residential
schools and are also in need healing. Differently i think, but perhaps they too
are just as broken. The goal is to bring
the two groups together to complete the healing on both sides. There is much work to be done to accomplish
that in safety for all, but i think we left feeling like it was possible. That maybe anything is possible now.
We heard a saying in this
workshop, 'Love someone to life'. i
think that's what happened over those five days. Through all the anger, tears, shame, and
confusion, we loved each other back to life.
And so now we wait for the
next half of the workshop. With a little
fearfulness, some uncertainty, and perhaps even some anticipation. i believe that each of us though, are looking
to return in hopes of healing.
This reflection
started mid-December after the Connecticut shootings in America
where 20 children and 6 adults were killed by a young man. This reflection started when I heard myself
say “I really don’t understand.” I kept hearing this same sentiment from
friends, strangers in the streets, radio announcers and call in programs. I even
heard these words from Buddhist nun and spiritual mentor, Ani Pema Chodron .
Not
sure what shook me out of my disbelief, out of my not understanding perhaps it
was the image of a friend‘s 10 year old child pointing his plastic gun directly
at her facebook friends from her profile picture; perhaps
it was the interview I watched with film maker Quentin Tarantino who directs and produces violent films under
the disguise of art and who blasted his interviewer recently for suggesting violence in
films perpetuates violence in society;perhaps it was the beginnings of the ‘Idle No
More’ movement and the reminder of a violence that has/is killing
generations of people in many different ways, a history that many of us to do
not want to take responsibility for; perhaps it was the electric blue hard candy
ring my four year old friend was sucking
with such pleasure and happiness; perhaps it was news of the burnt down garment
factory in Bangladesh where 112 workers were killed and where Wallmart purchases
their clothes;perhaps it was a close relative of mine who
blamed the Middle East for violence world-wide; perhaps it was the rapper who
said she believed it is the parents responsibility to censor what their kids
listen to;perhaps it was the man on cbc
call in program who lost his job due to his disability and felt deep
frustration at a system that preached free health care for all;perhaps it was the news of a young man from
our community who is in jail for theft and the unforgiving reaction of some of his
friends and community; perhaps it was the recent news of Obama’s ‘Kill List’ resulting
in bombs being dropped and children being killed in the name of freedom and
democracy; perhaps it was the word ‘crazy’
I began to hear over and over, thrown around carelessly to describe people who displayed
emotions, behaviours, attitudes that did not conform to mainstream; perhaps
it was witnessing the boy down the road crying and being slapped for acting
like a girl.
Perhaps the
time is now to understand we all have the potential to do violence, support
violence, misunderstand violence, promote, ignore and laugh at
violence. And many of us do so under the disguise of freedom of speech, or
constitutional rights, or under the belief that we live in an ideal world where
all kids have parents who will guide them through the violence with critical
minds and open hearts.
Perhaps the
time is now to begin understanding that we live in a ‘connect the dot’ world
where everything effects everything, where all acts of violence exist within a
context; a context that begins in the
centre of all of us and reaches far and wide.
Perhaps it
is not until we realize that much of what we label incomprehensible is
comprehensible and that the time for not understanding is done and the time for
understanding is now.
Dear Friend, Sister, Mi'kmaq Elder/Healer shared with me her reflections last night. Reflections she said that were rattling around in her head related to Idle No More! i said rattle no more can i share them! and she said do as i wish! and my wish is to share them in solidarity with "Idle No More"!
Gving Thanks and Praise for you Cathy Gerrior. One love.
Natives, First
Nations, Aboriginals, Metis, Inuits, Indians. We are called a lot of names.What images come to mind when you hear these
words? Savages, heathens, wagon burners, or maybe scalpers?Perhaps the images invoked now are of
drunken, high, or pitiful bums and freeloaders who inconvenience you with their
protests and blockades?Maybe it's the
uncomfortable emotions that arise as you hear us always speaking of the
Residential Schools or our Treaty Rights.Maybe it's the righteous anger that simmer beneath as you are reminded
that we don't pay taxes, nor seemingly work towards gainful employment, or when
you hear on the news about those chiefs who make huge salaries while their
community continues to live in extreme poverty.
i wonder if anyone ever really thinks about from where and from
whom these images and negative feelings have been generated?Or to what motive or gain is behind the
creation of these images. i often wonder
about these things when people feel they have the right to accost me and demand
answers or to inflict their privileged and narrow views on me.i wonder too what they are so afraid of.
These images are not who or what we are.We are a proud people who know through many centuries
of teachings that the Earth is our Mother, the Sky is our Father, the Moon is
our Grandmother, and the Sun is our Grandfather.We know that all life, from the smallest
grains of sand to the Eagles that fly high above us, to those that dwell under
the earth as well as in the rivers and oceans, they are our Sisters and
Brothers.We know that we are neither
more, nor less important than they.And
we know that it has always been, and always will be our responsibility to be
caretakers of this land and its many life sources.
We know that for generations we have been lied to, cheated,
slaughtered, illegally forced from our lands and onto reservations, survived attempted
genocides, had our children stolen from us and violated, were marginalized and
kept in poverty.And all the while, we
were the ones who were villianized and called the savages. Why?Simply put, they wanted our land and
resources. They turned us into the bad guys in the eyes of their own people in
order to distract from their own actions and to legitimize their theft and
other atrocities.
But that is not what this is about.
This is about our present and future.This is about our people standing up, not
only for ourselves, but for our children and generations of our grandchildren.We stand up for our Mother the Earth and All
who dwell on her.We do not seek the
land that you live on, or your homes.We
are asking only to be treated respectfully. To be given the right to have a say
about our own lands.To have our
Treaties honored - Treaties that were created and agreed to by both of our
Ancestors.
i have heard many say that they have done nothing to us
personally, so why do they have to be bothered by this.That may be true.It was indeed your ancestors and not you
personally who did these things.i say
to you now that you have benefitted from your Ancestors actions and you continue
to benefit from them.We still do
not.To those people i ask, What have
you personally done for us to undo the harms and to share in the benefits?
The time for change is here.We are standing up now for what is right and fair, for both our People
andfor our Mother the Earth.Thanks to you all who stand together with us
at this time.Let us be "Idle No
More" and may we all have a brighter today and tomorrow, with all of us
benefitting in this land and all of working to protect it.Tahoe.
Kids and facilitators from peace camp, Halifax, NS. 2010
"No one is
healed until everyone is healed" Chogyam
Trungpa Ripoche
Alice Walker
once wrote that until we start caring for children other than our own than none
of our children will be safe. And so I
wonder,contemplate,reflect …
How do we
care for the children and youth of this world who don’t have access to the same
privileges/opportunities that many of us have and take for granted ? How do we
care for children and youth who do not have safe positive spaces (that many of
us have) to explore discover and exercise their inherent goodness? How do we care for children and youths who,
based on race, religion, sexual orientation, class, physical, emotional and
mental needs are part of oppressive, unjust, inequitable violent systems and
structures that keep them from finding and blooming into their full potential?
How do we care for children and youths who don’t fit the so called norm, norms
that restrict bold and courageous children and youth, who if embraced, affirmed, accepted,
respected could teach us ‘normal’ people how to stretch ourselves more fully
into creative non ‘normal’ people?How
do we care for children and youth who choose violent paths out of frustration, anger,
habitual patterns that continue to cycle? How do we care for children and youth who lack
mentors, positive role models to guide them through a steady diet of violence that
ranges from multinational prepackaged food (poison), to the endless stream of violent
tv, movies, music, video games, and internet? How do we care for
children and youth when there are ‘power over’ people who believe violence in popular
culture is fantasy not reality and therefor does not affect the youth in the
violent choices they make just as the gun advocates believe there is no co
relation between accessibility to guns and the violence happening in the
streets, schools, movie theatres, shopping malls?
The time is
now to reflect and act on the many questions affecting our youth
today so that all our children worldwide can find spaces to heal, transform, blossom into the inherent strong,
good, worthy beings they are and have a right to be.
Aung San Suu Kyi Burma
Nasrin Sotoudeh Iran
Mary Robinson Ireland
Buffy Saint-Marie Canadian-American Cree
