Bearing Witness: Experiments in Decolonization

SHIFTS

2012-01-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

I've always really enjoyed the journey. Yes, getting "there" has been important too but my real joys are found along the way. And, really, do we ever really know where "there" is? My adventures in decolonization have been no exception. Only a few months ago I was all raring to jump into work with CPT's Aboriginal Justice Team. Over the last few months other realities have been surfacing. It slowly became obvious that the team was full and probably wouldn't be needing anyone else for some time. My desire to get my hands dirty working non-violently against injustices did not abate. I kept my heart's antenna primed to alert me to other opportunities that could feed my passion. It was in this awareness that I entered the month long CPT training. Not sure how this whole affair would end I began to cultivate anxiety around the creeping void of not knowing.

CPT currently works in four conflict zones; Iraq, Palestine, Colombia and in North America working along side of Indigenous communities struggling for justice. I had ruled out Palestine because even though I support the Palestinians as they struggle against the occupation perpetrated by Israel, It's the most popular of the projects and the interest is enormous. The Iraq work is interesting to me but I just wasn't feeling tugged in that direction. Then we had a member of the Colombia team come to the training and tell the story of the Colombian struggle. I was sold. The people, the land, the plight. At that point I decided that traipsing around in Colombia was for me! So all that to say that I'm aiming to join the team in Barrancabermeja. This is a big shift from wanting to work on the Aboriginal Justice Team in Canada. I hope it doesn't come as too much of a shock to those who I've been talking to about my CPT work. It's interesting when you begin to really look at Colombia and North American Aboriginal Justice side by side. The issues that they are struggling against grow from the same poisoned root: colonialism. In the case of the North American Indigenous it's slow yet obvious genocide. For the Colombian, farmer or Indigenous, it's economic colonization (after decades of good ol' fashioned European colonization) propagated by the west, lead by U.S. multinationals utilizing weapons like NAFTA and paramilitary muscle. I want to be there and do what I can. I hope you'll come along for the journey. That's were my head and heart is right now. Hoping to put my hands to the plow and not look back.

2012-01-03T18:42:00.001-08:00

I arrived in Chicago 8 days ago for my training with CPT. I've thrown all I have at this. It definitely feels as though I'm pushing on into the next chapter of my life. I think I'm just getting to a place where I want my choices to be full of integrity. It sounds cheesy to say something like "I feel like I've come home". But the reality is, I do feel like I'm someplace that I belong. And I don't mean geographically. I suppose you could say it's a philosophical homecoming. But that doesn't really capture the essence either. Maybe its more like the way a bear might feel after a long hibernation; hungry, restless, perhaps a little pissed, but completely at home in, and familiar with his environment.

All the challenges I've faced so far, and there have been many, have been internal. Tomorrow I face a very real and physical challenge; I will be participating in a civil disobedience at the courthouse in downtown Chicago. Guantanamo Bay Prison will have been open for 10 years as of tomorrow and we want it shut down. Torture, indefinite detention, denial of civil rights and human rights. These are just a few of the atrocities that have been part of this decade long moral disaster. I'm humbled to be part of this action. I'm definitely an interloper in this campaign against torture and abuse. There are people from Amnesty International, White Rose Catholic Worker and Witness Against Torture among others that have been working to shut down Gitmo for years. I walk in solidarity. I'm standing for my Muslim brothers who have no voice. It's the kind of choice I hope to be able to make many more times. It's the kind of choice I hope we all start making. I'm not sure I have the strength to do it. I have the strength for today. I pray for strength tomorrow. I'm week and broken. But today is all we are guaranteed. Making the choice to be human today is all that we can be faithful to. So many cries have reached my ears, I hope I can give voice to them.

2011-12-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

So just to put it all on the table. I have 26 days until I leave for my training with CPT. My fundraising is going about as slow as it possibly could. I have 3 books to read and all the other prep it takes to leave for a month. In short, I'm feeling rather anxious about the whole affair. My passion for the work and knowledge of what needs to be done continues to grow but like any relationship the more you give into it the more vulnerable you become. I'm desperately afraid of being rejected. Or, what if I fail? What if I get into a situation where I can't do what's required? All these thoughts are ricocheting around in my head like stray bullets. There is so much work to do. I want to be a part of it. And that desire is greater than my fear. The power of the process and importance of the work propels me forward. Trying to live with no regrets is a strong motivator.

Sorry I'm rambling, all that to say that I think for myself and anyone else who gives a shit about what's happening to life and what sustains it, it's time to cast off fear. It's time to put our hands to the plow and not look back. When the black Night of Death comes for you, what will you have left behind? The carbon footprint the size of a small country? Or momentum towards change? We need to grow weary of being part of the problem. Do something. This is all we get. We're a fraction of an eye blink in the story of this planet. Yet so much can be done in those few short years, positive or negative. Join with me to create space for sustainability and love. To push back the ever increasing forces that threaten to swallow us and the planet up.

Ecology and the Indigenous Struggle

2011-11-25T12:27:00.001-08:00

‎"Be willing to fight and sacrifice everything you presently have to obtain a better future." Bob Lovelace, former Ardoch Algonquin First Nations Chief

So I spent a week in Toronto, Ontario at the Indigenous Sovereignty Week event hosted by Defenders of the Land. There is so much that could be said about what I heard and saw in regards to what the Aboriginal Community in Canada is doing in the struggle for their basic human rights. But I the one nail driven home again and again in my mind was that if we, the human race, are to find our way out of the ecological nightmare we've gotten ourselves into we must absolutely follow the old pathways and wold view of pre-civilized, tribal peoples. As Bob Lovelace puts it, "We must re-indigenize ourselves."

The human-centric wold view of the civilized west has thoroughly disconnected us from nature. The combative stance of modern man in relation to "the other" especially the natural world has been from the beginning, and continues to be, unsustainable. The water is dying, the forests and jungles are dying, the animals are dying. The human race is poisoning all that sustains it. Man's posture and wold view of exploitation propels us forward towards an ecological apocalypse.

Time is short. Turtle Island (earth) has precious little time before absolutely nothing can be done. If that time isn't already upon us. Nothing short of a complete perceptive shift must occur. This shift must be broad based and wide spread. It's the shift from a world view that places man clearly at the center of history to one that sees the connectedness and interdependent of all life on Turtle Island. Human kind is neither the center nor the apex, but one piece of a beautiful whole. Said differently, this is a shift from a "civilized" world view to a "primitive" one. Going back is the only way forward. Re-indigenizing is the crucial first step toward a healed and healthy world.‎

And Begin. . .

2011-11-15T13:49:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Toronto last night to begin my head long leap into the jaws of violence reduction and humanitarian activism. The Defenders of the Land are hosting a 2 week long event in Toronto to raise awareness for Indigenous land rights issues and sovereignty. It feels like a huge privilege to be a part of it and do what I can to help out. I will be blogging with reflections soon. . . stay tuned. . .

Some History

2011-11-09T18:40:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, I participated in a CPT delegation to Kenora, Ontario last spring to work with the Anishinabe People. They are one of many indigenous groups fighting to keep their culture and way of life alive. I thought I would publish an excerpt from the trip report. I hope you find it eye opening. . . . .

"Most of us have long suspected the deep systemic racism inherent in U.S. and
Canadian colonialism. However, Monday proved to be an intensive on the subject.
We drove from Grassy to Kenora to meet with Sallie Hunt from the Northwest
Community Legal Clinic. The clinic offers free legal services to the marginalized in
the Kenora Community. The Aboriginal community is the most marginalized and
therefore utilizes the services of the clinic more than other groups in Kenora. Sallie
explained with bright clarity the plight of the Indian community of Kenora. In
particular, she told stories about categorical racist treatment of the native
population by both the white community as well as the police. These stories were
confirmed and reiterated in different forms through out our trip. Everything from
reports of mysterious incidents of natives being found in the frozen lakes with out
any knowledge as to how they got there to out right refusal to let natives into places
of business. The reality of the situation was slowly becoming clear, and it was
deeply troubling. An afternoon visit to the courthouse was all it took to confirm our
deepest fears. Every person working for the courts, from the judge to the bailiff to
the layers were white. And every defendant that we saw come up for arraignment
was aboriginal. When we walked though the waiting area, again, all those waiting
for a hearing were native. The contrast was stark, and it was shocking. The painful
reminders continued as we met with the staff of the Kenora Sexual Assault Centre.
90% of there clients are aboriginal. Hearing the stories of abuse and violence was
sobering and drove us deeper into contemplation of the deep generational pain of
this once numerous and culturally powerful people. Colonial devastation at “ground
zero” was beginning to feel visceral and painfully obvious."

2011-11-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

We seek our whole lives for meaning. Even when we deny it, that questing remains doggedly with us. This has been consciously true for me. This searching has been a staple in my existential diet since grade school. And yes, there has definitely been some astounding finds along the way. But the Journey continues. What I document in this blog will be the account of the next season of that quest. And I go seeking at the core of this Caucasian heart; I'm adventuring in the territory of colonization. Or, less metaphorically, I'm seeking ways to undo the humanitarian damage done by European Colonization over the last several centuries. Because within these answers I expect to also find a pathway back to a more humane existence.

By way of "Heart on my Sleeve" openness, I want to be clear about who I am, where I've been and where the hell I'm going. Or at least where I think I'm going. I am ostensibly a white man. Regardless of my ethnic heritage I have experienced the world as, and participated in the privileges of, a white male. I come from an evangelical back ground and consider myself a spiritual person. I would say that I am a follower of the teacher Jesus. But also am guided by truths from other sources, which I intend to dig into from time to time through this blog. I have fluctuated in and out of existential crisis during my entire life. I've come to accept this as a normal state for me.

One thing remains steadfast, the belief that there is a way to be more human. To say it clearly; participating in suffering, violence, destruction of the earth, exploitation of other sentient beings etc, I consider to be behavior that is less than human. Love, forgiveness, reconciliation, creativeness, generosity and inner and outer peace I believe to be the path to a truly human existence. I've also discovered, as a white male living in the first world of the 21st century, I am inextricably involved in the suffering of the past several hundred years. I've come to the heart-wrenching realization that I benefit from colonization. In an effort to work toward a more humane world, I begin my journey with the Christian Peacemaker Teams seeking to undo colonization.

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), strives to work with grassroots, indigenous communities all over the world. Usually at the behest of the communities themselves. CPT "offers an organized, nonviolent alternative to war and other forms of lethal inter-group conflict. CPT provides organizational support to persons committed to faith-based nonviolent alternatives in situations where lethal conflict is an immediate reality or is supported by public policy." This winter I begin my physical and intellectual adventure with CPT. It begins in earnest in January as I enter the month long CPT training in Chicago. I hope to document what I see, think and feel about the effects of global colonization by the "west" and what CPT is doing to combat it. Also hoping to challenge you to deny your own involvement and white privilege.

There are things you can be doing now to travel with us on the journey. CPT and myself need encouragement and financial support. Some people and groups such as my family, my partner, Heidi, and Jonathan at Clintonville Outfitters have already been amazing and generous to me as I seek to serve oppressed communities both in North America and abroad. If you wish to contribute in this way please contact me and we can discuss it further. I look forward to the documentation process and the feedback I hope to receive. Until next time. . . Shalom.

Michael Tawd