[WAsummit] US for All of Us

[Sharon Martinas]

Hey Jeff,

	Thank you very much for your email. And for sharing your experience  
of this process. That inspired me to share mine:

	 As one anti-racist white activist who has had the powerful  
experience of being part of the conversations around the strategy and  
messaging of the Statement of Commitment since mid September, I can  
'testify' that the process of developing the Statement was one of the  
most impressive learning experiences I have gone through for many years.

	There were numerous long conversations by email and conference  
calls,  drafts and re-drafts of the Statement of Commitment, different  
approaches from white anti-racist activists doing different kinds of  
work, in different constituencies, and in different parts of the  
country. The facilitators of each call and email, in my personal  
experience, were exemplary in treating each differing opinion with  
great respect, openness, with the goal of developing a genuine  
consensus.  Throughout the process, many activists consulted with  
their comrades of color about the strategy and the messaging with the  
goal of keeping accountability to organizers of color both in our  
theory and in our practice.

	Speaking very personally, as an old fashioned 'ideologue' in this  
work of challenging white supremacy, I often listened to these various  
opinions and said to myself, "Oh, I can't agree with that. I don't  
think I would want to work with that person."    And then, another  
inner voice said, "Sharon, just keep listening.  Maybe you'll learn  
something."  So I kept listening.

	And what I have learned is how difficult and delicate it is to begin  
the process of organizing a national anti-racist network; whose core  
is mostly white anti-racist organizers, activists, educators and  
trainers; and who struggle to be accountable to, and take leadership  
from, different organizers and organizations of color.  Since I have  
not experienced anything similar to this since the heydays of Students  
for a Democratic Society, and the Friends of SNCC, back in the early  
to mid 1960s,'  I would have said, before the fall of 2009, this  
effort is absolutely impossible.

	Now, I find myself re-reading and re-applying the amazing wisdom of  
Anne Braden, when she said, "To build multi-racial organizations in a  
racist society is virtually impossible.  Impossible means it just  
takes a little longer."
	 (from 'Inside-Out and Upside-Down: An Interview with Anne Braden' by  
June Rostan. Color Lines, Spring 2001. http://www.arc.org/C_Lines/CLArchive/story4_1_02.html)

	Please please do not mistake my use of her quote.  I am NOT saying  
that Building a US for all of us is an effort to build a multi-racial  
organization!  What I am taking from her wisdom is that, "Impossible  
means it just takes a little longer."  And reflecting on that wisdom  
gives me great hope in these troubled times.

	much love, respect and solidarity to you all, sharon martinas

On Jan 15, 2010, at 3:55 AM, Jeff Hitchcock wrote:

>
> I’m on the strategy committee for US for All of Us and also helping  
> with tech support for the project. There is at least one other  
> person from the strategy committee on this list as well. It’s  
> helpful to me to hear this conversation, and if people have any  
> thoughts or concerns about the US for All of Us project, I’d like to  
> hear them. I can’t promise to establish a dialogue with the  
> planners. Working on US for All of Us, it feels like there are not  
> enough people to do the work. That’s just to say it’s like most  
> social justice efforts. We’re focused on several immediate  
> simultaneous demands on our time just to get the project going.  
> Also, I was not part of the original dialogue and planning among the  
> people who drafted the statement, so I can’t speak from experience  
> about what the statement writers discussed.
>
> I do know that discussion was long, and probably wide ranging, so I  
> would not be surprised if the matter of it being a white-identified  
> effort was discussed. Now that the statement has been drafted, there  
> is no thought of going back and revising it. Maybe in time something  
> like that will happen. But we have our hands full trying to build on  
> the work that created the statement itself.
>
> I’m not sure if the issue Lou raised can be resolved. There seems to  
> be two approaches to white anti-racism, one being to eschew white  
> identity and the other being to work from within it. Somehow I feel  
> they are both directed to the same end, but in the here and now,  
> they seem incompatible. This is not the only contradiction that has  
> arisen among people working for racial justice. The black community,  
> for instance, has long had a debate over integration vs black  
> nationalism (Martin vs Malcolm), and yet historically it has been  
> able to hold both views.
>
> It’s clear to me the US for All of Us effort is white-identified.  
> Aside from that I think there is a willingness to embrace all views  
> that are directed toward achieving racial justice. People will have  
> to decide for themselves if they are willing to place themselves in  
> the frame of the statement or not. There is a feeling that we are  
> still working out the details, so some things may change or be  
> clarified as we move ahead. But the US for All of Us statement  
> itself will probably stay as is for now. Our concern now is how to  
> shape and grow a network. What will that look like? How can it be a  
> vehicle for encouraging anti-racist action?
>
> --Jeff
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