[WAsummit] DPEEP, accountability and the role of allies

[Louisa Davis]

Sharon,  You are such an inspiring and strong voice for reality and
accountability, I¹m really appreciating this opportunity for learning and
companionship in the way of honest feedback and respectful engagement.

So toward ³being progressively less stupid²-- as Marshall Rosenberg coaches,
I¹m wondering if you and others on this list might hang in with me  as I
explain what I think I am holding/dealing with?  And share your best
insights, hopes and practices?  I think we are on the same page... both
Iantha and Ron, who are my main two partners/teachers on the DPEEP outreach
team are black activists  and the primary facilitators of the whole process
(including I believe a few other members of this list)‹Iantha, the paid
consultant/facilitator, more through a long history with mainline
environmental groups starting with the Forest Service, and Ron of CHE, from
the EJ side  is a former program director /organizer at the Highlander
Center and  with Southern Empowerment Project, now up here near me in DC
area.

Like many white activist types,  I am tremendously privileged to be able to
³volunteer² more time, that is, to be able to spend much less of my time
working to meet my immediate needs for sustainability unlike Iantha and Ron
and the other 95% of the world. Although by many eyes, we are all more or
less ³middle class² --me, duh, a lot more securely  (clinically?) middle
class.

Since I have taken something of an indefinite ³sabbatical² to develop our
local gwair.org  interfaith antiracism alliance /a karma thing for me as the
descendent of slaveowners‹and I have a few fancy titles (formerly Rev. and
Dr) that help me network with more confidence, credibility and breadth (and
internalized superiority) than the average bear,  I find myself doing three
things as an ally to support this effort  (slowly developing since end of
October as  a group of mostly professional environmental staff that is about
two-thirds white, and about 50-50 identified with environmental justice(EJ)
versus ³environmental movement²/EM (a racial mix on this front.)

What I try to do as an ally in this setting...

1) I try to do or be open to do more than ³my share² of the LEGWORK
(arranging calls, connecting emails, rough drafts) but without going over 1)
the line of joyful giving and i2) into patronizing/sacrificial ³look at how
much I do for you²  codependence/colonialism.  I do this with a fair amount
of self-interest‹for learning, for my love of the earth and for my  longing
for glimpses of the solidarity and world I want to live in.

2)  I try to take the antiracism ³heat² by expressing my concerns/NAMING
PRIVILEGED ASSUMPTIONS that I don¹t think fit or hear the realities/needs of
underserved/adversely impacted communities.  I have chosen to speak up again
and again to remind/re-emphasize inclusion ³early and often² to counter the
typical rush to be powerful and professional  but that push is strong, and
not terrible‹just hard to slow down enough to get new voices in early.

3) Knowing WHEN TO BE SILENT and when to speak up is the hardest part of
this work for me, and frankly, growing up in the South with three brothers,
I know I err on speaking up. So I am constantly trying to hold back,
monitoring who is being heard and directly/explicitly asking for/building on
what our more silent partners of color are thinking or saying.  I hope as
much as possible, when I speak up,  it is to support leaders of color but
sometimes it¹s to try to ³speaking the unspoken² ... Like wondering outl oud
if this ³will fly² among white working class folk, etc.

4) The trickiest thing before us now is noticing and QUESTIONING  THE FLOW
OF MONEY AND DECISION-MAKING which  is not very transparent or, I¹m hoping,
well-established yet, except by past precedent. The Nature Conservancy, a
very white privileged/land= ³environment² based movement, ³lends² strong
white-identified staff, including their development person to fundraising.
This is where I sense there are conflicts of interest, between the mainline
environmental/EM  groups and the EJ partners in the past, but also between
the leaders of color who would like to be rewarded

However, toward something like fairness or nonviolent communication, I don¹t
want to say that the EM people who are mostly white are wrong or bad...they
are meeting the same needs for effectiveness, contribution, sustainability,
and hope for the future that many of us long for.  They don¹t meet my
needs/longing for a sense of mutuality, interdependence and compassion for
those who suffer disproportionately...but I want them to feel respected/met
at the table as well.

So I¹m in this work, trying to be led by God (the divine energy of life
mattering) in partnership with those most adversely affected by racism and
capitalism and colonial exploitation of the environment but also trying to
stay focused on what will serve life the best and meet the most possible
needs-- which may well be the needs of the most vulnerable and with you, I
throw my lot with the oppressed humans...thanks for helping me into naming
that.

Hope this is a contribution, and not taken as if I know for sure what I¹m
doing...just that I¹m trying to be aware/proactive...and at least ³make new
mistakes² not the same old ones.

For courage in the struggle,  Louisa

On 3/11/10 3:09 PM, "Sharon Martinas" <cws at igc.org> wrote:

> Hey Louisa,
> 
> Which grassroots environmental justice groups with deep roots in working class
> communities of color are involved in the leadership visioning and planning of
> this event from the get go?
> 
>    If they aren't yet at the leadership table; or are at the table but not in
> a position to exercise leadership (i.e., they are there as tokens)  but get
> added as an 'outreach' item, I think that, despite your good intentions, your
> conference is not gonna be able to reach its admirable goals.
> 
> And as for a call for 'white allies,'  it's also admirable.  But if these
> allies cant look to the leadership from environmental justice organizations of
> color because they are neither in the leadership, nor even at the table;
> with whom, then, are the anti-racist white allies supposed to 'ally'?
> 
> Just some questions of concern.
> 
> In solidarity,
> sharon martinas
> 
> On Mar 11, 2010, at 11:15 AM, Louisa Davis wrote:
> 
>>  Still totally juiced by the Howard Zinn¹s tenure without compromise (and act
>> of God?) story....
>>  
>>  And, this is old, but I don¹t think anyone has celebrated Van Jones coming
>> back from being pushed out of the White House last September by racist
>> pissing match with Fox News. He is staying here in DC and has two new power
>> podiums‹Princeton and Center for American Progress!   Totally meets my needs
>> for coming through the fire, not giving up and leveraging powerful cultural
>> capital for those who need it.
>>  
>>  SEE 
>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/23/AR20100223048
>> 89.html
>>  
>>  And, most importantly, I want to tell you about and involve you (or your
>> feedback) in  the DIVERSE PEOPLE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS
>> SUMMIT:  I¹m a volunteer, coordinating the Outreach team, working with Iantha
>> Gantt-Wright of the Kenian Group who is the paid organizer/consultant, and
>> about 25-30 others from environmental groups all over the country.
>>  
>>  This is about making sure the green job and environmental movement really
>> includes and responds to needs of workers, youth and communities of color AND
>> has the political heft to stand up to the rapaciousness of corporate,
>> develop-driven and media-hypnotized America.
>>  
>>  We need:
>>   1) names of antiracist/environmental justice organizations to partner with
>> regionally‹still early in planning stages: DC/Midatlantic  (May!?) ,
>> USSF/Detroit/Great Lakes in June?  then Atlanta, Texas, Portland, and New
>> England.
>>  2) spread the word/outreach help and connections to folks to get to the
>> tables of the one day regional roundtables that will happen/be scheduled the
>> second half of this year. Website in the works.
>>  3) We also need  more white antiracist allies who are able to help bridge
>> the gaps of understanding and skills for really including and listening (etc)
>> between well-intentioned predominantly white progressive/liberal
>> environmentalists and frustrated activists of color/low-income workers whose
>> well-being has not been as treasured as much as that of the whales, horned
>> owls and odd wilderness areas in Idaho.
>>  4) leads on foundation and local monies/in-kind donations....you know the
>> deal.
>>  
>>  Background:  This is the third DPEP summit in 10 years, funded by the Green
>> Group of major national environmental groups (with Hewlett Packard/Ford money
>> in the past). They are intent on building partnership and I sense more and
>> less genuinely interested/concerned about learning how to overcome barriers
>> to inclusion and partnerships with civil rights, community organizing and
>> workers,  youth and health rights groups. It¹s not always easy to slow them
>> down for the kind of inclusion that really works...but we¹re trying!
>>  
>>  For more info, contact me (louisaldavis at verizon.net) or other members of the
>> Outreach/Inclusion team,  Iantha, igwright at earthlink.net  or Ron, Center for
>> Health and Environmental Justice  (davisbuildscommunity at gmail.com).
>>  
>>  Things are just coming together so please be patient...and persistent.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  Louisa L. Davis, M.Div., Ph.D.
>>  Everyone Matters, LLC-pending
>>  11330 Dockside Circle
>>  Reston, VA 20191
>>  
>>  H) 703/860-1203
>>  C & O) 240/338-5156
>>  
>>  ³Somewhere in the heart of experience there is an order and a coherence
>> which we might surprise if we are attentive enough, loving enough or patient
>> enough.²  -- Lawrence Durrell from Marilyn Paul, Its Hard to Make a
>> Difference When You Can¹t Find Your Keys
>>   
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> 
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-- 
Louisa L. Davis, M.Div., Ph.D.
Everyone Matters, LLC-pending
11330 Dockside Circle
Reston, VA 20191

H) 703/860-1203
C & O) 240/338-5156

³Somewhere in the heart of experience there is an order and a coherence
which we might surprise if we are attentive enough, loving enough or patient
enough.²  -- Lawrence Durrell from Marilyn Paul, Its Hard to Make a
Difference When You Can¹t Find Your Keys

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