Our pain does not need to be the same pain

“Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future. Solidarity involves commitment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we do live on common ground.” - Sara Ahmed

solidarity across sameness or difference?

Lately I've been thinking about how international solidarity draws on both models of Christian and Labor solidarity. To super simplify it, it seems to me that Christian solidarity often talks about connection across difference, whereas labor solidarity emphasizes sameness, as do some other forms solidarity, like youth or black solidarity.

So how then do groups like School of the Americas Watch negotiate these different traditions? Thinking of our different takes on solidarity in this way sheds new light for me on the thinking I published in this article.

No quick answers yet, but for the record, my experience with folks who do Christian solidarity (eg CPT) is that it is not just about solidarity with Christians, and can be decidedly more radical than CSW. I'm looking forward to reading Jon Sobrino's work on Christian solidarity. All the more so now that the Vatican has officially said they don't like it!

International solidarity is “not an act of charity but an act of unity between allies fighting on different terrains toward the same objectives.” - Samora Machel

another accompanier killed in Palestine

This is a video of Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian ISM accompanier murdered in Gaza on April 14 2011 by Palestinian militants.

the perils of privilege

The fabulous Naomi Klein uses the great turn of phrase "perils of privilege" in this talk, below. Well worth listening to while you wash the dishes or what have you.

solidarity for the right to express solidarity

so inspiring! thanks to my fabulous stepmom Helen Fox for this one. this video is the first in a series of clips that the Coalition of Women for Peace has produced as part of their campaign against the Prohibition of Boycott Bill, which is currently in the Israeli Knesset and would criminalize the nonviolent action of boycott (which Palestinians have widely called for as an act of solidarity)


Some Background (from the Coalition)


According to the original version of this bill, persons who initiate, promote, or publish material that might serve as grounds for imposing a boycott are committing a crime may be ordered to compensate parties economically affected by that boycott, including fixed reparations of 30,000 shekels, without an obligation of the plaintiffs to prove damages. If the felon is a foreign citizen, he may be banned from entering for a period of 10 years or from doing business in Israel; and if it is a foreign state, Israel may not repay the debts it owes that state, and use the money to compensate offended parties; that state may additionally be banned from conducting business affairs in Israel. The measures shall apply one year retroactively.

The narrow version which eventually passed the first reading does not include clauses pertaining to foreign citizens and states. It also does not include anyone who provided information but rather anyone who actively partakes in a boycott.

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation rejected the chapters pertaining to foreign citizens and states, probably out of consideration for Israel’s foreign relations, and also rejected the retroactive clause.

On March 7 2011 the bill passed its first reading in the plenum. Will be further discussed in the Constitution Committee and prepared for its second-third (final) vote in the plenum.

solidarity photos

powerful. try to imagine a native person getting on TED and getting away with saying this. showing this. a great use of his access to this space. both spaces. very well done.

A Confession

I stand between the shame and relief
I breathe............
The missiles missed this time
Truth is , they didin't miss entirely
Someone's house is destroyed
but not the house I know so well
Someone's family is grieving
but not the one whose name I carry
I linger between my shame and relief
I breathe
I.....breathe
I tell myself
"This flesh, torn and scattered,
is not flesh I have ever embraced,"
I soothe myself,
"nor are these small lifeless hands
the ones with a crayon I've traced".
I ...breathe...this time
the missiles missed
those whose names are engraved on my lips.
This time they didn't stop those hearts beating in my chest.
They live.....
I breathe.
But I must confess
Every time the bombs fall on Gaza
I search for answers
Where did they strike?
Which street did they blow up?
Which neighbourhood did they destroy?
Which lives did they steal?
Aware of my guilt I whisper a prayer
Dear God, please don't let it be the ones I love.
Ya Allah......
Ya Allah......
And when it's over
And when the less fortunate ones weep
I stand between shame and relief.
I breathe.....
I breathe.....
Thank God my loved ones....are spared
This time.
- Samah Sabawi

Poem published here by the Palestine Chronicle, a great resource. Thanks to Simon Dalby for pointing me to this poem and the book, "The Journey to Peace in Palestine" which Samah Sabawi co-authored, with Bill Baldwin. Samah was born in Gaza and lives as a refugee in Australia. Bill was in Palestine as an accompanier with Christian Peacemaker Teams.

solidarity fatigue

I have posted before about empathy fatigue, and heard the term 'compassion fatigue'used regarding caregivers - but is there such a thing as 'solidarity fatigue'? This article using the term got widely picked up by other sites, particularly in the Catholic network. The article does not explain the term but says:

""For many, Colombia equals coffee and drugs", said Presbyterian theologian Milton Mejía. Those stereotypes are compounded by a decades-long internal armed conflict that "seems to be worsening constantly", Mejía added, the result being "a widespread loss of interest and fatigue".

According to Mejía, who coordinates the Observatory of Church and Society at the Reformed University of Barranquilla, this solidarity fatigue affects even international organizations towards which Colombians turn for support. As a consequence, Colombians face difficulties when trying to explain the extent and urgency of the humanitarian crisis in their country."

Is there a difference between solidarity fatigue and empathy fatigue? I don't know, to me solidarity fatigue makes me think more of activist burnout than what Milton is describing above. As in being tired of making a fist, of holding hands up high.

crazy map of new US military construction in Latin America

Well, the map itself isn't crazy, it's quite smart. What's crazy is that the amount of military construction in Latin America planned by the Pentagon for this year has doubled since 2009. How often have you seen that mentioned in mainstream media coverage of Obama's trip? Kudos to FOR for developing an annotated map of current and planned U.S. military construction in Latin America based on publicly available information on federal contracts. Check out the map here or below. Looks like US Empire feels like it needs to retrench in its back yard.


View US military construction sites in Latin America, 2010-2011 in a larger map

Foucault on solidarity

Thanks to Wes for pointing me to this, previously posted here.

We are just private individuals here, with no other grounds for speaking, or for speaking together, than a certain shared difficulty in enduring what is taking place.

Of course, we accept the obvious fact that there's not much that we can do about the reasons why some men and women would rather leave their country than live in it. The fact is beyond our reach.

Who appointed us, then? No one. And that is precisely what constitutes our right. It seems to me that we need to bear in mind three principles that, I believe, guide this initiative, and many others that have preceded it: the Ile-de-Lumiere, Cape Anamour, the Airplane for El Salvador, Terre des Hommes, Amnesty International.

1. There exists an international citizenship that has its rights and its duties, and that obliges one to speak out against every abuse of power, whoever its author, whoever its victims. After all, we are all members of the community of the governed, and thereby obliged to show mutual solidarity.

2. Because they claim to be concerned with the welfare of societies, governments arrogate to themselves the right to pass off as profit or loss the human unhappiness that their decisions provoke or their negligence permits. It is a duty of this international citizenship to always bring the testimony of people's suffering to the eyes and ears of governments, sufferings for which it's untrue that they are not responsible. The suffering of men must never be a silent residue of policy. It grounds an absolute right to stand up and speak to those who hold power.

3. We must reject the division of labor so often proposed to us: individuals can get indignant and talk; governments will reflect and act. It's true that good governments appreciate the holy indignation of the governed, provided it remains lyrical. I think we need to be aware that very often it is those who govern who talk, are capable only of talking, and want only to talk. Experience shows that one can and must refuse the theatrical role of pure and simple indignation that is proposed to us. Amnesty International, Terre des Hommes, and Medecins du monde and initiatives that have created this new right-- that of private individuals to effectively intervene in the sphere of international policy and strategy. The will of individuals must make a place for itself in a reality of which governments have attempted to reserve a monopoly for themselves, that monopoly which we need to wrest from them little by little and day by day.

-Michel Foucault (1984)
On the occassion of the announcement in Geneva of the creation of an International Committee against Piracy

great news and a beautiful solidarity campaign

I have blogged several times here asking for your solidarity for my friend Martha Giraldo. Today the sergeant who killed her dad was found guilty, and they officially declared her dad not a guerilla. She will continue to press charges against the other 7 army men involved, but this is a great start. An important victory to celebrate in dark times. Thanks to all for helping me support her struggle, part of our greater struggle for truth and justice in this world.

And now for another moment of beauty. The organization Martha is involved in, the Movement of Victims of State Crimes in Colombia would like a photo of your feet please. Join them on their big march for justice in the streets this Saturday by sending photos of your feet around the world. Send a photo of your feet to m6vida@gmail.com by Saturday. There are some fabulous ones up already! See them at the slideshow below, or to see them with locations and comments look at them here.



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

beyond fair bananas

Sobirania Alimentaria "Comunidad de Paz San José de Apartadó" from Albert Farnos on Vimeo.

this beautiful video about the peace community of San Jose in Colombia shows all the steps it takes for bananas and chocolate to get to you. bananas start at minute 9:30 and chocolate at 14 - but the whole thing is mesmerizingly beautiful. it's all in spanish, but even if you don't understand it the images are stunning. it makes eating chocolate and bananas an entirely different experience. I would love to show this in a course about commodity chains. Why 'beyond fair'? Because selling these bananas at a fair price to their German solidarity buyers allows the peace community to not sell to the only other buyers in town, who are all connected to the paramilitaries. Wish I could eat these 'peace bananas' in Vancouver!

empathy is crucial for democracy

I've posted many times about the relationship between empathy and solidarity, but was reminded of its importance to democracy by George Lakoff in an article analyzing what's behind the attack on workers, being so beautiful held off in Wisconsin. Here he argues

"In the 2008 campaign, candidate Obama accurately described the basis of American democracy: Empathy — citizens caring for each other, both social and personal responsibility—acting on that care, and an ethic of excellence. From these, our freedoms and our way of life follow, as does the role of government: to protect and empower everyone equally. Protection includes safety, health, the environment, pensions and empowerment starts with education and infrastructure. No one can be free without these, and without a commitment to care and act on that care by one’s fellow citizens. The conservative worldview rejects all of that.

Conservatives believe in individual responsibility alone, not social responsibility. They don’t think government should help its citizens. That is, they don’t think citizens should help each other. The part of government they want to cut is not the military (we have 174 bases around the world), not government subsidies to corporations, not the aspect of government that fits their worldview. They want to cut the part that helps people. Why? Because that violates individual responsibility.

But where does that view of individual responsibility alone come from? ..." read on

Latin American visions of solidarity

CALL FOR PAPERS

Fourth Annual Empire and Solidarity in the Americas Conference

Latin American Visions of Solidarity

University of New Orleans

October 15-16, 2011

Conference Organizers: Aviva Chomsky and Steve Striffler

International solidarity between the United States and Latin America has sought to create partnerships between actors with vastly unequal access to power and resources. Solidarity activism has worked to change U.S. policy towards Latin America, to provide material aid to Latin Americans, and to educate the U.S. public about Latin American realities and the impacts of U.S. foreign policy. Most studies of U.S.-Latin America solidarity have focused on U.S.-based organizations and their activities.

This conference seeks to explore Latin American visions of solidarity from two perspectives: First, how have Latin Americans seen, understood, and engaged with U.S. solidarity movements? Second, how have Latin Americans conceptualized and created their own visions of solidarity? In both cases, we also look to understand the ways in which Latin American actions and visions been received and understood in U.S. solidarity circles.

Paper proposals should include a 100-200 word abstract and a 1-page cv, and be submitted to striffler@hotmail.com and achomsky@salemstate.edu by April 1, 2011.

The Empire and Solidarity in the Americas Conference is a working conference. Attendees are expected to read all conference papers (about 8) and participate in intensive discussion of each paper. If your paper is chosen, you will be an invited guest with conference expenses paid by the University of New Orleans.

we are all connected

should they have ended the video by cutting one line and letting it all tumble?

WWF - We Are All Connected from Troublemakers.tv on Vimeo.

The Geopolitics of Colombia's Territorial Conquest

Today I read an article that rocked my world. It is one of the best analyses of Colombian reality I've read (and I've read probably too many). If you do any work that has anything to do with Colombia I recommend it highly, despite the odd pretitle:

Iron Maiden Landscapes: The Geopolitics of Colombia's Territorial Conquest
by Margarita Serje

It's available here.

She's an anthropology professor at Los Andes. By iron maiden she means "a device for collective abuse." Was 'iron maiden' a name for some old torture gadget? Is this just a weird translation? It just makes me think of the band I'm afraid. Anyways, the article is well worth reading, and I'm looking forward to getting her book.

political empathy

Inspired by the Egyptians and the Tunisians to hit the streets for some justice? Maybe what you're feeling is not solidarity but - political empathy? As in, we too have corrupt leaders who take all the money? Hmm. Very interesting argument made by Gaston Gordillo in this great blog post, where he also talks about the concept of resonance. I'm still chewing on how they relate to solidarity, but I'm intrigued. See algo his great review of the geography of the uprisings of the multitude across the globe in the last ten years here.

(Photo is of a women's protest held today in Cairo against killings of protesters. The women in black strategy continues to travel, photo by Miguel Medina)

beautiful video of testimony from the peace community of San Jose in Colombia

Testimonios "Comunidad de San José de Apartadó" from Albert Farnos on Vimeo.

My apologies for those that don't speak Spanish - no translation as of yet, though there are subtitles in Spanish if those help you with the accents. Beautifully done. I have great affection and respect and admiration for Brigida, whose testimony comes last. She spoke at the vigil to close the School of the Americas several years ago. It was an honor to get to stay with her when I visited the community.

using ads to inspire solidarity in action

from South Africa. another great ad campaign to inspire solidarity, blogged by Osocio.

Peace Brigades video

English: 15 years accompanying human rights defenders in Colombia from Peace Brigades International on Vimeo.

I posted some of the short videos Peace Brigades made about the partners that they work with in Colombia. This hour long video incorporates some of those. If I'm not mistaken it also includes shots that aren't in the shorter blurbs about each organization. I like that the short video they made about what PBI actually does comes at the end, after the stories of the Colombian organizations themselves. It's all beautifully done, inspiring, and well worth watching.