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THE SEED

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Seeds, seeding, seed-thoughts, sinking down to that seed, working the soil that the seed might break open healthy .  I find that I return to seed imagery again and again as I examine my personal and professional life.  Seeds have always fascinated me and ever moreso once I began to learn some facts about their nature.  For me, a most fascinating fact is that the essential elements of the mature tree or plant are contained within the seed from the start.  Another is that, seeds carry within them many of the necessary nutrients they must consume for healthy growth.  I find it amazing to know just how long many seeds can remain dormant (up to 2000 years!) waiting for conditions that are conducive to germination.  The needed shift in conditions to move from dormancy to budding can be internal to the seed itself or germination might require that external environmental conditions change dramatically.  What does this say about the focus of our work in the ...
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Equity Work is Healing Work

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I was talking to a friend and colleague last night.   He shared a bit about how his facilitation teams were beginning to run into conflict as they worked together.   Tensions were building, demanding attention. The issues that were rising to the surface were issues of power associated with race, class and gender.   His facilitation teams work as a part of a program designed to develop strong community leaders who are committed to building equity and justice.   It has run for over 10 years and has never seen this level of dissention.   His question was, how have we gone all of this time without ever making conversations about oppression and power a deliberate part of our work?   How have past leaders of this program managed to smooth all of this over?   Thinking about a recent Training for Trainers that I’d facilitated, I began to respond, “The stuff just hits the fan in this work.   I’ve yet to le...
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Equity Work is Healing Work (Part 2)

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 [In the previous (Nov. 12) blog post, I talked about the connection I see between justice work and healing work – acknowledging the reality that our society is built upon acts of brutality and actively maintains systems of domination. I promised to next offer practical steps for dismantling oppression and to create and sustain liberation for all.   I hope that you will take one or two of these to begin practicing within your movement or organization.   Please do share what you learn!]   EQUITY WORK IS HEALING WORK (PART 2) Important and critical practices for any group intending equity and justice falls under what I’ve named: Systematic Repair – Living Equity .   These are concrete steps that, through practice, cultivate a culture of truth – a repaired foundation upon which we can institutionalize equity and justice. Systematic Repair Practices 1.      Make sure that your team has as a part of its training...
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