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Last month, Rainforest Journeys Director David Tucker led the first Pachamama Alliance “Allies” journey into the Ecuador rainforest.
The “Allies” were 10 invited guests, including Awakening the Dreamer Facilitators Konda Mason, Gregory Mengel, Drew Dellinger, and Johnnie James who are all part of a growing network of social justice activists and advisors with which Pachamama has been working for the past year. Pachamama CEO and Co-founder Bill Twist and Operations Director Tatiana Tilley were also on the trip.
Each day of the 10-day trip was filled with intense education, discussion, reflection and relationship building as the group traveled through Achuar territory and other indigenous lands in Ecuador.
“It was a deep privilege to be able to share the source of Pachamama’s work with this group, and it was an incredible learning and bonding experience for all of us,” Bill Twist said shortly after returning to San Francisco. “Something really good is going to come out of this.”
Facilitators’ Call Sparks Year of Inquiry
The journey marked nearly one year of inquiry by The Pachamama Alliance into how to effectively deepen its commitment to bringing forth a socially just world.
This ongoing inquiry began following Awakening the Dreamer’s Global Leadership Summit in July 2010, when a group of Symposium Facilitators strongly called on The Pachamama Alliance’s board and staff to re-examine and strengthen language and actions in the realm of social justice.
“The social justice committee began when a group of Symposium Facilitators spontaneously came together to discuss the need for a stronger commitment to all aspects of social justice within The Pachamama Alliance and Awakening the Dreamer. The group met with Bill and Lynne, who matched our commitment and arranged for us to present to the board.
“Our presentation was positively received, and the board immediately crafted a statement that supported this deeper focus on social justice,” said Konda Mason, a filmmaker, Awakening the Dreamer Facilitator and Trainer Leader, who was also part of the Allies journey.
Staying True to Pachamama’s Mission
At the January 2011 board meeting, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the board issued a powerful declaration re-committing The Pachamama Alliance to a thorough analysis and embodiment of social justice action as a fundamental part of achieving its mission:
On the anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr., the Pachamama Board of Directors publicly and actively commits to take on the matter of social and racial justice. We commit to begin by first taking steps with ourselves, personally, as board members, and then throughout the organization.
We recognize this as a profound opportunity for The Pachamama Alliance to be ever more consistent with the mission, values and integrity of the organization, and we commit to engage in a way that creates an opening and a possibility for ourselves, for the organization, for our stakeholders, and for the world.
We honor and are grateful for the wisdom, leadership and courage of the social justice group who brought to our hearts and minds this vital opportunity in such a potent and respectful way.
Dismantling Systems of Oppression
In February of this year, Pachamama invited the Peoples’ Institute for Survival and Beyond from New Orleans to offer their renowned Undoing Racism training to the staff, board and a few Pachamama allies.
This intense and transformational training made clear that social justice cannot remain simply one element of Pachamama’s work, but must become the framework for all of the organization’s work and programs.
Following the training, board member and Co-founder Lynne Twist expressed that “Pachamama is committed to better understanding the mechanisms and origins of systems of oppression – racism, gender inequality, classism, heterosexism, ableism – so that we may more intentionally dismantle those systems in solidarity with others.”
New Ways to Model and Practice Social Justice
Currently, The Pachamama Alliance is establishing an advisory committee to facilitate an analysis and articulation of systems of oppression, privilege and inequality, both contemporary and historical.
Bill Twist affirmed the goal of Pachamama’s ongoing inquiry, stating, “Our aim is to build informed and potent social justice teachings and analyses into all of our programs, and to shape our organization as a model for social equity.”
In addition to the advisory committee, a “Journeys to the North” program, and a forum on Native American social and environmental activism, a team of Pachamama staff and ATD Facilitators are developing an “Agents of Change” workshop focusing on social justice. We look forward to these ongoing opportunities to bring greater integrity and power to our work for a socially just world for all.
Read a personal account of the Allies Journey from participant Gregory Mengel»
Read a poem written while on the journey by participant Johnnie James»
Watch participant Aqeela Sherrills discussing the restoration of the human spirit»
