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The Pachamama Alliance is committed to environmental sustainability, spiritual fulfillment, and social justice as inseparable practices. Many of us have a good idea of what sustainability and fulfillment look like for our families, our communities, and ourselves, but what does social justice look like?
We are currently engaged in answering that question, developing practices, policies, and an understanding of the world that will bring our social justice commitment to life.
Our partnership with the Achuar and social justice initiatives in Ecuador – including sustainable development, indigenous sovereignty, and Rights of Nature – have provided us with many insights. We have a huge opportunity to create similarly deep change on our home turf as we work to “change the dream of the modern world.”
Undoing Racism™: An Eye-Opening Workshop
In February of this year, we hosted the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, a New Orleans-based anti-racist organization, for their world-renowned Undoing Racism™ workshop. The workshop took place over two and a half days in Berkeley and included the Pachamama Staff, Board, and members of the ATD facilitator community.
The focus of the workshop was a social and historical analysis of how racism functioned- and continues to function- as an oppressive tool that provides vast powers and privileges for white people in the United States and precludes access and opportunity for communities of color.
For many workshop participants, the weekend was eye opening and life changing.
“The presentation was brilliantly done,” said Konda Mason, filmmaker and ATD facilitator. “It’s such a hard subject for all sides, and [the People’s Institute] managed to disarm peoples’ fear and anxiety in a way that was authentic. They were masterful.”
Revealing the Dynamics of Racism
Peoples’ Institute Director Ron Chisom and his team were very frank in showing that racism continues to devastate communities across the nation.
It’s clear that racism is not a distant historical occurrence we have overcome. Neither is it exclusively about people of color.
Rather, racism continues to be a marginalizing force, all the more challenging because of its invisibility in many white communities. This was confronting for many of the white participants, especially those who consider themselves social justice advocates.
Waking Up to Social Justice
“The part that was so striking for me personally was the conversation about roles we unwittingly play to perpetuate racism” said Pachamama Development Director Alex Morrison. “Now I’m keenly aware of this dynamic that exists in me and in society.
Alex continued, “You know, first the work is waking ourselves up and once we do that, we can start waking others up to the fact that we don’t have to live in this dream. So the question I keep reflecting on now is: when [The Pachamama Alliance] says ‘we work on social justice,’ what does that really mean?”
“A Huge Paradigm Shift”
The workshop continues to have reverberations throughout the organization, inspiring the upcoming Voices of the People gathering and prompting the formation of a Social Justice Advisory Council.
Konda explains a bit more about the implications for Pachamama: “The organization is undergoing such a huge paradigm shift.
“The fact that we’re creating the Social Justice Advisory Council will help us stay on target as we expand our social justice analysis. The fact that I walk in the hallways and see people of color now is amazing.
“The fact that this organization now sees that it can’t live without becoming a multicultural, anti-racist organization, and the richness and equity that come with having multiple voices present at the table, is just incredible.
“It’s almost like hearing the call of the Achuar- it’s like [The Pachamama Alliance] heard the call here locally. That’s how important the Undoing Racism™ workshop is.”
Bring the People’s Institute to Your Community
Pachamama’s deepening in social justice continues throughout the organization, and we encourage anyone and everyone to take the Undoing Racism™ workshop.
To find out more about the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond or to bring the Undoing Racism™ workshop to your organization, please visit their website or call them at (504) 301-9292.
