Only Poetry Can Address Grief:
> Moving Forward after 911
> By Starhawk
>
> In the middle of the Anti-Capitalist Convergence march in Washington
DC
> last month, I found myself nose to nose with a line of police attempting
> to push the crowd back. I was facing an angry but very short
> policewoman so in my case it was actually nightstick to bosom. "Get
> back, get back!" she was shouting, but our line was not giving ground.
> I explained to her, calmly and I thought, quite reasonably, that we
were
> not going to get back, because there was nowhere for us to go. I think
> of that moment now as a metaphor for where what I like to call the
> Global Justice movement is today. We are facing an array of forces
> telling us to get back, to disperse, to leave the scene. The forces
of
> the state, the media, all the powers that support global corporate
> capitalism would like to see us go away.
>
> But we have nowhere to go.
>
> We have nowhere to go because the conditions we have been fighting have
> not gone away. The disparity between rich and poor has not grown
less,
> the attempts of the corporate powers to consolidate their hegemony have
> not ceased, the environment has not miraculously repaired itself, and
> our economic and social systems have not suddenly become sustainable.
>
> We're on the Titanic; our efforts to turn the course of the ship have
> just been hijacked, and we're churning full steam ahead into the
> iceberg. We don't have the luxury of defraying action to a more
> favorable moment. We need the movement to keep moving forward.
How do
> we do that in the face of increased repression and much potential public
> opposition?
>
> I. Stand our ground:
>
> First, we don't panic, and we stand our ground. Fear is running
rampant
> at the moment, and every effort is being made by the authorities to
> increase and play upon that fear. While the general public may
fear
> more terrorist attacks, we in the movement are equally or more afraid
of
> what our governments may do in restricting civil liberties and targeting
> dissent. But either way, fear is the authorities' greatest weapon
of
> social control. When we are in a state of fear, we're not taking
in
> information, we're unable to clearly see or assess a situation, and
we
> make bad decisions. We're more easily controlled.
>
> We can learn to recognize fear, in our own bodies, in our meetings,
in
> our interactions. When fear is present, just stop for a moment,
take a
> deep breath, and consciously set it aside. Then ask, 'What would
we do
> in this situation if we weren't afraid?' From that perspective,
we can
> make choices based on reasonable caution but also on vision.
>
> II. Acknowledge the grief:
>
> 911 threw us as collectively into a deep well of grief. We have
had to
> face the awful power of death to intrude on our lives, to sear us with
> pain and loss, to reorder all our priorities and disrupt all our plans,
> to remind us that we walk the world in vulnerable, mortal flesh.
>
> The political task that faces us is to speak to the depth of that grief,
> not to gloss it over or trivialize it or use it to further stale
> agendas. If we simply shout at people over bullhorns, recycling
the
> politics, the slogans, the language of the sixties, we will fail.
The
> movement we need to build now, the potential for transformation that
> might arise out of this tragedy, must speak to the heart of the pain
we
> share across political lines.
>
> A great hole torn has been torn out of the heart of the world.
What we
> need now is not to close over the wound, but to dare to stare more
> deeply into it.
>
> To comprehend that grief, we must look at the possibility that it was
> present within us before the 11th, that the violence and death of that
> day released a flood tide of latent mourning. On one level, yes,
we
> mourned for the victims and their families, for the destruction of
> familiar places and the disruption of the patterns of our lives.
But on
> a deeper level, perhaps many of us were already mourning, consciously
or
> not, the lack of connection and community in the society that built
> those towers, the separation from nature that they embodied, the
> diminishment of the wild, the closing off of possibilities and the
> narrowing of our life spaces. This frozen grief, transmuted into
rage,
> has fueled our movements, but we are not the only ones to feel it.
>
> With the grief also comes a fear more profound than even the terror
> caused by the attack itself. For those towers represented human
triumph
> over nature. Larger than life, built to be unburnable, they were the
> Titanic of our day. For them to burn and fall so quickly means that
the
> whole superstructure we depend upon to mitigate nature and assure our
> comfort and safety could fall. And without it most of us do not
know
> how to survive.
>
> We know, in our bones, that our technologies and economies are
> unsustainable, that nature is stronger than we are, that we cannot
> tamper with the very life systems of the earth without costs, and that
> we are creating such despair in the world that it must inevitably crack
> open, weep and rage.
>
> The towers falling were an icon of an upcoming reckoning we dread but
> secretly anticipate.
>
> The movement we need to build now must speak to the full weight of the
> loss, of the fear, and yet hold out hope. We must admit the existence
> of great forces of chaos and uncertainty, and yet maintain that out
of
> chaos can come destruction, but also creativity.
>
> III. Develop a new political language:
>
> Faced with the profundity of loss, with the stark reality of death,
we
> find words inadequate. "What do I say to someone who just lost
his
> brother in the towers?" a hard core New York activist asks me. "How
do I
> talk to him?"
>
> The language of abstraction doesn't work. Ideology doesn't work.
> Judgment and hectoring and shaming and blaming cannot truly touch the
> depth of that loss. Only poetry can address grief. Only words that
> convey what we can see and smell and taste and touch of life, can move
> us.
>
> To do that we need to forge a new language of both the word and the
> deed. We on the Left can be as devoted to certain words and political
> forms as any Catholic was ever attached to the Latin Mass. We incant
> "imperialism" or "anti capitalist" or "non-violence" or even "peace"
> with an almost religious fervor, as if the words alone could strike
> blows in the struggle.
>
> Those words are useful, and meaningful. But they're like the cliché
> that the bad poet turns to. They are the easy first answer that
> relieves us of the work of real expression.
>
> Lately I'm hearing some of my most political friends say, "I can't go
to
> another rally. I can't stand hearing one more person tell me in
angry
> tones what the answers are."
>
> What if we stopped in the middle of our rallies and said, "But you know,
> these issues are complex, and many of us have mixed feelings, and let's
> take some time for all the people here to talk to each other instead
of
> listening to more speeches."
>
> If we could admit to some of our own ambiguities, we might also find
> that we are closer than we think to that supposed overwhelming majority
> of war supporters, who in reality may have deeply mixed feelings of
> their own.
>
> IV. Propose our own alternative to Bush's war:
>
> Defining the September attacks as an act of war rather than a criminal
> act has only dignified the perpetrators. Going to war has turned
us
> into Bin Laden's recruiting agency, rapidly alienating the entire Muslim
> world. Bombing Afghanistan has made us look like thugs to the
Muslim
> world, (and to everyone else with a heart and sense) and bred thousands
> of new potential ready-to-die enemies. The bombing, by preventing
> relief trucks from delivering serious food supplies before winter, now
> threatens to impose starvation on up to seven million Afghanis.
>
> In spite of what the polls and the media tell us, I don't necessarily
> believe that the bulk of the U.S. population is frothing at the mouth
> with eagerness for Afghani blood. The phrase I keep hearing is a
> plaintive "We need to do something." Bush's program is the only
one
> laid out for us. The attacks are real, and devastating; simply
calling
> for 'peace' and singing "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" does not
> address their seriousness. If we oppose Bush's war, we need a
clear
> alternative.
>
> Diplomacy does not mean weakness. It means being smarter than
the
> opposition, not just better armed. Diplomacy also does not mean
simply
> issuing ultimatums backed by bombs. It means actually understanding
> something of the culture of the people you're negotiating with.
It
> means actually negotiating, offering a carrot as well as a stick, being
> willing to let the other side come out with something less than total
> humiliation. If the goal of the war is truly to get Bin Laden,
well,
> the Taliban just offered to deliver him to a third country.
>
> This could be a moment to switch our policy, to negotiate, to work with
> and strengthen international institutions and the U.N., to begin to
> deliver massive and meaningful humanitarian aid to the region.
Any or
> all of those acts would increase our long term security far more than
> our present course.
>
> V. Expose the real aims of the war:
>
> We have about as much chance of doing any of the above as I have of
> being offered a post in the current Administration. All the indications
> are that Bush wants a war, to establish U.S. hegemony in Central Asia
> and the East, to forestall an Asian alliance that might oppose our
> vested interests with interests of their own, to take control of rich
> oil resources of Central Asia and provide a safe passage for an oil
> pipeline across Afghanistan, to deflect from the illegitimacy of his
own
> presidency, to implement the entire right wing agenda.
>
> We need to continue educating the public about those aims and about
the
> real consequences of the war. To do that, we need to talk to people-not
> just at rallies and teach-ins, but in our neighborhoods, our workplaces,
> our schools, on the bus, in the street, on talk shows, with our
> families. It can be easier to march into a line of riot cops than
to
> voice an unpopular opinion where we live, but we've got to do it and
to
> learn to do it calmly and effectively.
>
> And while we're talking about the war, we need to make the connections
> to the broader issues we were working on before the eleventh of
> September. The war can be an opening to challenge racism, and
to
> spotlight the U.S.'s historic role of training, arming, and supporting
> terrorists-including Bin Laden and the Taliban in previous years. In
an
> age of terrorism, does an economy entirely dependent on oil-based long
> distance transport really make sense? (Especially as it didn't make
> sense before, but never mind that.)
>
> The Anthrax scares are a perfect opportunity to push for true domestic
> security in the form of a well-funded, functioning public health system,
> availability of hospital beds and medical care, support for local food
> producers, development of alternative energy resources, etc. The
right
> wing has used the attacks and the war to justify their agenda, but with
> a little political jujitsu we can redraw their picture of reality.
>
> VI. Develop our vision:
>
> Despair breeds fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. A world of
> truly shared abundance would be a safer world. The policies of global
> corporate capitalism have not brought us that world. They've been
> tried-and found wanting. We need to replace them with our own
vision.
>
> The global justice movement has often been accused of not knowing what
> it wants. In reality, we know clearly the broad outlines of what we
want
> even though we have a multiplicity of ideas of how to get there.
I can
> lay it out for you in five short paragraphs:
>
> We want enterprises to be rooted in communities and responsible to
> communities and to future generations. We want producers to be
> accountable for the true social and ecological costs of what they
> produce.
>
> We say there is a commons that needs to be protected, that there are
> resources that are too vital to life, too precious or sacred to be
> exploited for the profit of the few, including those things that sustain
> life: water, traditional lands and productive farmland, the collective
> heritage of ecological and genetic diversity, the earth's climate, the
> habitats of rare species and of endangered human cultures, sacred
> places, and our collective cultural and intellectual knowledge.
>
> We say that those who labor are entitled, as a bare minimum, to safety,
> to just compensation that allows for life, hope and dignity, and to
have
> the power to determine the conditions of their work.
>
> We say that as humans we have a collective responsibility for the well
> being of others, that life is fraught with uncertainty, bad luck,
> injury, disease, and loss, and that we need to help each other bear
> those losses, provide generously and graciously the means for all to
> have food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, and the
> possibility to realize their dreams and aspirations. Only then
will we
> have true security.
>
> We say that democracy means people having a voice in the decisions that
> affect them, including economic decisions.
>
> VII. Develop our strategy:
>
> We might begin by acknowledging that we have had a highly successful
> strategy for the past two years. Since Seattle, what we've done
is to
> oppose every summit, as a means of focusing attention on the
> institutions of globalization that were functioning essentially in
> secret, and delegitimizing them. Systems fall when they hit a
crisis of
> legitimacy, when they can no longer inspire faith and command
> compliance. Our strategy should continue to work toward creating
that
> crisis for the institutions of global corporate capitalism.
>
> In the meantime, in spite of all appearances the government may already
> be creating that crisis for itself. For ultimately, nothing
> delegitimizes a government faster than not being able to provide for
the
> physical or economic security of its people.
>
> Now our strategy needs to broaden and become more complex.
>
> Contest the summits when and where we can, but perhaps with some new
> tactics that clearly embody the alternatives we represent. Turn more
of
> our attention to local organizing, bringing the global issues home and
> making organizing and activism an ongoing, sustained process.
And find
> ways to make that process as juicy and exciting as some of the big,
> global actions.
>
> Find ways to link local issues and actions regionally and globally.
>
> Start to build the alternatives: alternative economic enterprises
on
> new models, directly democratic systems of governance such as
> neighborhood or watershed councils or town meetings, everything from
> alternative energy co-operatives to community gardens to local
> currencies.
>
> Look for ways to let those alternatives delegitimize the status quo.
>
> VIII. Organize openly:
>
> In times of increasing repression, the strongest way to resist is not
to
> hide, but to become even more open in our organizing and our
> communications. The more out there we are, the harder we'll be
to brand
> as terrorists. The more faces they photograph at rallies and marches,
> the less meaningful any single face will be. The more information
they
> collect, the less they'll be able to collate, analyze and make sense
of
> it all. And if they read my email-they're welcome to read my email.
> Somebody ought to, and I don't have time to read it all myself.
Maybe I
> could pay one of them a small extra fee to sort it for me and send me
a
> summary of the high points.
>
> Security culture either has to be so good you can outspook the CIA,
or
> it simply makes you look like you have something to hide and attracts
> the attention of the authorities. And it makes it extremely difficult
> to mobilize, educate and inspire people. Yes, there are actions
that
> depend on surprise, but with a little cleverness we can figure out how
> to do that in a basically open setting.
>
> "And tonight, each affinity group spoke receives a sealed envelope-open
> it at five A.M. tomorrow and it will give you two alternative beginning
> points for your march. Flip a coin to decide which one to go to"
>
> IX. Make our actions count:
>
> Political action may well become more costly in the next months and
> years. That simply means we need to be more clear and thoughtful
in
> planning and carrying out our actions. Most of us are willing
to take
> risks in this work and to make sacrifices if necessary, but no one wants
> to sacrifice for something meaningless or stupid.
>
> We can no longer afford vaguely planned, ill considered actions that
> don't accomplish anything-and believe me, I've done more than my fair
> share of them.
>
> We should never carry out an action that involves significant risks,
> unless the following five points are addressed:
>
> 1. We know what our intention is-are we trying to raise public
> awareness, delegitimize an institution, influence an individual, end
an
> immediate wrong?
>
> 2. We have a clear objective and know what it is--are we trying
to
> close down a meeting, deliver a petition, pressure an official to meet
> with us, provide a service? What are we trying to communicate,
to whom,
> and how? What would victory look like?
>
> 3. We make sure the acts we take, the symbols we use, the focus
we
> choose and the tactics we use reflect our intentions and objectives.
We
> resist the temptation to do extraneous things that might detract from
> our focus.
>
> 4. We have an exit strategy. How are we going to end the
action? How
> are we going to get out once we get in?
>
> 5. We have ongoing support lined up for afterwards-legal, medical,
> political support, people willing to offer solidarity if needed.
>
> X. Use tactics that fit the new strategy and situation:
>
> All of us are rethinking our tactics in the light of the current
> situation. We often argue tactics on the grounds of morality-is
it
> right or wrong, violent or nonviolent, to throw a tear gas canister
back
> into a line of police? To break a window? We might do better
to ask,
> "Do these particular tactics support our goals and objectives," and
"Are
> they actually working?"
>
> Those who advocate highly confrontational tactics, such as property
> damage and fighting the cops, are generally trying to strike blows
> against the system. But at the moment, the system has been struck
> harder than we could have imagined, and is reeling toward fascism, not
> liberation. In the present climate, such tactics are most likely
to
> backfire and confirm the system's legitimacy.
>
> Many classic nonviolent tactics are designed to heighten the contrast
> between us and them, to claim the high moral ground and point out the
> violence of the system. But many of those tactics no longer function
in
> the same way. Static, passive tactics become boring and disempowering.
> Symbolic, cross-the-line arrests don't seem to impress the public with
> our nobility and dedication any more, even when they are noticed at
> all. Mass arrests may be used to justify police violence, even
when the
> arrestees were completely peaceful.
>
> When the police cooperate in making the arrest easy and low risk, the
> process confirms rather than challenges the power of the state.
When
> they don't, even symbolic actions are costing heavily in jail time or
> probation. The price may well be worth it, but there's only so
many
> times in a lifetime we can pay it, so our choices need to be thoughtful
> and strategic.
>
> We need a new vocabulary of tactics, that can be empowering, visionary,
> confrontational without reading as proto-terrorist, and that work toward
> a crisis of legitimacy for the system. We also need tactics and
actions
> that prefigure the world we want to create, but that do so in a way
that
> has some edge and bite to it.
>
> Here are a few we are already using that could be further developed:
>
> Mobile, fluid street tactics: Groups like Art and Revolution,
Reclaim
> the Streets, the Pink Blocs of Prague and Genoa and the Living River
in
> Quebec have brought art, dance, drums, creativity and mobility to street
> actions, and developed mobile and fluid street tactics. Such actions
> are focused not on getting arrested (although that may be a consequence
> of the actions) nor on confrontations with the cops, but on
> accomplishing an objective: claiming a space and redefining it;
> disrupting business as usual, etc., while embodying the joy of the
> revolution we are trying to make.
>
> In Toronto on October 16, snake dancing columns of people managed to
> disrupt the financial district in spite of a very tense police
> presence. The Pink Bloc has snake danced through police lines.
The
> Pagan Cluster in Quebec City and DC was able to perform street rituals
> in the midst of dangerous situations, in ways that allowed participation
> by people with widely varying needs around safety.
>
> The Fogtown Action Avengers in San Francisco combined an open, public
> ritual which distracted the police from a surprise disruption of the
> stock exchange carried out by an affinity group dressed as Robin Hood.
>
> Claiming space: Reclaim the Streets takes an intersection, moves
in a
> sound system and couches, and throws a party. A Temporary Autonomous
> Zone is a space we take over and then exemplify the world we want to
> live in, with free food, healing, popular education, a Truly Free Market
> where goods are given away or traded, workshops, conversations, sports,
> theater.
>
> Street services and alternative services: Groups like Food Not
Bombs
> have been directly feeding the homeless for decades. One of the
most
> successful direct actions I've ever been involved with was a group
> called Prevention Point that pioneered street based needle exchanges
for
> drug users to prevent the spread of AIDS.
>
> In DC in September, during the Anti-Capitalist Convergence's Temporary
> Autonomous Zone and during the Sunday peace march rally, the Pagan
> Cluster set up an Emotional Healing Space that offered informal
> counseling, massage, food, water and hands-on healing. The IndyMedia
> Centers provide alternative news coverage and a powerful challenge to
> corporate media. The medical and legal services we provide during
an
> action could be expanded. Guerilla gardeners could be mobilized
in new
> ways. Imagine a convergence that left a community transformed
by
> community gardens, with toxic sites healing, worm farms thriving, and
> streets lined with fruit trees.
>
> Popular education: One of the values of mass convergences has
been the
> education and training we've been able to provide for each other, from
> teach-ins on the global economy to climbing instruction. Almost every
> Summit has had its CounterSummit. Most of these have followed
the rough
> format of an academic conference, with presenters talking to an audience
> or facilitating a discussion.
>
> But many more interactive and creative ways of teaching and learning
> could be brought into them: role plays, story-telling circles,
> councils. We could hold a giant simulation of a meeting, with
people
> role playing delegations and grappling with the issues on the table,
but
> from the starting point of our own values.
>
> People are hungry to talk about the war, about their fears and beliefs
> and opinions. The Zapatistas give us the example of the Consulta-a
> process of going out to the people to both listen to concerns and
> mobilize. We might halt the speeches at a rally for ten minutes to let
> people talk to each other. Or do away with the speeches altogether,
and
> instead ask groups to facilitate smaller group discussions on their
> issues and tactics, run short training sessions, offer games or dances
> or rituals. And we could develop ways to create instant Public
> Conversations as actions and as education.
>
>
> Caravans can bring discussion and education out of the urban centers,
> and could embody alternative energies and possibilities, running their
> vehicles on vegetable oil, bringing solar panels to power sound systems.
>
> These are just a few ideas that can stimulate our thinking and awaken
> our creativity.
>
> XI. Renew our spirits:
>
> These are hard times. Many of us have been working intensely for
a long
> time and are now seeing the possibility of our hard won political gains
> being swept away. Fear and loss surround us, and many forces are
at
> work trying to make us feel isolated, marginalized and disempowered.
At
> best, the work ahead of us seems overwhelming.
>
> If we are going to sustain this work and regain our momentum, we need
to
> allow ourselves time to rest, to go to those places we are working so
> hard to save and be open to their beauty, to receive support and love
> from the communities we are working for. We need to nurture our
> relationships with each other, to offer not just political solidarity
> but personal warmth and caring. Death and loss rearrange our
> priorities, teach us how much we need each other, and make it easier
to
> drop some of the petty things that interfere with our true connections.
>
> Many activists mistrust religion and spirituality, often for good
> reasons. But each of us is in this work because something is sacred
to
> us-sacred in the sense that it means more than our comfort or
> convenience, that it determines all of our other values, that we are
> willing to risk ourselves in its service. It might not be a God,
> Goddess or deity, but rather a belief in freedom, the feeling we get
> when we stand under a redwood tree or watch a bird winging across the
> sky, a commitment to truth or to a child. Whatever it is, it can
feed
> and nurture us as well. For activists who have some form of identified
> spiritual practice, now is a good time to seriously practice it.
For
> those who don't, it might still be worth taking time to ask yourself,
> "Why do I do this work? What is most important to me? What
does feed
> me?"
>
> The answer might be grand and noble, or it might be small and ordinary,
> hip hop or sidewalk chalk. Whatever it is, make it a priority.
Do it
> daily, if you can, or at least regularly. Bring it into actions
with
> you. Let it renew your energy when you're down. We need you in
this
> struggle for the long haul, and taking care of yourself is a way of
> preserving one of the movement's precious resources.
>
> The goal of terrorists, whether of the freelance or the state variety,
> is to fill all our mental and emotional space with fear, rage,
> powerlessness and despair, to cut us off from the sources of life and
> hope. Violence and fear can make us shut down to the things and
beings
> that we love.
>
> When we do, we wither and die. When we consciously open ourselves
to
> the beauty of the world, when we choose to love another tenuous and
> fragile being, we commit an act of liberation as courageous and radical
> as any foray into the tear gas.
>
> There is nowhere left to go, but forward. If we hold onto hope
and
> vision, if we dare to walk with courage and to act in the service of
> what we love, the barriers holding us back will give way, as the police
> eventually did in our Washington march. The new road is unmarked
and
> unmapped. It feels unfamiliar, but exhilarating; dangerous, but free.
> We were born to blaze this trail, and the great powers of life and
> creativity march with us toward a viable future.
>
> ***
>
> Starhawk
> www.starhawk.org
> copyright c Starhawk 2001
> (This copyright notice protects me, as this piece will be published
in
> Spring '02, in a collection of my writings called Webs of Power: Notes
> from the Global Uprising. But please feel free to forward this,
> reprint it, translate it, post it or reproduce it for nonprofit uses.)
>
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