Woolman Blog

 Global Exchange, located in San Francisco, is a non-profit organization with the mission of advancing human rights. Their mission is to promote fair working conditions for citizens all over the world, and eliminating the insane situations that sweatshop workers live with every day.

They work towards this goal by educating people, facilitating reality tours in various countries, and providing consumers with stores and products that are all fair trade items. The reality tours show people how other people with less money live, and the inequality and injustice that corporation’s demonstrate when left to their own devices.  Fair trade stores provide folks an alternative option to buying goods tainted with corporate greed and sweatshop workers life.

What I took away from the time I spent at Global Exchange was a new perspective and lots of new information. I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to talk to some of the employees, and hearing Chie, a former sweatshop worker from the Philippians who worked in Saipans, now an employee of Global Exchange tell her story. The horrendous rules that she described were imposed on her and her fellow workers were shocking. Hearing how courageous Chie was to overcome the unjust life she was living was inspiring and uplifting. I am grateful and glad she took the time to speak to me and the Woolman School and I feel all of my time spent at Global Exchange was well spent.

After a long day of workshops, we finally made our way to a modest neighborhood in San Francisco, well outside of the towering business district. We waited patiently outside of a gated, nondescript entrance. No more than five minutes later, a woman named Amber greeted us warmly with a smile and briefly introduced Noisebridge hacker space. She promptly unlocked the gate and then guided us up a steep flight of narrow stairs. The front-door entrance, which was unassuming and undistinguished, could never have prepared me for the remarkable space inside. As we filed into the upstairs loft, our eyes darted in every direction, unable to process the entirety of what we had laid our eyes upon. 

After further exploration, we discovered hundreds of books piled high -- topics ranging from the social media to string theory to Java script programming to anarchy philosophy to music theory to art history... We glimpsed power tools, woodworking equipment, a functional darkroom, fermenting kombucha, acrylic paints, a work-in-progress electron microscope, enormous geometric structures built from toothpicks, dozens of radios, bicycle tire sculptures, crudely engineered equipment designed for specialized tasks (ex: digital macro-magnifier and a robot that serves cocktails), computer hardware of all sorts, instructional booklets, zines, wires, posters, sewing machines, fabric scraps, found material “clearance” shelves, activist newspapers, project wood, a kitchen stove powered by a dynamic magnetic force that induces a constant electrical current, thought-provoking artwork, and intensely focused and creative individuals of all ages… among many, many other things. The walls were plastered with vibrant colors and quirky murals. Large, bright windows allowed light to flood into the workspace… Tall tables for use in collaborative projects were situated throughout the loft. Small classrooms could be found which are used for formal class instruction. The hacker space is open 24/7. Everything is free.

Noisebridge is a non-profit organization that seeks to encourage knowledge exchange and the learning of practical and technological skills through hands-on workshops, classes, collaborative projects, independent research, and pure experimentation -- “If you don’t know what to do – ask! We’re here to help!” With an emphasis on technology, science, and art, it is intended to be a place of creating, learning, and teaching. After all: “radiant ambition yields change.”

Noisebridge, which is loosely affiliated with anarchism, is yet another representation of free culture, the gift economy, and the power of a collaborative space within a community. From our short visit, we were able to absorb the radical and creative community culture that was being nourished at Noisebridge. Once again, we were invited into a communal space that represented a physical manifestation of wholesome human living outside of the traditional, consumerist sphere.

On the first official day of the Great Turning trip we bunkered down for a six hour workshop with Catalyst Project members Lindsey and David.  Those six hours flew by as if they were only minutes, for so much was taught and learned through stimulating discussion that addressed a serious issue plaguing our everyday lives.  The Catalyst Project states in their website “we work to create a world where all people are free from oppression and exploitation.”  This was heavily advocated to us through a breakdown of White Supremacy.  Through discussion of definitions, assumptions, and economy and cooperation breakdowns we were really able to identify the instigators of this global issue.

We started with an activity that highlighted how corporations use race to instigate oppression that result in greater profits.  We each slide into the roles of board members for Fruit Corporation, an industry containing fruit pickers, fruit sorters, and truck drivers.  As board members it was our job to find creative ways to deny workers raises or health care without risking loss of productivity to the company.  Race immediately took the center stage of our proposals.  Race could be used to divide workers so they would not retaliate together, deportation could be threatened, and ultimately the whole corporation could move to a different country where workers would work for less.  After recognizing that these are real actions of corporations, we tackled simple definitions that recognize this issue.

Lindsey and David revealed the Catalyst Project’s definition of White Supremacy as “institutional power + race prejudice,” and Whiteness as “a cross class alliance to support the economic elite”.  A pyramid displayed the uneven distribution of the economy, stating that “1% of the population controls 43% of the wealth, 19% controls 50%, and 80% controls 7%”.  After having addressed the corruption of corporations and the economy, we tackled the origin and connection of all systems and their consequences through a problem tree.

Our problem tree consisted of the underlying problems as the roots, such as sexism and hetero-normativity, larger systems feed by the roots as branches, such as the industrial prison complex, and finally the consequences we see every day as the leaves, such as slut shaming and lack of healthy foods in the school system.  The problem tree helped turn our focus to the billions of lives White Supremacy effects, and the larger instigators of the issue.  Our leaves had not sprouted from single individuals and their own actions, but were deeply rooted into ideas that have existed since the Bacon Rebellion when the term “whiteness” was first coined to prevent slaves from gaining allies.  As a final takeaway of what needs to be done to eliminate White Supremacy and its consequences, Lindsey and David revealed the definition of Collective Liberation: “a political commitment to liberating all people from all forms of oppression”.

Friday morning, the last day of our Great Turning Peace Studies Trip, we met with two lovely young ladies Hilary and Ellen from the Ruckus Society. The Ruckus Society is a nonprofit organization that facilitates training to environmental, human rights and social justice organizations that are seeking to take nonviolent direct action. Immediately I was intrigued by the name, and wanting to learn more. Although it didn't surprise me that an organization from the Bay Area had the word ruckus in it- I was wondering where exactly they were going when with the workshop when we started out by playing barefoot soccer on the front lawn with all the surrounding landscapers peering at us curiously. It turned out to be quite the metaphor, as one team was also deemed referee and made all the rules for the game. Not only was my team, the non ruling team, not allowed to kick the ball without first linking legs with another teamate, our goal posts were also much smaller and we had less touches on the ball. Inevitably, the ruling team won-and like what they were representing- corporations, made their own rules that benefited them and had very little sympathy for the weaker people who had less choice and option in society (the soccer game!). Now I was excited to begin. 

The most powerful things that struck me was witnessing the previous actions and campaigns of nonviolent direct action protests. Images of people hanging themselves in a harness off a bridge to block large scale corporate run fishing boats from passing under, and exploited farmers swimming to a WTO meeting with bright yellow life vests. People carrying huge handmade sunflower signs through a bustling city, and an enormous banner in a city center that blocked peoples paths and made them pay attention. These are the kinds of things I had been waiting for, visually, after a week of urging and prodding and digging to Wake Up! and realize we need change, and we need to disrupt the norm, we need to educate others, we need to be active citizens in disobedience, etc. It was nice, finally, to be reassured and comforted by images of people who were doing it-the real deal- they were taking their minds and uniting, their strength in numbers and uniting, and actually interacting in order to create change with their bodies. 

Easter is right around the corner. Before shopping for egg fillers or chocolates for the kids, know what thousands of young children must endure to keep the stores stocked with cheap chocolates-- Hershey, Nestle, and Cadbury all use cocoa produced by slaves. Also know that there is an alternative to slave tainted chocolate: fair trade, equal exchange and organic.

Chocolate: a creamy, sweet and savory confection. Its dangerous temptingly seductive nature has entrapped many of us. It is said to be the key to a woman’s heart and an enemy to her figure.  But is the treats only crime it’s sinful attraction to your thighs? Take a look at the origin of those Hershey chocolate bars or Cadbury’s Crème filled chocolate eggs. The good old chocolate that has satisfied our sweet tooth for ages has a bitter side. Twelve to fourteen year old boys are tricked or sold into slavery everyday. They are forced to work 80 to 100 hours of hard manual labor per week—all for the harvesting of cocoa beans. 

Ivory Coast, a stretch of 600,000 cocoa farms on the western shores of Africa, is the world’s largest supplier of cocoa beans. They make up 43% of the world’s supply.  Hundreds of thousands of children are purchased or stolen to meet the output needs of Ivory Coast. Big name chocolate companies get their cocoa beans from the slave labor of those children.

These children are real, and the conditions they work in are below the standards we claim to be a human right. Picture a child, any that you know, being taken and forced to work as a slave. Can you afford to support slavery?

As I think of the hours that these children spend harvesting and producing the cocoa beans, the chocolates that fill the shelves of the grocery store come to mind. Chocolate bars range in price, some are a dollar while others are three or four dollars. For all the time those kids put in to supply us with chocolates not one could afford a chocolate bar. They are not paid—they are slaves. They are beaten for not moving fast enough, for doing something wrong. On the cocoa farms there is no room for error, all they care about is cheap labor and profits. Slavery is alive today in the chocolate industry.

This Easter, support companies that refuse to use slave labor cocoa beans by buying fair trade or equal exchange options. Look for “fair trade” or “Equal Exchange” printed on the packaging.

To find more information on fair trade or modern day slavery visit: www.fairtrade.org, www.radicalthought.org, and www.notforsalecampain.org

Patrianna Anderson

Student, Woolman Semester School

www.woolman.org

On the second day of the trip, our group visited an intentional community called The Canticle Farm located in Oakland.  The point of this space was to “make sure that even after the systems we have in place fall (i.e. the money system, the political system, etc), people won’t turn on each other.”  It was a place meant to instill and share unconditional kindness, love, and wealth through a gift economy in a low income part of the Bay.  In other words, it was imagining the “life sustaining society” Joanna Macy and the believers in the Great Turning yearn for, but living it now.  The Canticle Farm was housing a practice of pre-formative politics on a person to person scale.  The community members didn’t believe in locks, or even closing the door for that matter, they didn’t eat meat out of kindness, befriended anyone that happened to walk by (or in), and many of them tried very hard to not interact with the money system.  A man living there even told us that “every time you feel the need to use a dollar, a relationship somewhere is broken.”  

While there, we spent most the day with an incredible (and locally famous for Occupy Oakland non violent direct action) man named Pancho, and his friend Adalija, both of whom helped start the project.  Their home consisted of six houses on a block where the community members tore down fences in favor of a food forest, chicken coop, garden, and beehives.  They spend their days tending to all of these things and interacting kindly with the community around them.  The residents practice non violent communication skills, use restorative justice, and play music, practice yoga and meditate regularly.  Every Friday, the group hosts free dinners for whoever wants to attend, and the food they grow that they know is more than they’ll need is given away free to neighbors and people who visit the farm.

We began our visit to their home with a half an hour of silent meditation in “La Casa de Paz” (the house of peace), and then broke into pairs to discuss “open ended sentences.”  My partner would speak for approximately 2 minutes to complete the sentence “something that lifts my heart is. . .” while I silently, but actively, listened.  Then it would be my turn to speak and hers to listen.  We answered about five questions in this fashion, including “something that breaks my heart is. . .” and “something that I want to become is. . .”  A lot of people, myself included, became instantly emotional during this exercise.  I think it was incredibly validating to simply be listened to for a long time about such serious topics.  After this, we were set free to explore the space with only “come back with questions about the things you find” as guidance.

What I found was a cat and a tiny dog, a lending library full of books already on my “to read” list, a few Apple computers and some paint samples from a sustainable paint company (to paint the new house they’ve just acquired), an explanation of why the kitchen was kept vegan and as “company-label free” as possible, a top-bar beehive very similar to the one I’m planning to build for my sustainability project, and a long list of the projects the people living there were working on in the community.  It was wonderful.  It reminded me of the place I’d pictured myself living once I completed high school.

After this, questions were asked and answered and an enormous salad was harvested from the garden.  Everyone from our group and some members of the community helped make lunch and then we all ate together.  The day ended in song and a sincere promise that Pancho loved every single one of us very much.

After this, I considered heavily what it was I had liked so much about this space.  I wondered what aspects of it were things I hoped to see in my future, and came to the realization that I have a yearning for intentional community life.  It brought me out of traditional school in 8th grade, in favor of more sincere community building, it brought me to every summer camp I went to and into the Ethical Humanist community, it brought me to Conserve school last winter, and plopped me straight into the hands of Woolman this past January.  I had fooled myself into thinking that living alone in a house with a cat was the life I desired having, but Canticle Farm helped me discover that tending a garden isn’t nearly as fun when no one else is going to be eating the carrots you’ve loved, and singing simply doesn’t sound as good without someone else’s harmonies layered in.

After sitting with this experience, I came to the conclusion of which college I’ll be attending in the fall: the one that’s smaller than 200, all of the food is local or sustainable, there’s a garden and bees and active composting that the students can choose to help with, and there is a consent policy that’s truly respected.  I also concluded that I’m still confused about what kind of grown-up I want to be, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be the kind that never feels disconnected from the physically community I’m living in.  I’m still sitting with my thoughts on how much I believe in the Great Turning, but I’m excited that places like the Canticle Farm even exist.  I’m excited that the concept of a better, more loving and supportive world is not only being presented to people who can afford to leave good colleges and jobs to Occupy, but also being brought into low income communities where the people, and the movement, can be just as powerful, maybe even more so.

The purpose of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is to advance racial and economic justice in order to ensure dignity and opportunity for low-income people and people of color.  During the Great Turning trip, the Ella Baker Center kindly hosted us and gave us their time to inform this semester of the work which the Center has done, as well as its future projects and goals.  In an information-packed afternoon, the energetic people who have dedicated their lives to fighting for social justice, elaborated on the problems with our current prison-industrial complex and the solutions for which the Ella Baker Center advocates.

Our session with the Ella Baker Center was eye-opening for me not just for the glimpse into the world of non-profit organizations, but also for the informative lecture about the archaic American prison system, and how little the system has been pressured to change.  Today, there are more people in the United States in prison than there ever were in the Soviet gulags, and those imprisoned are disproportionately more likely to be a person of color.  We only spent two hours there, but we left with a strong sense that the legacy which the unsung civil rights activist Ella J. Baker fought for is not just remembered in history books, but is also carried into today’s world and the fight against modern inequality.

Like Miss Baker, when people have the knowledge, inspiration and solutions they need to address the challenges they face, they can make a huge difference.

Surprisingly enough, I didn't know much about the Zapatista movement before watching the documentary here at Woolman. Although having been to Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Peru and hearing about many political uprisings I had never before been fully immersed in the powerful story of the Zapatista's. I thought it was interesting that the Italian anarchists called themselves Ya Basta! (meaning "Enough is enough!", after the Zapatista declaration of war. The second thing that stuck out to me was the story of Marcos and how he went to the mountains to convert the poor indigenous masses to his cause, surely to gain strength in numbers. Also powerful enough that I reread it, twice, was that "a Zapatista is anyone anywhere fighting injustice, that "We are you". He once said, "Marcos is gay in San Francisco, black in South Africa, an Asian in Europe, a Chicano in San Ysidro, an anarchist in Spain, a Palestinian in Israel, a Mayan Indian in the streets of San Cristobal, a Jew in Germany, a Gypsy in Poland, a Mohawk in Quebec, a pacifist in Bosnia, a single woman on the Metro at 10pm, a peasant without land, a gang member in the slums, an unemployed worker, an unhappy student and, of course, a Zapatista in the mountains." 

The other thing that I could relate to the Zapatista's with, based on the Naomi Klein article, was that their word is their weapon. As young emerging voices in the activist community, I often feel like we are severely detached from those making the decisions, those in power, and our only way of communicating is our word, and our will behind that word. Marco's "long meditative letters" also remind me of our friend Pancho (that we met on our Global Issues Trip) and how he was while arrested meditating during occupy, using his physical self, his body as a vessel of peace, to speak his word in the most powerful way. In 1994, when the Zapatistas were born into the war movement, I was born in Canada.