Category: Meditations

“Resistance to white supremacy and resistance to the Klan go back much further and are far broader than can be encompassed under the banner of anti-fascism. Obviously, resistance to white supremacy goes back to 1492. It goes back to resistance of slavery. It goes back to John Brown and Ida B. Wells, and so forth. It also has a tradition in the radical elements of the labor movement, the Industrial Workers of the World having battled against the Klan in the 1920s. You can look at the Deacons for Defense, the Black Panthers and other kinds of militant opposition to white supremacy.” -Mark Bray, historian, in “In These Times”

How can you be part of the resistance to white supremacy and fascism?

“Trust is built in the smallest moments. It is earned not through heroic deeds, or even highly visible actions, but through paying attention, listening, and gestures of genuine care and connection.” -Brené Brown

Pay attention today and earn someone’s trust.

We all understand what it means to be accountable to someone.  A boss, a parent, a partner.  It means we are responsible to someone, that we allow ourselves to be measured by that person, that we are obligated to answer to them.  When we are accountable to a goal, a standard, or a mission statement, we allow others to measure our progress and success against those benchmarks.

What does it mean to be accountable—as an ally—on issues of oppression?

“I do not believe service and leadership are separable. Any good leader is first a servant of the people. So anyone who desires personal power and cares about personal gain can not be a good leader.” -Mike Rowe (CLF Member incarcerated in CA)

What do you believe are the qualities of a good leader?

 

“There is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly…the problem is that concepts of power and love are usually seen as opposites…. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.” -Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

How do you use love to inform your use of power?