Posted by CODEPINK Staff

by Rivera Sun

 

This piece was written for our contemporary myriad movements,

but it is particularly poignant in regards to the Wave Of Action,

which is attempting to tap into the incredible creativity around the

globe. As events, actions, and images are being crafted, remember to

look for opportunities to strategically collaborate with one another.

We can increase our strength by working together not only in name,

but in coordinated actions. Such is the case in the natural ecosystems

of the Earth, and so it is for emergent movements such as ours.

Thank you.

I feel like shaking everyone and saying, don't you get it? We don't

need a Movement of Movements - we are a movement of movements.

My friends, we have been trapped in old dominant paradigm

thinking. We have been steeped in warmongering, hierarchical,

competitive, control-based mindsets since birth. We think we are

lacking something, or that we're ineffectual at organizing, or we're

failing. We call for a Movement of Movements, like the War to End

All Wars, a rallying cry that will amass the allies on the edge of the

battlefield so we can massacre our enemies.

It makes me want to laugh - and cry.

We want to name, label, categorize, and control the emergent

phenomenon of this revolutionary resistance. We want to take the

wild flurry of activity that is erupting on a thousand fronts and turn

it into an army for change. We want to call it something because then

we can control it. This is what our lineage of science and religion

has taught us: if we give it a name, it is ours. If we trademark the

Movement, we can capitalize on it. If we organize it all in one place,

we can make it work to what we consider its highest potential.

We need to let go. We need to surrender to this very large

phenomenon and join with it. We need to trust each other, the causes,

and the organic, emergent nature of what is happening . . . this is

revolutionary. This is a way of participation that is radical in our

society.

The long history of invasion, conquest, genocide, wars of aggression,

and abuse of people and the planet has indoctrinated us in false

beliefs that we must organize everything in order to survive. But these

old patterns of competition and control are a worldview perpetuated

by the wealthy elite, who profit from such mentalities at our expense.

To this end, they have abused the theories and philosophies of the

Judeo-Christian God and Darwin, alike. They school us in fear-
based, violent mindsets to ensure that we will never pose a serious

threat to their dominance. If we do not emancipate our minds from

their worldview, we will remain blind to the greatest strengths of our

movements.

Building a Movement of Movements seems to be the logical,

strongest, and wisest approach to breaking our opponents' power, but

our real strength may lie in our myriad movements. The empowered

elite are fighting us on all fronts. We have them surrounded on

all sides. Our plethora of issues distracts them, divides them, and

weakens their centralized position. They sit in the fortress of wealth

and power, staring wild-eyed into the living, breathing, diverse jungle

of opposition. There is nothing they would like more than to see us

assemble all of our strength in one place and march down the road to

their fortress. Then they could destroy us in one swoop. So, from the

balustrades of their socio-political system, they taunt us and mock us,

calling us disorganized and inefficient.

We are not disorganized. We are organized differently.

"We are the ivy crawling up the buildings, the moss breaking down

the bricks, and the dandelions shooting up in the sidewalks. We're

as vast as the planet and as microscopic as infectious disease. The

Dandelion Insurrection isn't a handful of radicals. It's all of Life

itself!" - from The Dandelion Insurrection

We must learn to look at the interconnections of our myriad causes

and wage struggle through collaboration, not control. Our causes are

not at odds with each other, nor do they need unification under one

name or coordination from a central command. Instead, we need to

collaborate strategically, using our diversity of issues as our strength.

If we look at the overlapping issues of health, economy, jobs, peace,

surveillance, education, energy, housing, environment, democracy,

and so on, we will see that every movement is working to replace

destructive, corrupt systems with constructive, life-supporting,

sustainable alternatives. Our strength lies in our inherent unity, not

in the label attached to it. Our only weakness is in our uncertainty . . .

and the fact that we remain unaware of the power of our situation.

We can tap into the collective and coordinated strength of our many

movements by learning to strategically collaborate with one another.

A few key elements of such an approach are:

• 1) Celebrate other's achievements; the success of one cause is the

success of the whole.

• 2) Support each other's efforts through solidarity, encouragement,

resources, media campaigns, etc.

• 3) Take time to analyze the interconnections of the movements.

Search for untapped strengths and sources of support. Identify

pivot points of change and opportunities for other movements

to help sway a critical element of your own movement.

• 4) Talk with each other. Find out how your efforts overlap and look

for opportunities for strategic collaboration.

Our movements are revolutionary; their manner of collaborative,

horizontal organization is the most natural, organic system on

Earth. We terrify the empowered elite because we reflect, in our

very structure, the most powerful force on the planet: Life. In what

they call our disorganization, we embody the natural systems that

the patriarchal, Puritanical European colonizers have been trying to

repress and control for thousands of years. Our movements are as

frightening to them as a liberated woman, or the pagan religions of

old Europe that succumbed to the first invasion of the mentality that

now engulfs the empowered elite around the globe. We are organic

and uncontrollable . . . and we are, ultimately, unstoppable.

Instead of codifying our movements under one name, we must

learn to recognize who and what we are. We are a movement of

movements, a great multiplicity of motion. We are a thousand points

of light. We are Life, itself.

 

Author/Actress Rivera Sun is a co-founder of the Love-In-Action

Network, a co-host on Occupy Radio, and, in addition to her

new novel, The Dandelion Insurrection, she is also the author of

nine plays, a book of poetry, and her debut novel, Steam Drills,

Treadmills, and Shooting Stars, which celebrates everyday heroes

who meet the challenges of climate change with compassion, spirit,

and strength. www.riverasun.com

This essay was inspired by a group of women during a Women

Weaving the World discussion. Many thanks to all of them for the

deep reflections, but particularly to Kathe Schaaf who spoke of

the movement of movements in an eye-opening way. Learn more

about Women Weaving the World here.