commuming with anarchists
Yesterday we were in London, Ontario, tabling on behalf of CPT for the annual London Anarchist Book Fair. We also lead and co-lead two workshops, one on nonviolent civil disobedience, and one on Christian anarchism (Peter led that one on his own). It was pretty interesting - on the book fair side, there were a lot of books, primarily nonfiction, as well as stickers, badges, posters, and tee shirts. A lot of people with tank tops and tattoos, and some of them managed to get past the "Christian" part of our organization's name to stop and chat. We passed out a lot of free propaganda literature, mostly our quarterly newsletters. Esther, our colleague who looks like somebody's kindly grandmother and who has a backbone of steel and no hesitation about promoting CPT, hooked a few people for long enough to talk about our different project sites and foist more literature upon them. (It's the grandmotherly grey hair and gentle smile. People think she's harmless. People are incorrect. I'm convinced she is actually a badass ninja for justice.)
The workshops were also interesting, though now imagine me sliding that word out of the side of my mouth when you read it. Peter's, on Christian anarchism, was well-attended and, I think, in that several of the people who expressed skepticism about this concept - isn't it an oxymoron? - were nodding thoughtfully later on as he expanded on the ideology behind the term.
Ours - which we co-lead as a team - on civil disobedience and nonviolence was more ... Well. More fraught with tension than I'd really expected. I think I've gotten too used to talking to Christians: I take for granted that participants would see the logic in using nonviolence as a means of fighting back. Yesterday, however, there were a couple of workshop attendees who said upfront that choosing violence was absolutely an option in their book, and it got to the point, through the duration of the workshop, where they seemed to imply that actively killing someone would also be an option, depending on the circumstances.
Um. Wow. Yep.
I don't know: there's a part of me that is increasingly unimpressed with the kinds of activism - Activism, maybe, with a capital A - practiced in the US and Canada. It seems to be all about which books you've read, and how many times you've been tear gassed, and/or arrested, and how much jail time you've done. Like, you're not a Real Activist until you can check those things off. And you have tattoos and don't wear deodorant and only eat vegan foods.
I'm not being fair, I know. But Peter, Chris, Esther, and I went into yesterday's workshop planning to talk about how peacework takes time, how effective nonviolence requires building relationships, with your allies and partners, and sometimes with the oppressors too. We had planned to share our own experiences, from working in the field, on the ground, away from the protest sites and headline-making stories. We were somewhat successful, but the folks who in our initial "Why Are You Here?" go-around identified basically as nonviolence skeptics, kept returning the discussion to increasingly theoretical angles. Honestly at one point it seemed like they were just trying to get us to say the "wrong" thing, so they could prove their own belief that violence - violence against not just property, but people too - should always be a (primary) option.
It was exhausting, really. Combined with the heat (the buildings the book fair was held in were not air conditioned, though they were still cooler than outside), I admit I left yesterday feeling cranky and achy-tired.
Today we're marching in the World Pride Toronto parade, which by all rights should be pretty awesome, but I'm dreading it a little. It's still hot today, and sunny, and I'm still tired. The biggest thing that's keeping me going is the conviction that I'll regret not going. So I'll slather up with sunscreen, and wear a loose blouse instead of my CPT tee shirt (no one will care; I guarantee it), and hopefully end up having a lot of fun. We'll be behind the St. Stephen's banner, if, on the very outside chance, the media is taking pictures of a bunch of Anglicans and Allies in this Pride parade.
EDIT: I'm glad I went - it was actually a blast. Maybe I'll talk more tomorrow about the parade, but I figure I walked about ten miles today, and my feet are sore, and I had a really, really great time. Here is a picture, that is actually a pretty bad picture, but I am peeking out of the left hand side, holding a sign for St. Stephen-in-the-Field church. At least I've been to a service or two there, and I know Maggie and Andrea, the priests in the middle of the photo.
Maybe more tomorrow!
The workshops were also interesting, though now imagine me sliding that word out of the side of my mouth when you read it. Peter's, on Christian anarchism, was well-attended and, I think, in that several of the people who expressed skepticism about this concept - isn't it an oxymoron? - were nodding thoughtfully later on as he expanded on the ideology behind the term.
Ours - which we co-lead as a team - on civil disobedience and nonviolence was more ... Well. More fraught with tension than I'd really expected. I think I've gotten too used to talking to Christians: I take for granted that participants would see the logic in using nonviolence as a means of fighting back. Yesterday, however, there were a couple of workshop attendees who said upfront that choosing violence was absolutely an option in their book, and it got to the point, through the duration of the workshop, where they seemed to imply that actively killing someone would also be an option, depending on the circumstances.
Um. Wow. Yep.
I don't know: there's a part of me that is increasingly unimpressed with the kinds of activism - Activism, maybe, with a capital A - practiced in the US and Canada. It seems to be all about which books you've read, and how many times you've been tear gassed, and/or arrested, and how much jail time you've done. Like, you're not a Real Activist until you can check those things off. And you have tattoos and don't wear deodorant and only eat vegan foods.
I'm not being fair, I know. But Peter, Chris, Esther, and I went into yesterday's workshop planning to talk about how peacework takes time, how effective nonviolence requires building relationships, with your allies and partners, and sometimes with the oppressors too. We had planned to share our own experiences, from working in the field, on the ground, away from the protest sites and headline-making stories. We were somewhat successful, but the folks who in our initial "Why Are You Here?" go-around identified basically as nonviolence skeptics, kept returning the discussion to increasingly theoretical angles. Honestly at one point it seemed like they were just trying to get us to say the "wrong" thing, so they could prove their own belief that violence - violence against not just property, but people too - should always be a (primary) option.
It was exhausting, really. Combined with the heat (the buildings the book fair was held in were not air conditioned, though they were still cooler than outside), I admit I left yesterday feeling cranky and achy-tired.
Today we're marching in the World Pride Toronto parade, which by all rights should be pretty awesome, but I'm dreading it a little. It's still hot today, and sunny, and I'm still tired. The biggest thing that's keeping me going is the conviction that I'll regret not going. So I'll slather up with sunscreen, and wear a loose blouse instead of my CPT tee shirt (no one will care; I guarantee it), and hopefully end up having a lot of fun. We'll be behind the St. Stephen's banner, if, on the very outside chance, the media is taking pictures of a bunch of Anglicans and Allies in this Pride parade.
EDIT: I'm glad I went - it was actually a blast. Maybe I'll talk more tomorrow about the parade, but I figure I walked about ten miles today, and my feet are sore, and I had a really, really great time. Here is a picture, that is actually a pretty bad picture, but I am peeking out of the left hand side, holding a sign for St. Stephen-in-the-Field church. At least I've been to a service or two there, and I know Maggie and Andrea, the priests in the middle of the photo.
Maybe more tomorrow!