Still Looking for Holistic Community (v.2)

By Wade Lee Hudson

NOTE: On August 30, I made substantial changes to the first version of this piece, mostly by adding more about the positive aspects of the conference.

Ever the optimist, I signed up for “The Future of Nonviolence: A Bay Area Report-back on James Lawson Institute” hoping to find an opportunity to plug into a holistic project that integrates the personal, the social, and the political.

Participants in The Future of Nonviolence report-back

The basic concept is simple. I seek an organization whose members clearly, explicitly:
1) aim for winnable improvements in public policy;
2) nurture the growth of a caring, nonviolent community, and;
3) support one another in their personal development.

The Facebook invitation stated:

Join us for a report-back on an 8-day meeting [in Nashville, TN] considering the past, present and future prospects of nonviolent strategic activism and its implications for the survival, restoration and evolution of the human family. A diverse group of Bay Area activists and organizers answered the call to attend a historical gathering to teach and learn on this important issue and will share the results and implications of this important meeting for their work going forward, 

The Rev. Dr. James Lawson, who had the opportunity to study Gandhian nonviolence in India for 3 years starting back in 1950, is arguably the single most important educator/trainer in the tradition of "nonviolent resistance" in the history of in the United States. His influence was critical in providing training in nonviolent theory and strategy in the early and ongoing development of the Dr. Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference and in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the two main organizations that provided leadership to the civil rights movement and guided most of its historical campaigns. 

In collaboration with the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict, Rev. Lawson appealed for a gathering of 21st Century activists and organizers from all over the country to examine the history and future of "Nonviolent Civil Resistance." This "nonviolence think-tank" is an unprecedented historical gathering--to take stock of the legacy accomplishments and accumulated wisdom of the nonviolence tradition, from Gandhi, King, the Occupy "Movement," and many other sources and expressions, leading up to today.

On the Facebook page for this event, Victor Lee Lewis also reported that the following quote was shared at the start of the closing circle in Nashville:

We seek friends, lovers, communities, who can see us, hold us, bear us. Frank Lloyd Wright said, “We create our buildings and then they create us.” Likewise, we construct our circle of friends and our communities and then they construct us--precisely by how they see us into being. Community is more powerful than willpower... For the real self to emerge, we urgently need a social network of appropriate self-objects who love, support, challenge, and sustain us. Such communities help us to accept and embrace all sides of our human nature. They do not continue to call up and reinforce our delusion of superiority (or inferiority). Rather, they help us to name it, and thereby expose it... A caring community can help us create a safe domain in which personal experiences can be expressed, expanded, and enriched. And in this safety we can have a brand-new experience of authentic, deeply personal experience. (An excerpt from "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self" by Stephen Cope)

This inspiring passage, which eloquently affirms personal development, prompted me to hope that this spirit had guided the Nashville conference and would guide future local efforts. 

Victor, Kazu, Celeste (Ruckus Society), and Tye (99Rise) reported that the gathering was inspiring and informative. The presenters offered extensive, valuable information on the history of nonviolent civil resistance as well as tools such as how to conduct power analysis and deal with violence-prone elements. Participants were able to download valuable PowerPoint presentations. The conference enabled academics and activists to interact and learn from each other to strengthen theory and deepen methods to move away from a hyper focus on tactics and clarify the value of strategy, unity, planning and discipline.  Many presentations were interactive and experiential. Case studies presented models that can be adapted locally. The periods of informal interaction were particularly rich. Overall, the participants were inspired by the conference. Considerable interest was expressed in working with the James Lawson Institute to convene local or regional events of a similar nature. The day after the local Report-back, Kazu posted the following on Facebook, with a photo of participants and a hashtag for an active Twitter feed that emerged from the conference: "#JLI2013!!! Watch out America."

But the tightly scheduled conference prompted at least some of the participants to conclude that the event was too top-down and one-way, with too many PowerPoint and video presentations. “They talked about the movement in a non-movement building way,” as Celeste expressed it. And most of the presenters and facilitators were White academics. When participants raised these issues toward the end of the conference, conference organizers seemed to be “blindsided” and failed to respond in a constructive manner. Considerable judgmental finger-pointing resulted.

This common phenomenon illustrates the need for activists to learn better how to treat each other with deep respect. Exactly what it means to be respectful differs in various cultures and sub-cultures. We need to avoid trying to impose narrow notions in this regard. And we may not need to pry into others’ inner experience. But a cohesive community does need agreed-on norms concerning key behavior, it seems to me.

And though I don’t believe that one approach would ever work for everyone, members of the kind of holistic community I seek would clearly commit to ongoing self-improvement (as defined by each individual) -- within the framework of some basic, general principles, such as compassion, nonviolence, and reconciliation.

Reportedly, the Nashville conference did not fully address underlying principles, such as the distinction between “philosophical nonviolence” which affirms nonviolence as a way of life and “strategic nonviolence” which focuses only on tactics. During a break, Kazu raised the issue with Rev. Lawson, who replied that he sees no such distinction. Kazu told us that he disagrees and believes, for example, that a commitment to “reconciliation” rather than “victory” is essential.

I agree with Kazu. If reconciliation is our goal, that decision impacts how we operate in many ways. We become less arrogant, strive to listen well, and are open to compromise, for example.

Unfortunately, it seems to me, to a considerable degree, such was not the case in Nashville (though the conference had many strong aspects). The focus was on strategy concerning how to impact the outer world, with little attention to how to nurture the inner change affirmed in Cope’s quote that was used in the closely circle. Whether a holistic approach emerges locally remains to be seen.

Ironically, the local report-back replicated the largely one-way dynamic at the Nashville conference, which prompted considerable laughter when everyone realized we had run out of time for enough dialogue before we had to adjourn. There was some last minute mention of a possible dinner conversation, but no decision was made.

Myself, I’m particularly interested in a dinner and open-ended conversation that would simply involve participants “speaking from the heart” as co-equals, with no specific agenda and no facilitator (or a rotating facilitator). Such dialogues, I believe, can be rich and deeply supportive.

Regardless, as I wrote on May 2, 2012 in “My Bottom Line”:

More than anything, I seek a joyous, compassionate community of progressive political activists who promote peaceful social transformation, focus on winnable objectives, and support one another in their personal growth, while accepting the time limitations that are common in the modern world. That is my bottom line. 

After decades of activism, I’ve concluded that progressive activists, myself included, need to overcome counterproductive habits that turn off potential recruits and create disabling conflicts within organizations. These habits include arrogance, one-upmanship, withholding feelings, impatience, and not really listening to others. 

I can no longer give my heart and soul to a project that does not encourage and support its members to nurture open-ended self-development, as defined by each individual (in contrast to specific skills training). Having been unable to find such a project, I’ll primarily continue to research, read, write, and dialog on these matters, try to advance the development of such efforts, and keep my eyes open for a holistic project that I can join.

In the meantime, preferring to avoid alienated relationships, I pursue truth, justice, and beauty relatively alone, with a few, disparate close friends with whom I experience reciprocal, mutually supportive relationships. I do so with a positive frame of mind, grounded in a course of action that feels right for me, grateful that by happenstance I fell into economic security and have good health.

Regardless, the Universe will take care of Herself. So as Kathy Kelly’s Iraqi friend said, “Don’t forget to love the Universe.”