For many years, I've been looking for a holistic community focused on national policy that I could join. During those years, I’ve encouraged Van Jones and others to organize one. Now Van, the prominent CNN commentator and long-term organizer, has launched the #LoveArmy and I’m jazzed!
It's very close to what I've been proposing. I no longer have to try to help start one myself!
My Bay Area friends who want to participate in a #LoveArmy Circle with me are invited to let me know. Folks outside the Bay Area are encouraged to form their own.
Here's the #LoveArmy description of a Circle:
#LoveArmy Circles are groups of 2 or more people working together to solve our common problems. You take action in your own way, on a local level. We provide structure, support, and keep you connected to a large community of people doing similar work. To be part of Dream Corps’ #LoveArmy Circles, all you have to do is bring two or more people together and stay connected to the Dream Corps.
#LoveArmy Circles can be a group of friends, a few colleagues, an existing book club, moms group, or study group, a civic organization, your family, a collection of neighbors, etc. Some of you may build on existing groups and others may pull together something new for the first time. All are welcome no matter your background, political leaning, or experience.
Get together in these small circles regularly - it could be once a week or once a month. Whatever works for you. Then, each month, we’ll come together in a virtual meeting to learn from each other, share ideas and coordinate our efforts.
The #LoveArmy is a Dream Corps project, whose home page highlights “LOVE + POWER,” which probably refers to Dr.King’s famous statement, “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.”
The #LoveArmy clearly envisions taking collective action. One of the three forms of involvement they list is “Love in Action,” which is described as “coming soon.” And on their invitation to join, they declare, “Join the #Love Army: Fight Different. ... We will be coordinating regular actions and bringing people together in large and small gatherings.”
The #LoveArmy’s parent organization is the Dream Corps, whose Core Values are:
SOLUTIONS: We advance solutions that inspire action, serve justice, and improve people's lives. Our solutions honor life and amplify the voices of those left behind in the current system. By turning to each other, instead of on each other, we act in solidarity, create unlikely partnerships and open unexpected doors.
SERVANT LEADERSHIP: We lead with empathy. We are committed to the growth and well-being of all people, especially the marginalized and mistreated. We see personal transformation and systemic transformation as interlinked and interdependent. We serve a movement that extends far beyond our own organization. We are committed to creating the conditions for all people to be free.
SOUL: We cultivate presence, conviction, and love. How we do what we do matters. Authenticity, depth, and passion matter. We celebrate culture and creativity. We honor the immeasurable. We operate from a place of fierce and unconditional love that is rooted in relationship and connection. We believe in magic. We are awake and alive in this work.
I italicized those two sentences -- “We see personal transformation and systemic transformation as interlinked and interdependent….How we do what we do matters.” -- because they strike me as particularly important.
The #LoveArmy website declares:
We’re approaching not only a new year, but a new era. The stakes are high. Many of us feel disconnected, disoriented, and dispirited.
The #LoveArmy will come together to make sure everyone knows they are not alone, and that if we stand together, we are powerful.
This is the moment to see ourselves as leaders!
ARE YOU READY TO FIGHT FOR A BETTER FUTURE?
I am!
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