The Ecology of Uprising
— All Thriving is Mutual —
Dear Ones,
I write to you as a white mother feeling heartbreak, anger, and despair about recent acts of racialized violence, especially deepening in my knowing that this kind of violence has been woven into the fabric of our society since the beginning.
I also write to you as the Executive Director of The Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain, where we are grappling with how best to stand on behalf of this organization against police brutality, systemic racism, inequity, and white supremacy.
The Staff and Board of The Eco-Institute are currently asking big questions such as:
What is the role of The Eco-Institute in the movement toward Racial Justice?
How might we, as an organization, serve and support the BIPOC members of our community?
How might those of us who are racialized and inculturated as white deepen our understanding of the role we play in perpetuating systems of oppression? And the ways we might use our positionality to disrupt these systems? What is our particular role as an educational nonprofit with a mostly white staff and board in addressing these issues?
These questions are on my mind as I write.
Most of what I have to say is to my white friends and colleagues simply because this is the contribution I am equipped to make.
But I also want to say to my Black and Brown friends and community members, for what it’s worth:
I am Listening. I invite you to call me, email me, and tell me how we can support you. I also respect that your energies might be better spent elsewhere at this time, and I support that, too. And, in case this invitation comes at the wrong time, I want you to know that it stands for the upcoming weeks, months and years.
To my white friends and community members:
As we grapple with the powerful opportunity of this moment, let’s take some cues from Nature. Just as in Nature, what is no longer working must decompose in order to feed what is ready to be born.
What we are witnessing now is a demand that we collectively decompose that which is no longer of service.
Colonization, Exploitation, Domination, White Supremacy, Capitalism, Hyper-Individualism, and Patriarchy are all bound for the compost pile.
How might we approach the heat of transformation with humility, curiosity, generosity, and a willingness to LEARN?
In this spirit I also ask: How might we embrace the discomfort of acknowledging that many of the privileges we enjoy are built on a foundation of suffering and oppression?
Here at The Eco-Institute, our work is dedicated to healing the Human-Earth Relationship. And as we investigate the ecological crisis, we discover that its roots are intricately entwined with those of the social, racial, economic, political, and spiritual crises of our time.
The first two Core Values of The Eco-Institute are:
1. All Life is Sacred
2. All Phenomena are Radically Interdependent
What does Radical Interdependence mean? From one ecological perspective, it means:
All thriving is mutual. Systems only thrive when the entirety is healthy and well. My wellbeing is bound up with yours, and with that of the oceans, rivers, atmosphere, forests, and everything else.
Another way to say this is that true, long-term health and wellbeing of any species depend on the health and wellbeing of the entire Ecological System. There may be a period of time in which one part of the system benefits disproportionately from exploiting another part, but eventually an ecosystem incorporates feedback to correct the exploitation and restore balance.
What we are seeing right now is an invitation, an opportunity for social course correction and political/economic system re-balance:
We must be willing to see
the interaction of the social/political/economic issues at hand
within the context of connected systems:
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Inequity, poverty, injustice, ecological devastation, and police brutality
are SYMPTOMS of Systems of Dominance and Exploitation:
White supremacy, patriarchy, colonialism, and capitalism.
We live in a country founded on stolen land and stolen labor, followed by centuries of ecological, economic, cultural and social exploitation and devastation. It is time to reckon with our history, tell the truth about systemic and structural forms of oppression—the kind of truth that will demand reconciliatory action and lead us to deeper healing.
The Eco-Institute’s Action Plans include:
Community Conversations
Continuing (and possibly mandating) Staff and Board Racial Equity Training
Inviting more voices of color into leadership roles
Expanding the Collective Liberation component of the Rising Earth Immersion Curriculum
Prioritizing POC Scholarship Applicants (this has been in place for a couple of years now)
Continuing to develop and live into our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Access Statement and Strategy
Hosting Racial Literacy classes for our white friends and community members
Please keep an eye out for an invitation to an Online Community Resilience Conversation for which we hope you will join us.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to the people who helped me talk through how to write this letter: Tabitha Blackwell, Lynice Pinkard, Chérie Rivers Ndaliko, Alison Sever, Topher Stephens, Gary Phillips, Connor Stedman, and Morgan Siem.
My belief and fervent prayer is that what is ready to be born is a world of Healing, a path toward Collective Liberation, Justice, Wellness and Wholeness TOGETHER, as Beloved Community.
In solidarity, Meg