thinking in circles...

Dear Friends,

Its been awhile since I have written. Apologies.

I've been preoccupied with a big transition: deciding whether to continue working in the awesome space that I started at already, continuing building the infrastructure and community leaders, and developing some killer and strategic programming for youth, residents, community members. OR. moving home, to work in the community I grew up in.

It has been an internal crisis of sorts for myself. To work on immigration, youth isolation to youth power, anti-displacement, and gender justice in a community that I care about, or to work at home. Where no one has funding either. Where programs I am applying for are already cut!

It's confusing and I'm pretty sure, 2 months later, I am nowhere near figuring it out. I've given myself to the end of the week.

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IN the meantime, we had two awesome meetings this weekend. One with a youth group that is growing and developing. A workshop on migration, privilege, and power. The tenant's group spent time on changes in community, gentrification, and decision-making power. Both groups want to move forward with education for actions.

My own transition from an educator/ forever-student to an educator/ forever-student/ in an organization gives me different people to learn from, grow with, that aren't dictated to me by a "university" or a "school district." Rather we meet through experience, geography, and desire.

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This also leads me to desire to know more about strategies of organizing. SUCCESSES.

While I know about the civil rights movements, struggles rooted in those Alabama Buses, a legacy that always proudens the U.S. South, I know about some of the labor figures for people of color, I know about those anti-colonial struggles in France, South Asia, Philippines, Haiti, Hawaii and Guam, I know about the idols for me in recent women of color organizing, I still want to know more about the models and theories that my peers have used.

While extra school afforded me more time, time to think, think and learn, learn and grow, teach and learn and grow, I still want a systemized structural understanding of the process in which to engage our communities to dismantle oppressive systems. And not just in the localized sense, which I find effective. I want to know the broader picture. So tonight, I will read all that google and wiki allow me to find.

Much love,
p