Tomas Atencio
The term NOW is an adverb that
speaks with a sense of urgency: ACT AT
ONCE! I don’t think Amy Goodman’s
“Democracy Now” radio program communicates urgency as used above; it strongly
affirms the moment and reflects on where Democracy is at the present time. By
bringing out news items that tell what the established media will not, the NOW
implies that it is alternative media.
David Brancaccio’s NOW in PBS brings out cutting edge topics of social
and environmental justice themes. They both have an activist mission. When I
went to Oaxaca, I expected a definition or an explanation of NOW Activism. NOW
I find myself reflecting on its meaning to me. Good move to encourage
reflection and dialogue.
At Oaxaca, specifically at la
Universidad de la Tierra, I picked up a strong message on acting on authentic issues of sustainability,
indigenous and appropriate technology, indigenous and traditional knowledge,
learning communities, governing and politics with the resources and skills
available at the present time. I also heard during the week: “Don’t waste time
developing broad strategies to address symptoms. Addressing issues through policy initiatives
does not get to the problem in time, if at all.
On the other side of the coin, being conscious of the threats to the
environment, for example, such acts as turning out lights, conserving water,
driving at low speeds, etc. would be aspects of NOW Activism. Taking these
small, seemingly insignificant initiatives apply to other threats and problems.
A NOW activist, I assume, must have
a thorough knowledge and understanding of the issue at hand and some notion of
the outcome of his or her actions, within the NOW window and beyond. I assume
that advocates of NOW Activism have an agenda for training NOW Activist.
Perhaps the Oaxaca gathering was a step in this direction as are all the
projects of Berkana Institute. If this is not in the making, we need it as part
of a learning society.
I haven’t considered my self a NOW
Activist, according to my understanding of its meaning, but may have
inadvertently been one. Many years ago I came upon the “community of interest
model” for community organizing. The community of interest is the first stage.
The second stage uses dialogue to deepen the community of interest’s
understanding of its shared concerns and visions, to discern possible pathways
toward common goals, and to develop alternatives for resisting obstacles to
freedom and fulfillment. This second stage process is called the “community of
solution;” In the “community in action,” the third stage, the initial community
of interest acts on the knowledge, understanding, and heightened consciousness
attained by dialogue.
In short, this process leads to a
new awareness and respond-ability. The ability to respond implies that action
and reflection also foster commitment, courage, and fortitude to respond to the
revelations in this new awareness.
In the mid-sixties I directed the
Colorado Migrant Council (CMC), a War on Poverty project where we identified
college-aged migrant workers and trained them to identify potential communities
of interest from the everyday life experiences of migrants. They learned to
engage participants in reflective conversations so that they could understand
the forces impinging on their lives and thereby forge and carry out action
plans to address their concerns. Ultimately, the process was an exercise in
experiential learning — that is, learning from everyday life, resulting in a
new awareness and respond-ability. The
project was a great success, as migrant workers moving in the stream could ACT
immediately on their problems and challenges. The process was not violent; it
focused on acquiring knowledge and skills to deal with problems of everyday
life, many of them fostered by racism and discrimination. I still work toward
the same goals.
The issues and concerns today that
call for NOW Activism are spawned by globalization, i.e., immigration, the
destruction of indigenous cultures throughout the world, free markets and the
death of the middle class in industrialized societies, war instead of diplomacy
in dealing with international relations at a time when war means ultimate
destruction; environmental degradation and disregard for its consequences;
technology that alters the natural course of nature such as modified seeds,
etc. without regards for their outcomes; pharmaceuticals and the turning of
health care into a market commodity; biased media used to manipulate the story
in favor of the powerful; schooling at a
time when different models for learning are called upon by the knowledge age
but we don’t respond and society end ups with an uneducated populace.
NOW Activism — small, local
communities of interest — can respond to these global issues by documenting
their own stories and identifying the recurring patterns in their story. I have
been working on the idea that these recurring patterns are themes that are
universal; they are archetypal and small communities around the world could
share these thematic stories and respond to them via social action within their
own context. NOW Activism should work at having indigenous and communities in
developing societies throughout the world connect and dialogue around their
common themes. This is where sophisticated communications can be used to
address the threatening trends in our world. (See my other attachment)
I share three examples in the state
of
The New Mexico Acequia Association,
Sawmill
Bioneers and SustainTaos are two
organizations, the first founded in Santa Fe, NM in 1990 and now a national
group with offices also in San Francisco, CA, and SustainTaos, an organization
in Taos, NM that carries out the Bioneer vision and mission in northern New
Mexico. Google the San Rafael, CA convention in Oct. 2006 and you will get a
roster of what we would call NOW activists and the content of their work.