Amy Winehouse and at least 92 people in Norway die on the same day.  Due to different causes, but both instances related to sick behaviors, and deadly all the same.  Drug addiction and alcoholism – as evidenced by the loss of this soulful young woman  - are deadly.  [...]]]> Amy Winehouse and at least 92 people in Norway die on the same day.  Due to different causes, but both instances related to sick behaviors, and deadly all the same.  Drug addiction and alcoholism – as evidenced by the loss of this soulful young woman  - are deadly.  So is the mental state that allows individuals to believe that violence is the best expression of their political views.  I have to believe this man is sick.  Or evil.  I think terrorists tend to be, it’s the only way I can make sense of it. It doesn’t matter tonight, though I do have a lot to say on that topic, what I want to focus on is that these are heartbreaking and preventable tragedies all the same.

I am rather disturbed by the comparisons of these two losses in the social media sphere.  It’s like asking a child “Do you love mommy or daddy?”  Well, I cannot really choose, can I?  The coverage of the untimely death of a young star is completely predictable, this is how our current media structures are set up.  Sensationalism around the Oslo attacks is also to be expected, again, we haven’t seen a mainstream media that does the job in the way that would best serve the general public in quite a while.  Media is a business that is not centered around serving the common good, it’s supposed to make money like every other corporate entity on the planet.  So the point is not that they should talk more about Oslo and less about Amy.  The point is that they should tell us about both, and about everything else that is happening that we need to know and are not being told about.  A whole lot more attention and investigation could go to Norway, certainly.  And the reason it’s not happening is structural.

But a critique of the media is not on my mind tonight either.  Because I have devoted my life to finding solutions more than to pointing out problems (though pointing out problems tends to be prerequisite to finding solutions), I wanted to share the thought that my scouting of the bickering over Amy vs. Oslo has sprouted in me today: there is room for everything and everyone.

We cannot focus on creating a just society without saving the environment.  We cannot save whales instead of children, or help war refugees instead of homeless people.  The new world has room for all things that are right.  That is why it’s the new world.  We better believe it and start acting like it.  We have no road map for this, it has never been attempted before but we are indeed making it happen every day.  Ask Paul Hawken, who discusses the miracles that we are allowing everyday in his Blessed Unrest.  And so to get all bent out of shape over whether one lonely woman dying at home from addiction is less or more tragic than a terrorist killing dozens is missing the point completely.  The point is that these tragedies are not comparable, and that addiction and extremism don’t normally belong in the same to-do list for people addressing the ills of our world…but I think they could.  I can’t solve everything all by myself but there is room for all of us to pick one small thing, chisel away at it and turn it into a beautiful sculpture. Whether we run macro education campaigns against ignorance and hatred or we do one-on-one counseling around mental health issues, it’s all necessary, there is room for everything, for everyone.

And so tonight, when the planet is horrified to witness Oslo being shocked and shaken, and music fans are heartbroken over the loss of an icon, is not the time to get into discussing who’s got it worse.  Most of us have had it pretty bad at some point, which is why we are all in the business of making it better.  For ourselves and all of us – by BOTH helping out the addict right next to us and working to prevent terrorism in ways that work – not fighting fire with fire. “Travelers, there is no path, paths are made by walking”.  My first step to make this path tonight will be to mourn the death of everyone in the Oslo tragedy.  And then dance to “Rehab” – in a loop.  And while I’m at it, I’ll say a prayer for everyone else that is being oppressed, starved, tortured, raped, abused, and is suffering.  I will never tire of saying it, although hearing it is useless until you have the experience of it: we are indeed one.  Good night.  Blessings Norway.  RIP Ms. Winehouse.

Racism, unlike pregnancy, is not a binary proposition.  So there are degrees of racism, and of racial understanding.  Having grown up in a relatively racially homogeneous place, I vividly remember the awe and fascination I felt the first time I saw a black person.  He just so happened to be the most beautiful man I [...]]]>

With my cousin's girl Sofia back when her Farsi and Spanish were better than her English, LA 2009

Racism, unlike pregnancy, is not a binary proposition.  So there are degrees of racism, and of racial understanding.  Having grown up in a relatively racially homogeneous place, I vividly remember the awe and fascination I felt the first time I saw a black person.  He just so happened to be the most beautiful man I had seen up to that point in my short life, and unlike anyone I’ve ever seen before.  For the 2011 version of me, working full-time on social change and having racial equity be at the heart of my vision, this story may come across as racist.  It is.  But it is also true. The child that I was found herself discovering newness and difference in her world, and my reaction was all I could muster in the context of people that were new to me.

I remember this about myself when I want to pass judgment about racist people, homophobes, misogynists, and haters in general.  I try to think that we are all trying our best, and while this does not mean I will give you a free pass to behave in unacceptable ways, it does mean that I still want to engage with you and help you see it another way.  So here is my pitch.

On my mom’s side of the family, we were seven cousins – all born and raised in Chile.  The oldest cousin met an Iranian in LA and has a half Iranian daughter.  The next cousin moved to Spain and has a half Spanish son.  I live in SF and have maneuvered both graciously and ridiculously for well over 30 years to get away with not being harassed (too much) for being childless.  Then comes my brother, who just moved in with his Australian girlfriend in Melbourne and is hoping to become a dad.  My next youngest cousin had a very short life and shape shifted before ever picking a partner.  Next up is my half chileno, half Indian cousin; his mom was born and raised in India and my uncle met her when he was living in Saudi Arabia.  Finally, my youngest little baby cousin is an adorable child who also happens to have Down’s syndrome.  Which always reminds me to keep my heart’s eye open to everyone and everything.

So my immediate family has strong blood ties in numerous continents, and it has become such a non-issue in my life that just last night I realized that one of my closest girlfriends who also happens to be Indian had never heard about the Indian members of my family.  Or rather, she had heard about them, but I just never mentioned that they are Indian.

My lovely relatives have all made horrifyingly racist remarks at some point in their lives.  So have I.  And while there are those out there that are criminally insane and plain dangerous, a lot of racism does not come from a place of evil.  It hit me like a ton of bricks today that really, as trite as it may sound, just looking around my immediate family makes a powerful argument to fight my own racism.  And while I am not flagrantly racist, any crumble of ignorance or fear based on nothing real needs to get worked out of my system, both for my own mental health and the well-being of the society I belong to.

If you will allow me to fly with the cheesy “human family” metaphor,  the fact that we are all indeed brothers and sisters is a great argument that as of recently hasn’t been articulated in a frequent and compelling enough way to get the traction we need: “El otro soy yo” The other am I – the other is me.  We cannot afford to pull crap on each other because it is 2011 and not 1492.  The Earth has simply become too small and you may end up grandmothering the child from those people that you thought you hated, or maybe just thought were weird, until you looked into her eyes for the first time and you knew love like never before.  And while fear and hatred have been around since the beginning of time, the consequences of our lack of willingness – political will, specifically – to get rid of racism and racist actions are dire in this day and age.  In a networked time when things accelerate exponentially, it is certainly all of our jobs to fight our own racism so we can spread racial equity and fraternity like wild fire.  And this is just the personal appeal approach, more on structural issues soon.  Not to mention the immigration issues around my family’s story and the overlap of migration and racial tension.  I guess I’m not about to run out of ideas quite yet.  Que vivan todas las razas!

A few days ago I blogged in Spanish about the student movement taking place in Chile.   Later that day, after I had lunch with Sarah from the Sierra Club, I decided to translate the post.  During our engaging discussion about movement building, I realized that what the student movement in Chile is [...]]]>

My cousin Gabriel as pall bearer of Education at a good ol' fashioned protest, Chile 2011

A few days ago I blogged in Spanish about the student movement taking place in Chile.   Later that day, after I had lunch with Sarah from the Sierra Club, I decided to translate the post.  During our engaging discussion about movement building, I realized that what the student movement in Chile is about carries a message that can very well be a lesson for all world-changing efforts. And I did want to share this with her: whether we hope for free quality education, or a clean environment, or respect for women’s rights or even the reasonable assumption that our world will support life on it, or all of that and even more, what we are missing is the will to expect it and demand it and prioritize it over all other fears.

Case in point:

Last week I spoke with my cousin Gabriel who is participating in the student movement in Chile. In a few short words, Chilean students are demanding a better education that is accessible to anyone, since the admissions system is blatantly biased in favor of students from wealthier backgrounds and has a shameful correlation between socioeconomic status and college admission.  And most importantly, they want it for free.  My cousin and his generation understand at a cellular level that education is a right, not a privilege, and as such, they are demanding it.  And yes, they want it free of charge, please, thank you. Simply because that’s their right.  I think the operative term in this situation is the framing of education as a right. Rights are never offered, they are always demanded. This is why the students have taken over educational institutions and have paralyzed all activities and are planning on keeping it up until their rights are upheld.

Kiss-a-thon for education, Chile 2011

Gabriel told me about their current challenges. In his school, for instance, the Dean has approved many of their petitions, but the students feel that the protests cannot stop until they get a similar response from the entire university, not just their school, and also at the national level. But hey, the dean did his part, so now what? Ah, the idiosyncrasies of protesting and movement building.  Gabriel asked me about the challenges of higher education in the USA and I felt a bit ashamed to answer his question. It’s not that we don’t face similar or even worse problems, it’s that we tend to be more tolerant. And I don’t mean that as a compliment. Just over the holiday weekend I read the Declaration of Independence and it says that “all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”

Vigil for Education, Chile 2011

So here in the US all of us who want a more just society ask ourselves daily how much more sufferable are the evils to which increasingly more people are exposed to, and the answer seems to still be: even more. But when the time comes when the US is ready to approach education as the right it is instead of a privilege for the few, I will call my cousin to let him know that students over here are also willing to take over their schools, to paralyze the system for weeks, to dialog with politicians, to take over the streets and to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people because we understand that we are all one, and that education is not a student problem, it affects us all. Every single one of us. Until then, Fuerza Chile and hang in there Gabriel.

Update: since Tuesday, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera made a proposal to the students which included a US$4 billion educational fund, which according to Reuters, “students snubbed”. What part of free did you not understand? More cash does not address structural inequality. These students are awesome and they are striking on July 14… more to come.

La semana pasada hablé con mi primo Gabriel que ha estado participando en el movimiento estudiantil chileno.  Fue bastante informativo el tener la opción de escuchar en sus propias palabras la experiencia de querer una educación mejor no sólo para él, si no como me dijo, también para su hermano chico.  Lo que sucede es [...]]]>

Mi primo Gabriel en el funeral de la educación chilena

La semana pasada hablé con mi primo Gabriel que ha estado participando en el movimiento estudiantil chileno.  Fue bastante informativo el tener la opción de escuchar en sus propias palabras la experiencia de querer una educación mejor no sólo para él, si no como me dijo, también para su hermano chico.  Lo que sucede es muy simple: los estudiantes quieren educación buena, bonita y barata.  Buena en que requieren de infraestructura decente, profesores disponibles y dedicados a la educación,  y una mejor calidad de la educación en sí.  Bonita en que el sistema de acceso a la educación sea justo, ya que hoy en día en Chile el sistema funciona de manera tal que si naciste en una familia de estrato ABC1 (léase pudiente – más que pudiente en verdad) puedes estudiar y si no, bueno…no.  Y bueno, lo de barata no es tan así, estos chiquillos entienden que la educación no es un privilegio, es un derecho, y como tal, la exigen gratis.

Creo que lo más relevante de la movilización estudiantil en Chile es que estos jóvenes entienden desde los más profundo de su ser que los derechos jamás son ofrecidos, siempre son exigidos.  Entonces se han tomado los establecimientos educacionales y han paralizado las actividades y si de mí dependiera, que no se bajen hasta que consigan que sus derechos sean respetados.

Gabriel me conto sobre sus desafíos: en su escuela, por ejemplo, el decano ha aceptado muchas de sus peticiones, sin embrago, sienten que las protestas no pueden terminar hasta que haya una solución similar a nivel de la universidad completa y también nacional. Pero bueno, su decano ya hizo lo que pudo, entonces ¿ahora qué?  Gabriel me preguntó un poco sobre los desafíos en la educación superior en Estados Unidos y me dio un poco de vergüenza contestarle.  No es que no tengamos problemas similares, incluso peores.  Pero creo que acá somos más tolerantes.  Y no lo digo como cumplido.  Justamente ayer estaba leyendo la Declaración de Independencia y dice que “toda la experiencia ha demostrado que la humanidad está más dispuesta a sufrir, mientras los males sean tolerables, que a hacerse justicia mediante la abolición de las formas a las que está acostumbrada. Pero cuando una larga serie de abusos y usurpaciones, que persigue invariablemente el mismo objetivo, evidencia el designio de someterlos bajo un despotismo absoluto, es el derecho de ellos, es el deber de ellos, derrocar ese gobierno y proveer nuevas salvaguardas para su futura seguridad.”

Entonces resulta que acá en Estados Unidos los que queremos una sociedad más justa nos preguntamos a diario cuanto más tolerables serán los males a los que cada vez más gente están expuestos, y la respuesta sigue siendo:  aún más.  Pero cuando llegue ese momento en el cual Estados Unidos esté dispuesto a tratar a la educación como el derecho que es y no un privilegio para pocos, llamaré a mi primo Gabriel para contarle que acá también los estudiantes están dispuestos o tomarse la Universidad, a paralizar el sistema durante semanas, a dialogar con los políticos, a tomarse las calles y a movilizar a cientos de miles de personas porque entendemos que todos somos uno y que la educación no es un problema de los estudiantes, es un tema que nos afecta a todos.  Toditos.  Fuerza Chile y ánimo Gabriel.

The Fourth of July scares me a little bit.  Red white and blue I’ve always associated with a ruthless military, and that’s nobody’s fault, the Chilean flag is also red white and blue and Pinochet usurped those colors and so they do trigger me a little bit.  But in combination with fireworks, which I’ve [...]]]>

Fireworks over Marin Co Fair, CA July 2011

The Fourth of July scares me a little bit.  Red white and blue I’ve always associated with a ruthless military, and that’s nobody’s fault, the Chilean flag is also red white and blue and Pinochet usurped those colors and so they do trigger me a little bit.  But in combination with fireworks, which I’ve never really enjoyed cause they sound too much like bombs to me and they smoke and make babies cry – the whole Fourth is just not my gig.  But this is the thing, I am a US citizen and I have been blessed to live in this beautiful land for half of my life now.  My entire adulthood for sure.  So this year I’ve decided to come to terms with this mid-summer holiday.  I wanted to reclaim its original meaning: Independence.  What am I free of? Who am I free from?

As it turns out, a bunch of renegades left England for what we now know as the US.  First noteworthy fact: nobody emigrates because it’s so good at home.  You only take off because something is the matter and you need to make it right.  Totally with them, as an immigrant myself, I get it.  I may have more in common with the founding fathers than I have realized and to find out I went back and re-read for the first time in very many years the eternal love letter they left behind: The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.

I could bet you haven’t read this in years either.  I invite you to consider giving it a pass now.  I think you will be particularly fascinated by how current it seems- totally fresh, in fact.  I think it’s fair to say that circumstances affecting the state of our Union in 2011 are neither light nor transient.  Our current system has exhibited a history of repeated injuries and usurpations. Like the War on Women, on Immigrants, on the Poor.  Go ahead, give it a read and don’t tell me it doesn’t sound like the US of A needs to become independent from itself.  We can totally do this without having to go anywhere.  This country is amazing and it is up to we the people to make it livable for all again.  Two hundred and thirty five years into this experiment, I want to commit to my adopted land that my work will always bear in mind my right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and most especially that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.

You with me?

Declaration of Independence

[Adopted in Congress 4 July 1776]

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy of the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levey war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

I’m still buzzing from spending the day with a whole lot of incredibly talented and fun people at San Francisco’s Social Media for NonProfits Conference. You can’t go wrong with an event in The Green Room at The War Memorial, there is something quite cinematic about stepping out on that [...]]]> I’m still buzzing from spending the day with a whole lot of incredibly talented and fun people at San Francisco’s Social Media for NonProfits Conference. You can’t go wrong with an event in The Green Room at The War Memorial, there is something quite cinematic about stepping out on that balcony and looking over Van Ness, it feels totally dignified, maybe because it’s the kind of view that I imagine dignitaries get to enjoy from their official windows and such, but I digress.

The entire day was devoted to online tools for ngo’s and while it was great to hear about Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and all the different ways to connect online, I really appreciated the emphasis on actual connection. At one point I even tweeted @GuyKawasaki explaining social media at #sm4np: how to be a decent human being. A somewhat spiritual talk disguised as business advice. Rad

Although it’s not common to hear mentions to spirit in the context of social media, fundraising and communications, I think it would be helpful to consider in more depth what it is that connects us. What are the ties that bind us, the passions that move us and the calls to action that we can’t help but answer? As it turns out, these questions are addressed online the same way that they are offline. In general, human beings want to be around people that are authentic, that are bold, that are passionate, that will listen to us and that will inspire us to act out the best version of ourselves. If we haven’t baked these values into our off-line campaigns, it’s not very likely that we will be able to incorporate them into our online efforts.

Guy Kawasaki (Author of Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. Former chief evangelist of Apple. Co-founder of Alltop) spent most of his talk describing what he feels a decent human being should be like. Granted, he was really clever about framing it in terms of social media, which is why people didn’t throw a fit and demanded their money back because no one was there to be told to be likable, trustworthy, responsive to other people’s needs, honest and transparent…but that’s exactly what he did. And I think that is a fantastic thing. Figuring out how to create a twitter account or how to upload content to Facebook is not really all that hard, what is more difficult is creating a vision for an organization that can be embodied in the social media context, and that works.

And this is what works: acknowledging that as a movement, we have not succeeded quite yet in building a healthy and just world for all. Part of what we can do differently is accepting our limitations and crowdsourcing the expansion our limits. Part of the solution is being real and honest, because corporatese is a language that didn’t work for businesses and it sure won’t work for ngo’s. Part of what works is trusting that the most self-serving action is to devote ourselves completely to the service of others, if nothing else, because it will pay back in the form of supporters, partners, donors, and strong communities that will fall on the swords for us rather than be an audience that will gleefully watch us get sliced.

Once we are clear on what values drive us as a movement and within our organizations, taking it online is just an accelerator for great energy that will travel at the speed of light and will no longer feel like an burden or another task on our to do list. But let’s get clear on this: as shiny as social media tools are, they can only sparkle once they’ve been polished by the thoughtful approach of defining what it is that we do, and more importantly, why it is that we do it. Then and only then can we invite others to join us.

En mis años de trabajo en el movimiento ambientalista y también de activismo social (léase justicia, derechos humanaos, equidad) me ha tocado ver muchas veces como una corporación que ha sido previamente pillada con las manos en la masa – ya sea pagando menos del sueldo mínimo, no cubriendo los beneficios básicos requeridos por ley [...]]]> En mis años de trabajo en el movimiento ambientalista y también de activismo social (léase justicia, derechos humanaos, equidad) me ha tocado ver muchas veces como una corporación que ha sido previamente pillada con las manos en la masa – ya sea pagando menos del sueldo mínimo, no cubriendo los beneficios básicos requeridos por ley para los empleados, o abiertamente envenenando el aire la tierra o el mar – hace una campaña de relaciones públicas para rescatar  su credibilidad.  Pasa a cada rato.  La gente se escandaliza, nadie les cree a las megacorporaciones, pero al final no hay mucho que hacerle tampoco y bueno, la vida sigue.  Sin ir más lejos, tenemos el ejemplo de BP tratando de salvar algo de su ensuciada marca.

Lo que sí ha sido cada vez más intolerable para mi gusto es cuando los niveles de lenguaje Orwelliano son proactivos y por diseño están encarnados en el ADN de una marca.  Como la de HidroAysén, que en su página de inicio lo primero que presenta son explicaciones defensivas de como el proyecto no es innecesario, reemplazable, usa tecnología en retirada, inunda la Patagonia, causa grandes impactos, perjudica el turismo, proyecta una mala imagen, solo abastecerá a las mineras del norte y creará problemas sociales.  El primer año de estudios de comunicación en cualquier parte del mundo te enseña a darle mayor importancia a lo que quieres resaltar, en este caso la esquina superior izquierda (donde primero llega la mirada) está dedicada a la defensa del proyecto y no a explicar porque es tan excelente idea…curioso,¿no?

Sobre este tema se puede hablar durante muchísimo rato, lo que sí puedo hacer altiro es decir que me parece pésima idea.  Al contrario de mi querido amigo Sergio Solis que lo tiene que pensar y analizar y estudiar (y me alegro que lo haga porque es un tipo brillante y me encantaría leer su opinión cuando la forme), yo te puedo decir que sin informarme en todo detalle del bla bla que me va a vender HidroAysén, me carga la idea.  Me carga la idea porque encuentro que un embalse que “sólo” representa el  1.5% de los espejos de agua naturales que posee actualmente la Región de Aysén (de acuerdo a la empresa, como si eso fuera poco o mucho, me da lo mismo) no puede ser la mejor solución a las demandas energéticas de mi Chile lindo.  Tengo fe que podríamos encontrar una mejor solución.  Puede que me tenga que comer mi fe con palta una vez que me informe de todos los estudios y del impacto ambiental que al final puede que no sea tanto y que es tan justo y necesario hacer este proyecto.  Pero lo dudo.

Two highlights of the week or how to focus on what we want to see grow rather than what we want to see die.

Exhibit A

On a business trip to Denver a local friend tells me that Coors Brewing Company is located in Golden, CO just outside of Denver and that [...]]]> Two highlights of the week or how to focus on what we want to see grow rather than what we want to see die.

Exhibit A

On a business trip to Denver a local friend tells me that Coors Brewing Company is located in Golden, CO just outside of Denver and that locals try to avoid the beer as the brewery has infamous labor practices.  I had no idea.  I don’t know even know whether the boycott was effective. I really do love to think that locals don’t drink Coors to this day. That is just full of garra.

Dying: Messing with labor.
Growing: Finding and using our voices

Exhibit B

Discussed with close friends what happens when a well-financed and extremely well regarded “progressive” entity wants to hire an immigrant woman to write about economic justice for women and girls…for minimum wage.

Dying: Being a hypocrite.  And messing with labor.
Growing: Finding and using our voices.  Even if it would have looked so good on your client list.

Last night and went to watch The Greatest Movie Ever Sold with my friend Maria.  Being my most reliable source for a good conversation about politics, gender inequity and the state of the world, I was sure she’d be up for a critique of consumer culture.  So off we went [...]]]> Last night and went to watch The Greatest Movie Ever Sold with my friend Maria.  Being my most reliable source for a good conversation about politics, gender inequity and the state of the world, I was sure she’d be up for a critique of consumer culture.  So off we went on a Friday night into the mall, and it was such a shock and pleasant surprise to see a movie  – a documentary at that – that openly critiques our state of mental pollution due to the overload of commercialism, at a mall.  I have had a soft spot in my heart for Morgan Spurlock since I saw him get sick on “Super Size Me”.  I’m not a health food nut, but I have avoided fast food chains (because the enslave you, they are not called “restaurants”) for over a decade, only because I like to eat food.  And only food.

Anyway, this time the source of his film was something that in film school would never float for being completely self-referential: how to finance a film.  That is what the film is about.  Morgan pounds the pavement in an attempt to get funding for a film that is about how to fund a film.  In fact, the full title of the movie is “Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” since Pom (awesome pomegranate juice, no doubt) throws down about a million dollars for the production of the film.

As a gimmick, it’s funny and clever and it works.  It is also a brilliant commentary on how oversaturated with advertising we all are.  But what I really liked about this film is a very subtle message that Morgan managed to convey amidst all the open criticism of Madison Avenue: our spirits and our minds deserve and are entitled to sacred spaces.  My favorite sequence is watching Ralph Nader tell Morgan that the only place we are safe from ads is in our sleep, and Morgan had just told us that he’s having dreams about product placement.  Scary to no end.  A ray of light shines through a scene in São Paulo showing what the city looks like now that it has banned outdoor advertising.  And you know what?  It looks great.  Peaceful and serene, as our dreams should.  Mr. Spurlock, good luck scrubbing your mind clean again.  May wanna try Mane ‘n Tail on that head of yours.

I’m heading home from Philly after leading the Communications and Media Training for the Philadelphia chapter of PWN.  The goal of this work was to get PWN members (mostly HIV positive women) comfortable enough talking in public and in front of the media and elected officials, about their personal experiences and how [...]]]> I’m heading home from Philly after leading the Communications and Media Training for the Philadelphia chapter of PWN.  The goal of this work was to get PWN members (mostly HIV positive women) comfortable enough talking in public and in front of the media and elected officials, about their personal experiences and how they reflect larger structural issues affecting women, but particularly HIV positive women, and especially women of color and transgender women.  In honing their public speaking skills, and learning about media relations and how to do outreach, they can get attention around the issues that have a huge impact on their daily lives, like access to health care for all, and prevention justice for their negative sisters, and making HIV less of a sentence to a lifetime of poverty.

This work was fun, it was moving, and it was important.  It was fun because it is always fun to meet new people, and I met Waheeda and Teresa and too many others to mention them all.  They are such a fun group of women, it was a complete pleasure to spend time with them and talk about politics, organizing, and the state of our Union.  It was moving because in hearing every woman rehearse and rehash why they got involved in this work, what it is they want to change about our system, what they want to ensure for their children, it wasn’t hard to recognize some patterns.  For instance, it is tragically evident that drug addiction and violence and poverty and HIV are all related, and underlying all these problems is a larger symptom of a society sick to the bone from racism and misogyny.

Which is why this work was so important.  Because while the PWN is working specifically for the rights of HIV positive women in the USA, they totally get that this struggle is not their struggle, it’s OUR struggle.  And that while their agenda is about a specific group of individuals, they get that if we are not all in it together, we will fail separately.  They explicitly expressed solidarity with people all over the country and across the globe that struggle with racism, poverty, discrimination and violence, regardless of HIV status.  These powerful women get that human rights are for all humans or sadly enough, for none.  Thanks PWN for the opportunity to serve our movement by raising our voices in the city of Sisterly Love.