Notes to An Activist on Suggestions When Feeling Down About Infighting

By Chris Crass  (July 22, 2015)

burnout

1. Know that dealing with people talking badly about you, dealing with the heartache of movement building, feeling despair – these are all part of the process of being an effective activist/organizer for liberation. Continue reading “Notes to An Activist on Suggestions When Feeling Down About Infighting”

Nobody Wins in Martyr Dynamics: A Guide to Consensual Giving

 

By Alex S. Morgan

What would it be like to give and not regret it? How would it feel to receive knowing the other shoe would never drop? Continue reading “Nobody Wins in Martyr Dynamics: A Guide to Consensual Giving”

Privilege 101

 

By Phoenix Calida

Privilege is a thing you have. You get it without asking for it or deserving it. You get privilege because you fall into categories that are deemed desirable by society. You get privilege for most closely resembling the people who run our society. In America, this means the more you resemble white, wealthy, Christian, cis, hetero, abled, males, the more privilege you have. 
Continue reading “Privilege 101”

Interview: Chris Dixon

 

Chris Dixon, originally from Alaska, is a longtime anarchist organizer, writer, and educator with a PhD from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He is a collective member of the Institute for Anarchist Studies and serves on the advisory board for the activist journal Upping the Anti. Continue reading “Interview: Chris Dixon”

What We Broke the First Time

 

Pressing the Restart Button on Liberatory Movements

By Christian Matheis

 

Recently, I posted the following question on a social media site:

 

If feminism hit the reset button and we got to fix what we broke the first time, what would the do-over look like? Continue reading “What We Broke the First Time”

When is an ally poised to become a deserter?

By Alex Sabrina Morgan

When is an ally poised to become a deserter?

When an interest in politics or equality extends as far as their genitals or their brand positioning, and stops short of the zone of personal risk or uncertainty.

Continue reading “When is an ally poised to become a deserter?”

World Peace and Other Fourth Grade Achievements

World Peace and Other Fourth Grade AchievementsJoin us for a screening of World Peace and other 4th-Grade Achievements including a Q&A with author John Hunter at the Majestic Theater in Downtown Corvallis on 01/22 @ 7pm as part of the City of Corvallis Martin Luther King Celebration.

What can 4th graders do? John Hunter, an elementary school teacher in Virginia, believes they can solve world peace. He believes they are capable of much more than we usually ask of them. As we prepare children for their futures, teacher John Hunter describes his type of teaching as particularly relevant for students today because “The World Peace Game is about learning to live and work comfortably in the unknown.” For over thirty years, Hunter has been teaching students the world of peace through a remarkable exercise that he created called The World Peace Game.

The World Peace Game is a multi-dimensional strategic board game that requires participants to solve global economic, geo-political, environmental, and other challenging world issues. The participants must decide for themselves how to approach, and respond to each situation, whether through negotiation, the threat or use of force, or acquiescence. Hunter uses his large-scale game grounded in real-world problems to teach his students critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, coordination, communication, research, negotiation skills, and the skill of synthesis, to name a few. Because the ever changing, interconnected world in which we live demands it, Hunter intentionally presents his students with complexity and ambiguity in order to challenge them to think their way through unclear, layered issues and dilemmas.

Filmmaker Chris Farina documented one class’s participation in The World Peace Game in his film, World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements. This exceptional and moving look into Mr. Hunter’s classroom is an engaging and exciting example of what project-based, problem-based, highly energized and relevant teaching and learning looks like. It shows a very structured and engaging classroom created by relinquishing the traditional notion of teacher always in control, at the front of the room, dispensing well-proportioned information. The film shows what is possible to create when we adopt a new vision of the learner and his or her needs and what is possible when educators continue to grow, learn, and challenge themselves.