Have Fun • Do Good

Alli: There's a few answers to what are the challenges and how do we keep going. I think there is a challenge for all of us in our movements to change the world, to keep going and to stay inspired when we are confronted with so much misery and so many travesties and so... a corporate media that lies to us every day, and when you can see through it at a certain point. And it, it just sets your teeth on edge having to be witness to the devastation of our planet and the oppression and neglect of so many people worldwide, and it is hard to keep going sometimes.

And what I always tell the students that I work with is, number one, stay in community. Do not isolate. It's so easy. I think the powers that be would love us to stay isolated in own our horror, in our own despair and apathy, and I think one of the most important things is to stay in community of like-minded people who can help keep us going and staying inspired. I think mentorship and respecting the people who come before, and really seeing the history, that we're standing on the shoulders of so many great people who were faced with such huge obstacles. When I think of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and the world that Alice Walker was born into, and the work that they've done, people who are contemporaries. We are surrounded by noble people and prophets in our day, to remember who's out there doing the work and the changes that have been made.

Certainly those victories are not being celebrated by the mainstream media very often and I think we really need to take opportunities to look at the changes that have been made by the labor movement, the women's movement, by anti-war movements throughout time. The other thing I think that helps me is to realize that we are seed planters, and that we are going to probably die before we see all those seeds become trees, and it doesn't matter. You just have to keep planting and just got to hope that other people will come along after you to water those seeds and to know that the trees our for our children's children. That's just the reality.

We are living in a time where we have to have faith in something that goes beyond us, that go beyond our own wish for success in our own life, but we also have to count the little successes. I think this podcast is a mini success right here, you know, that women and people of color are using technology to -- and social justice activists of all genders and races -- are using technology to get our stories out there. Look at us, how creative we are. We have a media that won't listen to us so we're creating our own media, I mean right there, that's a victory. So, that's one of the things.

I would say that funding is often a challenge, but I think we can get beyond that too because there are individuals throughout this country and throughout the world who are really awakening people of wealth who are using that financial energy, if you will, to change things. And it's up to us to not play small but to play big and ask for that resource, and to build partnerships instead of begging for scraps, and hoping and praying and complaining that there is nothing for us. Instead, see the power we have to build partnerships with people who also want to change the world, who are of some means, and can support our work, and to not limit ourselves by thinking, "Oh, it can't be done. Nobody cares. Rich people aren't going to support us."

The reality is, wealthy people have been supporting movements for social justice, and we don't even know their names for many, many years. Someone once said Jesus had fundraisers. So I think fundraising is a high art and a noble act and particularly people in privileged countries like ours, I think have a duty to do some of that elegant fundraising -- I like to say that -- a graceful kind of fundraising that empowers everybody, and teach those skills about asking for money and building fundraising infrastructures and organization. So I think that's been a challenge and some of it's the challenge of our own fears of smallness.

One other challenge I wanted to share, let's see, what was it... I think another challenge is staying in our bodies, and how do we stay sustainable ourselves. And I know for me as an artist, my biggest challenge is that I get so involved in organizing and the activism part and being on the phones and computers and running around to meetings that I don't actually manifest my own art or take care of my own needs for exercise and being in nature and remembering what it is we are fighting for anyway, or working towards. So, I think that's one of the big challenges for us is how do we balance, going to yoga class, and making sure that four hundred people show up to the thing on Friday. How do we do it all?

I think some people are modeling that quite well. There's a really, a huge, I would say, wave of people who are finding ways to be more sustainable in their own personal lives and that ends up benefiting their activism because then their communication is easier and softer. It creates a sense of... you know when you're around someone who's just fun to be around? They're grounded, their respectful in their communication, they're appreciative.

And I think one of the things we really need to do is build cultures of appreciation. We're so good at criticizing -- especially in progressive movements -- because there's so much to criticize, and we become excellent communicators, and we see things that could be better. I'm the best at that, and so what I've been trying to do is cultivate a sense of appreciation and gratitude, and I know it can kind of sound cheesy but it works when you look at everything as a potential blessing as opposed to a curse, or challenge, or controversy all the time and say, "What's the blessing in this moment and what can we learn from this moment and what new possibilities are here?"

I had an ex-Marine who's putting some eco-insulation in my housing unit, come by my house, and he's the one green insulator in the Bay Area, and he -- it turns out -- co-hosted the Green Fest, you know, this eco-business event that happens annually that Global Exchange and Co-op America puts on every year in the winter. He's an ex-Marine, has two sons in Iraq, is a arch Republican and right winger.

We sat down and had organic tea together and talked about, you know, "What did you think of the President's address?" He's like, "Oh I don't know if I should go there because I don't know what your politics are." And I'm like, "Well, let's talk about it. We don't have to agree on everything, and that's what it's all about, and I bet there are a lot of things that we actually hold in common."

So I think being at a place where you are grounded enough in yourself that you can extend and embrace people who are would-be enemies and turn them into would-be allies instead... that's our work. And if we are not really interested in movement-building, we don't have to do that. We can just stay in our little camps and be right and everyone else is wrong and just be more and more right every day, but I think the challenge is, how do we build movements outside of our own small communities and bridge to other communities in ways that are respectful and meet people where they are.

Britt: And so I'm sure when people are listening to this they are going to be very inspired now and say, "I want to make a difference. I want to do something." What is... if everybody listening did one small step -- and not necessarily for a specific issue -- what is something that they can do?

Alli: Well, I think there's a lot of things that people can do. I think taking a moment and really realizing that you have the power to change the world, that your life matters, that is the first step, and then to find out well, what am I passionate about, what do I really care about? You don't have to be passionate about the thing that your neighbor is passionate about, or even what your girlfriend or boyfriend is passionate about. What are you passionate about doing? Is it children and literature? Is it about toxins in West Oakland? Is it about creating forests, cultivating forest lands for future generations? Is it about, everyone deserves clean water? Is it about political prisoners and our brothers and sisters, two million of them, living behind bars right now in the United States alone?

What is it that you really feel passionate about? And then look at your own personal talents and skills, and how can you apply your talents and skills to your passion. And Britt, you're so good at this. You've been really great at supporting me and others in the community to find ways to connect what you care about with what you're good at, and what you like doing. So it might be researching. It might be writing. It might be teaching. It might be bringing people together.

And we live in such a rich area in the Bay Area. There are so many resources and nonprofits, and we have great search engines where we you just can put in what you're interested in and start going to meetings and checking things out and sometimes I'm in places like central California and people say, "Hey, I want to be a dance activist. How do I do it?" And I would say, "How would you throw your own birthday party? Let's see, call some of the people you know and like already, put up a flyer maybe, or an invitation, post on some sites around your school, or around your neighborhood, or at your church or community center -- wherever it is you hang out -- and it could be just what it is you want to do? 'Gathering for people who are creative and want to address a toxic issue in the community' -- whatever it is -- and see if there are any other organizations doing like work in your area, and start pulling people together in your community, and it can be as small as two or three people."

It's amazing what you can create, and even if it's just yourself deciding to put out an article and post to everyone, you can inspire people that way as well. But if you are interested in creating something with other people, and doing something collectivist, then I really recommend seeing what you can do to pull together a meeting, and make sure that there is food, and make sure that it's fun, and make sure that it's in a place that people like to come to, and it's convenient for people and the basic kind of things, you know. Take care of people who are coming, and treat those relationships as the utmost important thing.

Ultimately whether or not you achieve the goal, the event will come and go. The date goes and you're like, "Okay, well, we had 300 people come instead of 400 people," or, "We made a puppet bird instead of a puppet dog," or something is going to be different then what you originally intended, but, if the relationships are good, after you leave that event, then you have built something.

Britt Bravo: I'm very inspired, and I guess finally, is there any book or piece of music or film that you could recommend that's inspiring to you for other people to see or read or listen to?

Alli: A great question. I do think there's a lot of inspiring things. There's Stop the Next War Now, that's edited by Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans. There's an amazing group of articles in there. I have a small one -- just three pages -- which I think will be somewhat useful, but I think there's a lot of really amazing testimony and ideas in that book. There's another book called Globalize Liberation that a colleague of mine, David Solnit, edited, and it has a lot of interesting articles, as well. And I think the Ella Baker Center website -- I can speak from being so close to it here -- is really useful as far as learning about some of the work we are doing here with Police Watch, Books Not Bars, and the Reclaim the Future Program.

Britt: So I think to wrap up, if people want to get more information about the Ella Baker Center or the stuff you're doing, where should they go. What should they do?

Alli: If people are interested on being on my list serve, I email out regularly different creative actions and events that are coming up in the Bay Area, and I'm somewhat sporadic. Sometimes you get three, and sometimes you won't get one for a month. I'm not very like, "Okay, every second Friday you'll get an email from me." But it's more like this amazing thing just came my way and I have to share it with you. If you're interested in being on that kind of list serv, kind of creative action Bay-Area-based events, then you can email me at allistarr@ellabakercenter.org, and if you're interested in more information about what we're doing here, again the website is www.ellabakercenter.org.

Britt: Thanks for listening to the Big Vision Podcast. For more information about Alli's work with Reclaim the Future and the Ella Baker Center, go to www.ellabakercenter.org. You can also order the CD she mentioned Eye of the Storm on the site. If you'd like more information about Art in Action camps or to contribute to a youth scholarship, email xiomara@riseup.net, and if you like the opening music, it was an excerpt from Mango Delight by Kenya Masala, and if you'd like more information about his work and music go to www.sourceconsultinggroup.com. I'll post all this information in my shownotes on my website, www.brittbravo.com. Thanks for listening.

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