[Peace-discuss] Us/IMC/those we care for (potential next step enclosed!)

Thu Nov 15 21:49:47 UTC 2012

Hi Folks,

To me, there is a lack of clarity about who these emails are to and what
they are about. They are being sent to a variety of lists and people, but
not consistently, and without a shared understanding of purpose. For
example, though I'm responding to an email sent to four lists, my email
will only get posted on one. Every email I read, I think: "this should be
in person." (call for in-person is below)

These emails, themselves, actually seem mostly NOT about a specific
interaction between two members of our community in which harm was
experienced, but about grief and rage that such a thing could/did happen.
And grief and rage that, given harm being done, we don't/didn't have
structures in place to address, process, or restore the harm, and such
things are actually not something we can (yet) expect in the current
society. That is some seriously righteous grief and rage, my people. I feel
it, and its right that we'd be moved to action by being reminded of it. So,
how do we move?

It seems that, out of grief and rage, these emails contain various forms of
striking out/tearing down. This is understandable given the intensity of
the concern. But, I suggest a turn away from this...  it's not addressing
the harm, and its causing more. the real topic for me, now, is: what can be
done to restore ALL the harmful aspects of what's happening/happened,
including harm done through these emails?

and

What can be done to create community such that we have process/structure in
place in advance of the surely approaching next circumstance? (thanks to
those who've sent resources towards that)

My acute offer is to have a restorative circle process around these
concerns. This means that all who are affected by a given conflict would
meet and use a simple, powerful process to find the roots of the conflict,
and potentially actions through which to ameliorate the negative
consequences. (www.restorativecircles.org) There is a small community of
folks here in town who do this work, and I think this is a time to put it
to use.

Further, I suggest that we, receivers of this email, and more broadly,
members of the community, look to ourselves and one another to directly act
to develop our skills and abilities to address harms by continuing to meet
and develop a community of restorative circle practitioners so that we, as
a community, have greater resources in such times.

WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THE INITIAL INTERACTION?
I don't mean to ignore the specific interaction that started all this or
its consequences on those involved, I simply feel its beyond the scope of
this email list to pretend we're addressing it. Also, I am reluctant to act
on anyone's behalf without their request, and no party has asked for my
involvement, to my knowledge.

WHAT ABOUT THE IMC?
I don't know of ANY organization that has a vibrantly effective process to
address harm. As a culture, we lack processes for holistic accountability-
why would the IMC magically be an exception? It isn't, though its official
people are far more responsive, willing, and respectful than many I've
seen. I'm sure they will applaud and engage answers to all this- they are
certainly willing to engage the questions- but they are mere arbiters of
OUR involvement. So, more importantly, how can it be different, and what
will we each do to move towards that?

Finally, a request:
Echoing Julianne's request, please stop sending/forwarding emails with
'rape' in the title. Emails do not ask "how are you feeling about your
history or experience with sexual assault?" before slamming into your
eyeballs. I hope that these conversations are towards our collective health
and mutual responsibility. Given that- HOW we go about it is vital.

Towards a loving, healthy community,
elizaBeth

On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 12:01 PM, Rafter Sass Ferguson <
rafter at liberationecology.org> wrote:

> Rachel, thank you so much for *all* of the work you do in this community,
> and
> for the extremely thoughtful and helpful email. *You* are helping broaden
> the
> horizons of this conversation. I'm so sorry that, in this moment in
> history,
> it's impossible for you to do the work that you do without getting
> publicly targeted by sexist bullshit.
>
> Let's evaluate the alternative being modeled for us in this conversation:
> (1) Draw on the great thinking on community-level responses to sexual
> violence that has been done over the last decade, and create space for
> accountability *and *healing - and bring needed change to a community
> institution.
>
> OR
>
> (2) Dismiss all that work (it's limited by relationships, after all) and
> begin a one-man crusade to destroy the community institution. Because that
> will solve sexual assault, right? Everybody wins. Oh, and make sure to
> educate women about how they are supposed to respond to sexual violence in
> their community.
>
> I'm deeply saddened by this whole awful scenario of sexual assault in our
> community - even though I know that sexual assault happens in every
> community. I support a grounded, feminist, anti-racist, community-level
> response that helps build our capacity to prevent and respond to future
> violence.
>
> Warmly,
> Rafter
>
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 5:06 AM, Robert Naiman <
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org> wrote:
>
>> I think Rachel means well in what she is doing, but I think her
>> horizon is limited by her relationships. Her horizon appears to be:
>> what can you achieve by negotiating with people inside the IMC. I
>> think that's great as far as it goes. But I think that if you are
>> outside the IMC, and if you have interests that can't be protected by
>> the IMC, then you have a different horizon.
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 3:49 AM, Brussel, Morton K <brussel at illinois.edu>
>> wrote:
>> > Insofar as the incident that brought all this discussion into play, I
>> find
>> > your response at best equivocal, mushy if I may say so.
>> > Yes, we should always be sensitive to the complexities of race, poverty,
>> > crime and gender. But sometimes one must address the issue at hand,
>> which
>> > you do not do, presumably for fear that the IMC will be compromised.
>> >
>> > This said, I personally do not know what the facts of the matter are;
>> they
>> > seem to be hidden behind ambiguous comments.
>> >
>> > Yes, long live the IMC, but…?
>> >
>> > --mkb
>> >
>> > On Nov 13, 2012, at 1:27 PM, Rachel Storm wrote:
>> >
>> > Julianne et al,
>> >
>> > Thank you for your e-mail and calling for a mindfulness and sensitivity
>> on
>> > an issue that
>> > many of us have relationships to or personal experience with in one way
>> or
>> > another.
>> >
>> > I was privileged to be able to listen and feel heard with folks who came
>> > together last night to
>> > discuss our concerns and urge support and I encourage those of us who
>> are
>> > able/willing to
>> > continue to build dialogue in our community in order to seek healing,
>> > accountability, and
>> > encouraging coming together, not tearing apart, in moments like these.
>> >
>> > These issues don't exist in isolation and if we're concerned about
>> > injustice, we must remain
>> > ever vigilant about how important it is for us to support one another
>> where
>> > possible. While
>> > denial around these issues are commonplace everywhere, I've seen
>> outrage,
>> > care, support,
>> > love, and a desire to heal. Let's grow those efforts. Our strength as a
>> > community, and more
>> > importantly as an activist community, will be demonstrated through our
>> > ability to hold many
>> > concerns at once--refusing to allow legal and social structures to tear
>> us
>> > apart and away from
>> > those concerns.
>> >
>> > I've been recommending The Revolution Starts at Home as a great
>> resource.
>> > The zine is online
>> > here, but it will soon be published as a book for purchase with
>> additional
>> > chapters, etc.
>> >
>> > Julianne mentions community accountability and I think this is key to
>> > helping us stay strong
>> > and to continue to build our power as a community, so here's some
>> resources
>> > on community
>> > accountability:
>> >
>> > INCITE Women of Color Against Violence "Community Accountability"
>> > http://www.incite-national.org/index.php?s=114
>> >
>> > Transformative Justice
>> > http://www.transformativejustice.eu/?page_id=16
>> >
>> > Creative Interventions Toolkit on Community Accountability
>> >
>> http://www.creative-interventions.org/about/ci-projects/community-based-interventions-project/
>> >
>> > Generation Five
>> > http://www.generationfive.org/
>> >
>> > There is talk of creating a reading/practice group that will explore
>> > community accountability. This,
>> > I'm hopeful, will present us with an opportunity to ask for
>> accountability
>> > both from ourselves and
>> > each other--not as a supplement for more formal redress from folks in
>> > leadership positions, but
>> > because we all have a role in creating safe, supportive community.
>> >
>> > Additionally, I'd like to ensure everyone knows how to access local
>> > resources* addressing
>> > sexual assault, advocacy, anti-violence, and healing after violence:
>> >
>> > Rape, Advocacy, Counseling and Education Services (RACES)
>> > http://www.cu-races.org/
>> > 24-Hour Rape Crisis Hotline: 1.217.384.4444
>> >
>> > Women's Resources Center, University of Illinois
>> > www.go.illinois.edu/wrc
>> > Tel. 217-333-3137
>> >
>> > A Woman's Place/Center for Women in Transition
>> > http://www.cwt-cu.org/html/dv_services.html
>> > Tel. 217-352-7151
>> >
>> > Cognition Works
>> > http://www.cognitionworks.org/
>> > Tel. 217-239-0142
>> >
>> > *This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I wanted to list a few
>> > important resources.
>> >
>> > Thanks for listening.
>> >
>> > Rachel
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 10:18 AM, Julianne Panagacos
>> > <julianne.panagacos at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Hi Bob,
>> >>
>> >> I think the research you are proposing is important work though I find
>> >> it triggering to have emails in my inbox everyday with rape in the
>> >> title, especially when it is so close to home. On other listservs that
>> >> I am on when there is policy of putting something along the lines of
>> >> "potentially triggering material" in the title so that people can
>> >> choose to read it when they are ready to read about alleged sexual
>> >> assault. Are you (and others if you want to answer) willing to start
>> >> doing that?
>> >>
>> >> I think it is important to acknowledge that a lot of people that care
>> >> about and use the IMC are mourning and in shock, which does not imply
>> >> denial. In other radical groups and scenes I've been part of and heard
>> >> of, there are community accountability processes that have been
>> >> created and executed in order to use different models of justice than
>> >> the model of justice imposed on us by the state. That is also not
>> >> denial, though you may not hear about it in a news paper. Being that
>> >> this allegation is already being pursed legally, I think it is most
>> >> important to make sure that there are resources for people- the
>> >> victim, defendant, families of those two parties and community
>> >> members,  to talk and process and support each other.
>> >>
>> >> I hope emails to come are in the spirit of supporting ourselves though
>> >> a hard time.
>> >>
>> >> Best,
>> >>
>> >> Julianne
>> >>
>> >> On Nov 12, 2012, at 11:45 AM, Robert Naiman
>> >> <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > According to the News-Gazette, the next court date in the IMC rape
>> >> > case is November 20:
>> >> >
>> >> > Urbana man charged with sex assault
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > I heard a report that someone was trying to organize a "cheerleading
>> >> > squad" at the courthouse in support of the accused rapist.
>> >> >
>> >> > Can anyone tell me if there is any truth to this report?
>> >> >
>> >> > I'm writing an expose for a national progressive website on rape
>> >> > denialism on the left, and the IMC rape case is going to be my case
>> >> > study.
>> >> >
>> >> > If anyone would like to be interviewed for this article, please let
>> me
>> >> > know.
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > Robert Naiman
>> >> > Policy Director
>> >> > Just Foreign Policy
>> >> > www.justforeignpolicy.org
>> >> > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > School for Designing a Society listserv:
>> >> > http://groups.google.com/group/sdas-list
>> >> > To participate, email: sdas-list at googlegroups.com
>> >> > To unsubscribe, email: sdas-list+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> School for Designing a Society listserv:
>> >> http://groups.google.com/group/sdas-list
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>> >> To unsubscribe, email: sdas-list+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Peace-discuss mailing list
>> > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>> > http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Robert Naiman
>> Policy Director
>> Just Foreign Policy
>> www.justforeignpolicy.org
>> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
>>
>> --
>> School for Designing a Society listserv:
>> http://groups.google.com/group/sdas-list
>> To participate, email: sdas-list at googlegroups.com
>> To unsubscribe, email: sdas-list+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Rafter Sass Ferguson, MS
> Doctoral Student | Crop Sciences Department
> University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
> liberationecology.org
> 518 567 7407
>
>
>  --
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>
>

-- 
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