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DVD video viewing of Van Jones at Pachamama conference

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 6 months ago

 

As part of contributing to expanding and diversifying our stories about organizing for positive change, Alli Chagi Starr shared a DVD of Van Jones speaking at a recent Pachamama Conference for Global Organizing.  Van Jones is the founder and executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (EBC).  Van Jones' talk was directly relevant to some of the birthing pains of the storyfield week.

 

Some background on Van:

Born in rural west Tennessee, Van completed his undergraduate degree in 1990 at the University of Tennessee at Martin. In 1993, he graduated from the Yale Law School. A pioneering human rights activist, Van is well-known as a steadfast opponent of police brutality and mass incarceration. He has worked with a variety of well-known organizations and initiatives in the social justice and environmental arenas. In recent years, Van has expanded his work to incorporate insights from ecology, spirituality and social entrepreneurship. He is now working to create environmentally friendly, "green-collar" jobs for formerly-incarcerated persons. He believes the path to peaceful streets and healthy communities is through "green-collar jobs, not jails." In the meantime, Van has recently earned two important, new titles: happy husband and proud father (of a one-year-old son).

 

Enclosed are two clips:

 

Introduction to talk

The challenges of "inclusion" and the unconscious colonial models in social change

 

[Note:  Sheri Herndon is working on getting a full copy of the DVD to be available for all story field participants and will notify everyone as soon as there is agreement and clarity around next steps for sharing this with a wider audience.  She brought the DVD to the gathering and was inspired and moved to share it initially with Alli and the rest is part of our unfolding history and story.  She is in discussions with Pachamama and Van Jones to keep the integrity of this process high. See letter below!]

 

Van Jones at the Media Reform Conference:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2z6nOOO-2Y

 

 

Letter from Pachamama regarding use of the DVD

 

September 2007

 

 

Dear Colleague,

 

 

In June of 2007, the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Facilitator community was graced with a visit and presentation by Van Jones on the morning of the first day of our Global Gathering at Mills College. Van spoke for about 75 minutes, and we spent the rest of the conference reeling from the impact of being with him and his message. We are still reeling.

 

Fortunately his talk was videotaped. While copies were made available to those who were in attendance at the conference and are being made available to those Symposium Facilitators who were not there, we had no plans to make copies more widely available. (Enough dvds were duplicated for our in-house use only.)

 

 

It has become clear that Van’s stirring message has applicability and relevance way beyond the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium/community, and there are those who have viewed the dvd who are eager and excited to take it into their communities.

 

 

We at the Pachamama Alliance do not have a plan for distribution of Van’s talk, nor do we have parameters for who should view it, nor where and when. Like the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium itself, this growing interest in the dvd is an organic process, one which we tend to feel is being guided.

 

 

That being said, may I make the following observations and requests:

 

 

•    This dvd appears to have greatest impact when shared with people who already have a commitment to creating a socially just human presence on this planet; it is perhaps less effective when used as an initial tool to wake people up in this area. In other words, Van provides some remarkable answers as to how to proceed from here, but if you aren’t already in that inquiry, we have noticed that the answers he provides lose some of their punch.

 

 

•    As the Pachamama Alliance is not in a position to make and distribute these dvds, the question arises as to whether it is okay to burn and distribute copies yourself. The answer is a qualified “yes.” Is it okay to show it to your community? Another qualified “yes.” We ask that you be mindful and respectful in how and where you share Van’s rather intimate, intense and deeply moving message.

 

 

•    Any time the dvd is shown, we request that the audience be appraised as to how they can support Van’s work with the Ella Baker Center (for example, by having the address of the Ella Baker Center and perhaps envelopes available so that people who would like to make a financial contribution can do so). Likewise, as part of the presentation we would ask that viewers be informed as to how they can find out more about the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium and contribute to that continuing work as well. (Contact information for both organizations is listed below.)

 

 

•    Finally, let me share with you Van’s reply to a query about the advisability of making the dvd available to people beyond those who were in the room in June:

 

 

“I don't remember what I said, and I am sure that I would wince if I read the transcript…

Bottom line: We are trying to move a lot of people quickly. We are running out of time. If something I said might move someone along, then by all means - share it. Only my own vanity or fear-based reasoning would stand in the way of you doing that. I just trust God to do what God needs to do, and I try to get out of the way.”

 

 

So, bottom line, please use this amazing tool as you see fit to help create the world we are all so deeply committed to bringing forth.

 

 

You may contact Adrienne White at Adrienne@pachamama.org if there are any questions, or if you have any feedback on powerful ways you find to engage with and support people who have viewed the video.

 

 

 

Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

344 40th Street

Oakland, CA     94609

(510) 428-3939

www.ellabakercenter.org

 

 

The Pachamama Alliance/Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream

PO Box 29191

San Francisco, CA   94129

(415) 561-4522

www.pachamama.org

 

 

 

In gratitude and partnership,

 

 

Tracy Apple

Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium

Research and Development Director

 

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