East Point Peace Academy’s unwavering commitment to social justice, healing, and transformation can’t help but be deeply informed by the reality of the global climate crisis. We join countless organizations and initiatives that recognize that all of our social justice-oriented agendas — not to mention our very lives — depend on our planet’s life support systems. It is painful to do so, but we openly acknowledge, with recognition of our own complicity, that our extraction-based industrial growth civilization is rapidly destroying those irreplaceable life support systems.

In the face of this deeply unsettling situation, we endeavor to do what we can to bring about healing and transformation. We recognize that climate and social justice are inseparable, and we celebrate our unique opportunity to show up at that critical intersection in a meaningful, powerful way.

We’re at an exciting juncture. East Point’s longstanding prison-based training work in nonviolence, trauma healing, and restorative justice has begun to deeply influence our role in helping to build a national network of direct action teams positioned at the intersection of racial healing and climate justice. This yet-to-be-named network (check out the network’s zine here) is being launched by a coalition of changemakers from around the US, including key organizers and activists from the Possibility Alliance, Climate Disobedience Center, New Community Project, and East Point. The folks steering this project share the desire to bring a new spirit into direct action spaces — a spirit captured in a special phrase which you may have noticed is the name of East Point’s newest workshop offering: Fierce Vulnerability.

Within a wider movement that shouts “Shut It Down!” the yet-to-be-named network longs for direct action equally determined to “Open it Up!” The network seeks to harness a power far beyond what conventional marches, rallies, signs and slogans can offer, and to experience a life-affirming, militantly loving quality within the movement for justice and environmental sanity. The network longs to imbue activist spaces with deep silence, sacred song, bold risk-taking, soulful strategy, and revolutionary creativity. For this emerging direct action network, the phrase Fierce Vulnerability points to all of the above.

This exciting new initiative resonates deeply with East Point, and we are well poised to contribute to it. The inmates we work with at San Quentin and Soledad State Prison, and in the County Jail in San Bruno, have taught us invaluable lessons about the true meaning of Fierce Vulnerability, and about the deep transformation that can be brought about through its practice. We are overjoyed to serve as a bridge between those courageous men and this new network committed to two of our most central aspirations: racial healing and climate justice.

East Point Peace Academy’s commitment to gift economics often elicits praise from workshop participants and others we work with. Our organization’s refusal to place a price tag on our offerings, which would invariably exclude people, is experienced as a breath of fresh air by many who are uninspired, if not dismayed, if not furious, with the unjust impacts of winner-loser capitalism.

In the spirit of another key commitment here at East Point – the commitment to transparency – however, I want to confess that every couple months or so, Kazu or I admit out loud to one another that we’re worried about the organization’s finances. To put it simply, our commitment to Gift Economics sometimes really stresses us out. The worry usually comes after a workshop where our basic costs weren’t met by the contributions of those who attended, or during a week when an unexpected number of monthly donors decide they need to discontinue their giving for a while. Sometimes the worry or stress comes when one of the very few grant proposals we send out is rejected, for no apparent particular reason.

These moments are important for us personally and organizationally. They bring us back to the core of our commitment to the Gift Economics model, which is faith. We operate on faith that if the work we’re doing is of true benefit to our community, our community will come together to sustain it. The presence, or absence, of that sustaining support represents vital feedback about the way our community views the contribution we’re making in the world.

At the end of 2018 Kazu sent word to the wider East Point community that we were quickly heading towards a $20,000 loss for the year. This was definitely one of those moments when we were feeling the weight of our Gift Economics commitment and the woozy feeling that often comes after a leap of faith. The community response to the simple year-end plea that Kazu shared was amazing. At the end of January, when all the numbers were in and all the pledges tallied, we had actually surpassed, by a few hundred dollars, our fundraising goal of $20,000! Contributions ranging from $5 to $5000 brought us to financial equilibrium at the beginning of 2019.

This gives us renewed confidence in our plan for the year, which is already off to an amazing start. This week East Point will launch a new Kingian Nonviolence training series in San Quentin Prison, to be facilitated by our newly trained team of inmate facilitators. We’re developing a new restorative justice program to be launched this Spring in Soledad State Prison. Our newest workshop offering, Fierce Vulnerability, continues to fill up faster than any previous workshop, and the groundwork is now being laid for a fierce vulnerability-inspired direct action program, which is being developed in tandem with a national network of direct action teams that East Point is helping design and launch. All this and much more is made possible by all those who continue to meet our faith with the assurance that East Point’s work matters. Sometimes this assurance comes in the form of financial support, sometimes it comes as a word of appreciation, sometimes as occasional hands-on volunteering, sometimes as serious involvement in carrying out East Point’s work and vision, as a trainer, board member, key advisor, or (soon) direct action teammate.

We’re grateful and humbled by these expressions of support and solidarity. And we’ll do our best to remember them the next time the stress and worry settles in! It makes sense that forging new ground brings up feelings of uncertainty and doubt. Our habits as members of a consumerist, materialist society are hard to break. But little by little that’s what we’re doing, together.

Click here to learn more about East Point’s commitment to Gift Economics.

A Letter to My Partner

After East Point’s Fierce Vulnerability Workshop

~

My Dear Love,

When we met up after I attended East Point Peace Academy’s Fierce Vulnerability two-day workshop, waves of emotion were running through my body. You noticed the contrast between new sparks in my eyes and greater fatigue in my voice. You asked about the event, and for a long time, I told you stories about it. These were stories about authenticity, shame, human connection, and the courage that our community needs to nurture in order to face the environmental and social crises in front of us, and to nurture our inner selves within the chaos.

You asked me what is meant by fierce vulnerability, and although I had no formal definition to give you, I gave you the words that arose from my experiences at the workshop. Fierce vulnerability is the art of showing yourself to others as you truly are – whether you’re full of fear or compassion – and to do so out of great love for both your friends and your opponents. This ability springs from a strong conviction in the interconnectedness of all beings and all things, whose imperfect wholeness is worthy of deep appreciation. Being fiercely vulnerable may also imply being ready to put your body on the line to stop unjust, harmful practices that hurt others at a systematic level.

Upon our arrival at the Oakland Peace Center for the first day of the workshop, an array of quotes about vulnerability welcomed us on the walls of the main hall. After reading them, everyone connected one-on-one to share about why they had decided to commit to this weekend journey together. My peers’ willingness to learn how to show their full humanity moved me, and I shared about my own longing to work on my frequent, hurtful need to show friendliness and confidence in social spaces while hiding my deeper longing for genuine connection. In the process, four trainers sat with us in the circle of chairs on the wooden floor, surrounded by the quotes, which had begun to guide us into the mindset of the workshop. Our trainers were Kazu, nonviolence teacher and restorative justice activist from Japan; Sierra, African-American healer and nonviolent activist; Nirali, socially engaged meditation teacher from India; and Chris, peace activist and movement builder. They all introduced one another with great respect and friendship, something I would soon have for every one of the attendees surrounding me.

The two days went by quickly, punctuated by activities that carefully threw us into the wide depths of self-awareness, supported by the community we shared in this space. One afternoon, we had the chance to open about our deepest sources of shame. Tears wet many cheeks and hugs interwove many arms. Standing in the hall, I witnessed and held in my gaze strangers hugging, expressing immense relief after finally bumping into another soul wandering on the same dark path they once imagined to be walking alone. In this community of compassion we built together, we gathered the tears of each other’s hearts, expressing a shared, unspoken pain that had remained hidden for so long. Recognition and determination flourished on the faces that surrounded me, and on my own, and planted seeds for greater connection and future willingness to expose our hidden shadows to the sun.

Protected by the circle we formed, facing and knowing each other, we spoke aloud about our refusal to continue believing untrue stories that had taken root in our bodies and had damaged our hearts for too long. We brainstormed which unique gifts each of us could apply to change “this system that hurts us all.” The weekend concluded with a memorable simulation of what fierce vulnerability might look like in socially engaged spaces.

My dear love, as I talked and talked to you about this workshop, you listened to me for a long time, and when I was done, you asked to sign up for the next workshop with an enthusiastic smile. For your heart-full understanding, I loved you more. Despite not being a frontline activist, you got it; you got that change starts with every one of us cultivating enough resilience to show and connect over our shared scares everywhere and at all levels, under the sun of interconnectedness.

For simply listening, deeply listening, and giving space to my pain and excitement and fears and hopes that night, I loved you more, too. Many of us have forgotten how to unveil and accept the darker corners of our own hearts, but also – and maybe as a result – how to stay present with openness, compassion, and courage when another heart’s truest voice sings and cries at the same time, as it so often does when it is alone.

Wishing you great joy, great bravery, and most of all, great kindness on your path to deeper connections,

Astrid

We’re thrilled that our announcement of East Point’s first “Fierce Vulnerability” workshop is being met with great enthusiasm. In just a few days over 40 people have signed up for the two-day workshop. The theme of Fierce Vulnerability, rooted in the desire to build a heart-centered movement of healing and transformation, is clearly speaking to a deep longing in many changemakers. Never before has registration moved so quickly for an East Point offering.

Our announcement of the Fierce Vulnerability workshop coincided with the release of a new zine describing a very complementary project I’ve had the privilege to work on for the past several months: an emerging yet-to-be-named national network of direct action teams positioned at the intersection of racial healing and climate justice, rooted firmly in the principle of Fierce Vulnerability. The zine was produced as a promotional tool for the first trainings for prospective members of this new direct action network, which will be held this coming December here in the Bay Area. (One of these trainings will be held right here at the Oakland Peace Center!)

Just over a year ago, when Kazu and I first began discussing the possibility of my joining the staff at East Point, we were quick to notice the confluence of many aspects of our work and analysis. Two synchronicities struck us with particular umph: the first, our separate but simultaneous re-imagining of a nonviolence framework and narrative for this specific moment in history. This re-imagining, which many other changemakers are also engaged in, appears to be taking shape under this mysterious, powerful, and emergent banner of “Fierce Vulnerability”. And the second synchronicity: our shared sense that a critical mass of serious nonviolence (read “fierce vulnerability”) practitioners are longing to join together in direct action teams in order to put into concrete practice the philosophy and skills that have been at the heart of East Point’s trainings these past five years.

We’re hoping that November’s Fierce Vulnerability workshop will serve as a launching pad for a new and seriously exciting East Point program, an East Point Direct Action Team (and/or eventually multiple East Point Direct Action Teams knit together by shared ideals, practices, and friendships). We hope that many of the participants in the November workshop, and in future Fierce Vulnerability offerings (we’ve already scheduled three more for 2019!), will join with one another to form teams, with East Point serving as a hub for ongoing trainings, organizing, relationship-deepening, and direct action deployment. A further hope is that some (all??) of these teams will feel called to affiliate with the previously mentioned national network that’s now gearing up for launch. Participants in the November Fierce Vulnerability workshop who are interested in exploring this possibility can reach out to me ([email protected]) to learn more.

Synchronicity, unforced and undeniable, is so often a sure sign that something really good is taking shape, that life is on the move, that a new threshold is about to be crossed. We stand ready to take life’s lead, in service to healing and justice.

As busy as everyone is these days, it’s never too early to start planning for 2019. We have just posted our public/local 2019 workshops. As we engage in conversations with friends and allies from outside of Oakland and schedule even more workshops around the country, we will continue to update our calendar.

Below are our public offerings in Oakland for 2019! We hope to see you there!

January 19th & 20th - Introduction to Kingian Nonviolence

March 2nd & 3rd - Fierce Vulnerability

April 6th & 7th - Gandhian Iceberg

May 11th & 12th - Introduction to Kingian Nonviolence

August 24th & 25th - Fierce Vulnerability

September 14th & 15th - Introduction to Kingian Nonviolence

October 5th & 6th - More Than a Protest

November 16th & 17th - Fierce Vulnerability

June is over!!! It’s been a crazy year and it’s hard to believe that we’re already halfway through it!!! The past month has been incredibly busy for us here at East Point, so we just wanted to share a few words about what we’ve been up to with this quick post.

It’s Sunday, and I’m currently writing from Seattle, where I will be working with the Fellowship of Reconciliation to facilitate a two-day organizing workshop for their youth group.

From Wednesday to Friday this week, my friend Nathan and I were in Soledad prison, where we co-facilitated a Intro to Kingian Nonviolence workshop for over 60 incarcerated men. The workshop was led largely by our inside training team, who continues to amaze me with their level of commitment.

Group picture from our March workshop in Soledad Prison

We held the workshop in a large gym, with three simultaneous groups happening, including a Spanish language group. Many of the participants are men who typically do not go to other programs and groups on the inside, but word about Kingian Nonviolence has been growing in this prison so they joined us for a full two-days. A huge majority of them enjoyed the workshop so much that they’ve already signed up for our next workshop in September so they can go through it again!!!

Our inside training team has already led workshops for over 650 men in this prison, and the work continues to spread!!! This workshop was followed up with a day-long advanced training on Friday for our trainers, where we went deep into the study of the history of the Civil Rights movement.

On Tuesday this week, I facilitated a day-long workshop for Stanford students who are part of a program at the Haas Center for Public Service. The students will be spending the summer working with middle school students, tutoring and mentoring them while building Beloved Community. The day-long workshop was to give them some skills around restorative justice and circle-keeping.

URI Nonviolence Summer Institute

I also recently came back from the University of Rhode Island, where I was honored to join Dr. Lafayette and Gail Farris in leading the Level II certification training for Kingian Nonviolence. This year, 66 people from over a dozen countries were certified as Kingian trainers!!!

In June alone, we have also:

• Facilitated a conversation about race for the senior leadership of a Buddhist monastary.
• Facilitated a two-day nonviolence and organizing workshops for street outreach workers in partnership with the New York Justice League.
• Continued our ongoing programs in San Bruno County Jail and San Quentin State Prison.
• Led a day-long Buddhism and Nonviolence retreat at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City with our friend Nirali Shah.
• Presented at a conference of young progressive Christian leaders in Atlanta.

All that has happened just in June alone, thanks to your support.

We are looking forward to continuing our work in July. Chris is getting ready to head to Minnesota for a series of workshops and speaking events on the Gandhian Iceberg, and I am preparing for our next two-day workshop in Oakland as well as a big weekend visioning retreat for the leadership of East Point Peace Academy.

We will have a TON of exciting updates for you all coming out of the retreat. We look forward to updating you more then!!!

Thank you all for your ongoing support of this work!

When faced with unanswerable questions and seriously challenging work, what a powerful blessing it is to be in the company of inspiring, creative, and big-hearted people!

2018 has marked the expansion of East Point Peace Academy’s menu of workshop offerings, which now includes The Gandhian Iceberg, a weekend devoted to deep consideration of our own lives and work through the lens Mohandas Gandhi’s social change philosophy. Over the weekend of March 24 & 25, I was moved time and again by the 25 workshop participants who joined us for the first-ever Gandhian Iceberg workshop hosted under the East Point banner. Together we learned from, wrestled with, resonated with, and deliberated over this fascinating teacher’s ideas and practices, and we accompanied each other as we dug into some terribly important, and often difficult questions:

What would it look like to see a nonviolent response that’s actually commensurate with the social and ecological crises we’re currently facing?

How do we hold the complex mix of Gandhi’s (and other figurehead leaders’) strengths and weaknesses? Their mistakes, blind spots and contradictions?

How do we maintain our personal integrity while swimming against the stream of our capitalistic, violence-saturated culture?

In the context of busy lives how can grow the needed movements? How do we grow the needed movements while simultaneously unlearning the negative habits inculcated by the patriarchal, sexist, racist domination system? And how and when do we attend to the trauma?

The going definition of nonviolence in our society is something more or less like this: “the tactical choice to not use physical force in situations of conflict”. The Gandhian Iceberg model explodes the myth that this definition is even close to adequate. The model describes three different interrelated and mutually supportive areas of nonviolent action and experimentation, which illustrate that nonviolence is a comprehensive, holistic way of life for courageous people, and not just a tactic that one can choose or choose against in specific circumstances.

The three areas of action and experimentation that make up the Gandhian Iceberg are self-transformation, constructive program (community-based work of social uplift and renewal), and satyagraha (nonviolent resistance). During the workshop we reflected on the relevance of this three-fold approach to nonviolence in relation to the living of our own lives and the building up of powerful movements right here and now.

One of the many things that emerged was a shared sense of a certain quality that many of us long to find and experience - and very rarely, if ever, do - within movement spaces, particularly spaces where direct action is happening. Here’s a sampling of some of the language that came forward during a small group exercise during which we explored the essence of this quality:

“…community healing, creativity & artistry, ceremony, discipline, fun, radical inclusion, responsibility & accountability to the world…prayerful, based in fact, heart-centered, well-executed, intergenerational…deep song, courage, fierce vulnerability…”

This last phrase, fierce vulnerability, seemed to resonate with particular force. And with it, the shared desire to see deeply disciplined, deeply principled, deeply strategic nonviolence come to life within our nation’s larger movement ecosystem in a way we haven’t seen before.

If that possibility speaks to a powerful longing in you, I sincerely hope you’ll get connected with East Point, or deepen your connection if you’re already connected. We’re committed to helping make that very thing happen, now more than ever - after traversing the Gandhian Iceberg with 25 amazing Bay Area changemakers

The Future is Now inter-generational summit, August 15-17, will bring together activists and emerging leaders to build a better future.

Celebrating The Fellowship of Reconciliation’s 100th anniversary, co-chair Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb shares her vision of building relationships, and the sharing of skills and experience with the aim of collectively addressing economic, racial, environmental, and social injustice.

How can we strengthen inter generational ties so that we can better wield the grass roots power we have? What does beautiful resistance to forced assimilation and oppression look like in our communities? How do we build what we want to see while living in the current system?

The Future is Now promotes inter generational strength to bring successful people together in a way that we can leverage change together, for all of humanity.

Hosted by the Fellowship of Reconciliation in partnership with the Pacific School or Religion and the Center for Spirituality and Social Transformation, with volunteer support from the Nursha Project. East Point Peace Academy’s Kazu Haga will be a featured speaker, and will also be running workshops throughout the weekend.

Visit www.blazingforward.org for more information and to register.