Powershift Day 3

The third and final day of Powershift

Regional Sessions: This was our final day in regional sessions. We got together and finished up our packets on how to spread our stories to others. This included (at least for my group) making a mock organization using one of the case studies. We then decided what type of roles we would like to have in this organization and what we would do in these roles.

Here are some photos to break up all the words
This is China Town

Ohio Session: After we were done with regional group sessions we got into our separate state sessions, for all the other states this was a bit more of a thing since they had been in larger groups prior to this. For us however it was the same group just a different room. We got excited, cheered for our schools, made up ohio chants and were just loud. Then we attempted to take a photo together which took a bit of effort.

Bomb Pop from the Ice Cream Truck!!

Non-violence Direct Action Training: In the afternoon I went to the NVDA seminar, which is what i was most excited for the whole weekend. The session was being taught by Greenpeace employees and looked intriguing.  I have had a passion for non-violence ever since I took a class on Gandhi and Non-violence sophomore year, so I had high expectations.

It wasn't what I expected.

It was an active seminar which was good. We pushed all the chairs to the side and they would discuss a subject and then we would do a little activity or the other way around. We got in lines and had to do some roleplaying of non-violent action situations. We became a living graph that represented when we thought actions were violent vs non-violent and effective vs non effective, in order to show that everyone's views are different. We also got into groups and came up with what we thought the steps toward organizing a non-violent group action are.

Outside the National Archives 

This is wear the disenchantment really set in. Before this there were a few situations where I was uncomfortable with what they were saying about what was violent and what wasn't. About what was action and what wasn't. I was open to be proven wrong though, I was in the session to learn. When we started to discuss the steps towards organizing your action I suggested that you must make your plan known, to the police and to the people you are protesting against.

This idea stems from my study of Gandhi, he believed that to be truly non-violent you must be totally open about what you are doing. Which means doing things like writing letters to the people you are protesting about and informing the police. That way they had the opportunity to decided to discuss with you rather than have you protest if the wanted to and it also made it clear that you were not trying to sneak around. In my view it shows that you fully support your endeavors and are willing to announce them even if it means everyone will try to stop you.

This also ties into Gandhi's belief that a person should not do things with the result in mind, but only with the action in mind. Though that is a totally different discussion.

A create-your-own frozen yogurt shop

The response I got from our group leader however, was that it is not necessary to let people know what you are doing, and at times it is best not to let them know. I was taken aback. Perhaps it is because my study of NVDA is mostly theoretical and based largely with Gandhi as my example along with others who followed his teachings. I sincerely believe that being open about what you are doing is the only way to stay non-violent.

From that point on I was a bit more critical of the Greenpeace method of NVDA. To me it seemed rather violent. Not in the sense that they physically hurt people, but that they inflicted other violence on people. Emotional, mental, spiritual. Destroying a person's property is violent to me. Deliberately breaking the law when that is not the actual action is violent to me.

To explain this I will use two examples. The first is: A new law is put into place that says you must  paint your house green if you make more than $100,000 a year. You think that is breaks your constitutional rights and are against it. So you don't paint your house even though you make $200,000 a year, you have just broken the law. 


The second example is that you believe that painting houses green for this reason discriminates against those who do not make that much money, so in protest you go to every green house and paint a big red "X" on it. You have broken the law by breaking and entering and destroying property. 


To me the first example is non-violent and the second is not. In the first example the law breaking is the action. In the second it is just a means to the action (protesting). 

So overall the NVDA was interesting and thought invoking, but left me with a weird taste in my mouth.

Powershift was a great experience overall, I learned a lot

Powershift Day 2

Saturday April 16 2011

Never Trust the GPS

The morning started out a little rough. The metro had some construction delays and was running sporadically and slowly.  Cortney, Olivia and I ended up deciding to ride with the people from New York who were staying with us. The GPS was confused and kept trying to make us take closed roads so it took us a bit to get into the city. In the end we were a couple of hours late to the first regional break out session. Because there were 500 students from Ohio we didn't meet with the rest of our region and met just as Ohioans the whole weekend.

This is part of the path to the Metro station 

The Metro station!

In the break out sessions we were grouped off into groups of five or so and we practiced the leadership techniques that we had learned as a large group. We would talk and go through worksheets for about an hour so that we fully understood what we were learning. Then we would debrief as a large group. After lunch we had our choice of going to a variety of smaller sessions on a wide range of topics.

Lunch Break
Before these session though we took our lunch break and went with a group that was doing a demonstrating at a near by BP station. The premis of the demonstration was that we were having a beach party because along the gulf right now people can not have beach parties because the oil is still not cleaned up. So Cortney and I made a sign that said "Dirty Beaches aren't Sexy" and left with the group. When we got to the BP the demonstration was in full swing, lots of chanting and sign waving. The police were there to keep us safe and to escort us when we left on our march to the BP headquarters. At the head quarters there was more chanting and sign waving. It was an amazing thing to be a part of people are incredibly passionate. The following is a link to a video taken at the demonstration, at about 10 or so seconds in Cortney and I walk by in the background.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_hkN5vnQvA&playnext=1&list=PL7975ED8152824BE1

Right under the BP sign you can see our sign!

Environment Justice 

The first one that Cortney and I attended was on Environmental Justice, it was interesting but I sort of felt like I had missed something because I didn't previously know what Environmental Justice was. We felt as though we were sitting in on a session that was one of three. The first one would have been what Environmental Justice is and the third on a this is how you make a difference. We were at what would have been the second one which sort of explained all of the things that needed to be done. It was well presented though and they gave a lot of time after to go and chat with the presenters if you had any questions. 

The Green Ladies

The second one that we went to was fantastic. It was on Gender and the Environmental Movement. The presenters talked about how all movements are linked and then showed some lines that can be drawn between the gender equality movement and that of the environmental justice movement. The women presenting were extremely knowledgable. One thing that struck a chord with me was a discussion about population growth/control. People are prone to think that if there are fewer people in the world then we will consume fewer resources, but that has not proven to be true. In countries where they have decreased population growth by force they have not decreased their consumption. Consumption apparently does decrease with education, education that also includes learning about family planning and making the choice to have fewer children rather than by force. It was really interesting to learn all of the ways that these two movements intertwined.  

Cortney and I were tired so we decided to skip the concert that night and just head home, unfortunately we also missed some speakers that where that night but weren't on the schedule :( 

Powershift Day 1

Friday April 15 2011


We left Columbus at around ten pm on Thursday and arrived safely in Virginia at Collins house at about five in the morning. Collin is not only hosting the nine of us but also a group from upstate New York and a group for Michigan. (The house was packed)

Cort and I headed into the city with Dan and Olivia at around noon and decided to take in the sites. We visited the Washingtom monument the Lincoln Memorial the WWII memorial the Vietnam memorial and a few other things around the mall. After touring Cort and I grabbed some hot dogs and headed up to the convention center.

Cortney and I on the Metro into the city

The Capital building from the Mall

The Washington Monument from the Mall

Cortney being artsy taking a picture up the monument

WWII memorial

WWII memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln up close

Vietnam Memorial, which was incredibly sad

Tulips in Obama's garden (Presidents Garden)

White House!

Al Gore! (on the screen)

After checking in we went to the opening ceremony and listened to the many keynote speakers. First up was Al Gore, who was treated like a rockstar. He passionately spoke about taking action and that this was the perfect time for the youth movement. Van Jones, who spoke after Gore, is a very very motivated man who was appointed by president Obama to be special advisor for Green Jobs. Mr. Jones talked about the size of our generation and the potential we have to make real lasting change. He encouraged the youth to hold their politicans acountable. He spoke about there not only being liberty for all but also justice for all. This is what makes the environmental justice movement different than other environmental movements. With environmental justice you are not just thinking about saving the environment but also about how you do that and who you step on along the way. So not just making solar panels but making solar panels in communities where there are no jobs so that not only are you providing clean renewable energy but also you are boosting a communities economy so that they have the means to continue improving their condition. Every decision that we make effects every aspect of our lives, so you can not say that you want to fight climate change without being aware of who is affected by your actions.

Other speakes we had were a woman named Michele Roberts who was amazingly energetic who spoke passionately about standing strong for social change. There were also people speaking about coal production and it's dangers to not only the environment but also the people where it is mined and where it is used. For example Miami of Ohio's students got their board of trusties to stop the use of coal on their campus. There was also a young man from Appalachia who spoke about mountain top removal and how the mining is not just destroying the mountain but also severely affecting the lives of those people who live in the community.

Overall the opening was all about pumping us up to see that we can make a difference and that we are making a differnce already.

Powershift 2011

This Thursday I am headed off to Washington D.C. to attend Powershift 2011. Powershift's focus is to bring young leaders together to organize and educated them on environmental issues and how to bring that environmental leadership back to their campuses, communities and states.

A quick break down of what I will be doing while I'm gone:

Thursday:
Evening drive drive drive to DC
Friday:
1:00pm-2:00pm Orientation
2:00pm-5:30pm Generation Wake Up (music games and things)
6:00pm-9:00pm Key Note Speakers (Al Gore and Van Jones)
9:00pm-12:00am Movies about clean energy
Saturday:
9:00am-1:00pm Movement Building Sessions (we meet regionally to talk about making change)
1:00pm-2:00pm Lunch in the City (pay for your own)
2:15pm-3:15pm Session 1
3:30pm-4:30pm Session 2
4:45pm-5:45pm Session 3
6:00pm-7:30pm Dinner
7:30pm-11:00pm Concert
Sunday:
9:00am-1:00pm Movement Building Sessions
1:00pm-2:00pm Lunch in the City (pay for your own)
2:00pm-3:30pm State Break out
3:30pm-6:30pm Nonviolent direct action training
8:00pm-10:00pm Art/Music/Movies


Mostly I am excited to:
1. Be in D.C.
2. Go to the sessions on Saturday, there are some good ones
3. Non-violence direct action training brought to you by Greenpeace... awesome

Cortney and I plan on taking tons of photos and an abundance of videos which I will use to make these posts more entertaining.

Quest for Peace USA edition here I come!

http://www.powershift2011.org/ <-- powershift 2011 website

How Do I Feel...?

I was asked the other how I felt about my stay in Norway. This to me is an important question. A question that I experience daily with out actually thinking about it. So how do I feel about it...?

I feel like it is an experience that I will never in my whole life forget. 

I feel like the people I met and built friendships with are people who I will spend the rest of my life being friends with. 

I feel sad that it is over and that I don't get to see everyone everyday. 

I feel alone when I realize that I can not turn and tell Gonzalo or Kate something funny that has happened.

I feel alone when I sit in bed facebooking at night and Danny is not there to share silly stories with. 

I feel like when I learn something profound that I need Catherine so we can discuss it while cooking noodles or while taking a long walk to no where. 

I feel blessed that I feel alone in these moments because that means at one point I wasn't alone, that at one point I was lucky enough to wake up every morning surrounded by love and support of my friends. 

When feeling alone I remember that of course I am not, Norway is as close as my computer is. That I can still share those funny stories, profound moments, my moments of unease and of fear, my moments of joy and elation. 

I feel unbelievably lucky that Gonzalo and I still talk nearly everyday. That Kate and I talk and share stories. That Danny is there for me when my life feels ridiculous. That Catherine is there to listen to me rant about theories and about great lecturers. 

The knowledge I gained while in Norway is hard to share. Its hard to always be saying, "Well when I was abroad..."

But it is knowledge that has profoundly changed my life and the way I do things. Its not only knowledge gained from class, from Inger and Steinar and Cliff. Its knowledge I gained from the Latins and from Kate and from Cath and Hailey and Danny and from Magnus and the boys. Things I learned from Norway and from Germany and London and Prague. 

Sophomore year was hard, and the summer after even harder. So I prepared my mind and my heart for the worst. For going away and meeting no one. For being by myself and learning my own way. 

Clearly I was totally wrong. From the first moment that Gabriele and I went shopping together I wasn't alone. And from that moment forward I could count the number of hours spend alone on one hand. We were a family, a closer family than any that I had built (other than my parents and siblings). We are still a family, sometimes not as close but always always there for one another. I had no expectation to start relationships like we had there, I've been asked if I regret getting so close to people because of how hard it made leaving. My answer is that I do not regret a single moment of my time in Norway or the choices I made while I was there. 

So how do I feel about my stay in Norway? That it was the best choice that I had ever made. That is has broadened my mind and enlarged my heart. That I will always love Norway and everyone I met while there.