Creating Change?

I've been introduced to a new idea that is challenging and I feel like I should write out a couple thoughts to explore it further. An idea that I've talked about a lot in this blog and in my newsletters is that of my own privilege. I've been blessed with access to all life's necessities and more, which makes it much easier for me to take a year without making any real money to volunteer and experiment with living in community. It's obvious from our house and from meeting the national YAVs that we are largely a caucasian group of people. A book that we are reading as a house suggests that white people have traditionally had access to higher social status and can more easily live intentional and alternative lifestyles than can other groups who have traditionally been held back from achieving social status. In one passage the book describes an interaction between a white person who is being self righteous about eating organic, vegetarian foods and a black person who says something like "when I was growing up the only choice we had was organic, vegetarian food!" This in itself is a challenging idea, but I think it has some good merit in partially explaining why a lot of intentional, simple lifestyle communities are made up of mostly white people. But this isn't the idea I'm thinking about here.

No More Deaths (NMD) is a humanitarian aid group in Tucson that gives medical aid to migrants who have gotten stranded in the desert and are in trouble. They also push for immigration policy changes. NMD is another organization made up almost entirely of white faces and in my opinion their work saves lives and is necessary. A friend of mine brought up the issue that the organization is composed mainly of white members and explained how he thought it was arrogant for us to think that we could speak for this group of people without representation from that group. There are no migrants that are members of NMD as far as I know. But the point he was making was that we cannot expect to make any real change for people in a completely different demographic.

I can see his point, but have a few things to say to shine some light on the other side of the issue. The first point is that I don't think NMD actively discourages migrants or Hispanics from joining. Maybe it's really intimidating for someone to walk into a room of white people and to feel connected with and welcomed by that group. But how do you change that? I really don't think there should be a membership quota to fill in order to feel like they can do the work they want to do. I also don't think recruiting members based on race is a good thing, since it still singles them out based on their race. Also, it's obvious that people in my demographic have a tremendous amount of privilege, but what are we to do with that privilege? I might be wrong, but it seems like I can use that privilege in a way that fights marginalization in society or I can use it to advance myself. I don't feel guilty for whatever privilege I've been born in to, because there's nothing I could do about that and because it gives me a responsibility to use it in a way that helps resist marginalization. But at the same time I do think that my friend has a point that the groups that are trying to create change would be stronger if they included, or were led by, people in the group that is being marginalized. Any thoughts on the issue?

Cascabel, AZ

This past weekend we were able to go on a retreat to the town of Cascabel, which is about an hour and a half's drive east from Tucson. Cascabel has a great story behind it and the people in the town are extremely unique. To get into town one must drive on miles of dirt road and a four-wheel-drive is a requirement if you're going to live there. The focus of the community is to live ecologically friendly and simple lives. The first woman we met, Barbara, built her house out of recycled materials and is a self proclaimed hippie who moved to the community in the '60s. She now sells pottery to make a living and heats her house with wood-burning stoves. We also met a man, named Daniel, who lives in a sweet tent for a good portion of his time and facilitates hermitages for people who want to get away from the noise in their heads and find God in nature.

It seems like a perfect place to clear one's head and find God in the stillness; the canyon is gorgeous. This weekend was the first time that I've seen large trees in the desert: Sycamores, Cottonwoods and popplers. It was so strange to see the white bark and vibrant fall leaves of a Sycamore tree in the canyon contrasting against the background of jagged cliffs and Saguaro cacti. It also just so happens that the only time it has really rained since we came to Tucson was this weekend... the entire time. The three guys and Brandon slept under a tarp that was strung up between some tree branches and managed to stay fairly dry, despite Nature's attempts. We only got kind of wet on the second night when the rain was blowing in from the side. I woke up at some hour of the night to discover a moat flowing around our sleeping area; luckily we built up a mound of dirt around us before going to sleep.

On the last day we were there we helped run a Christmas Festival that the community puts on every year. Local vendors come to this festival and sell their pottery, art, jewelery, leather etc. and tons of people from the surrounding area come to check out the festivities. As I sat on the grass listening to some local folk music as people perused the tents, children ran around in the dry river basin and I ate chili made by the local fire department I was struck by how much I felt like I was part of a story from Lake Woebegone. Garrison Keillor always focuses on the community feel of his imaginary small town and I definitely felt that in Cascabel. These people are pretty isolated from urban life and have given up many conveniences and luxuries that we have, but they have a wonderful community and seem to be living fulfilling lives. How cool would it be to have a YAV house in Cascabel!?