In the EFC tradition, Encampers saw multiple examples of how call and response can be used to motivate people in various situations — from James Brown to BLM, the Freedom Singers to “El pueblo unido jamas será vencido” (the people united will never be defeated).

Jane Sapp asked the group what a call and response does.

Here are just a few answers:

• “Be a part of something bigger than yourself, that is also a part of social justice.”
• “Call and response is part of our culture as African Americans; it is our way of connecting.”
• “A direct translation of justice, calling for action, for something to change.”
• “It is calling to you to make a response.”

Responses from the Encampers included:

• It is a shared voice.
• It’s feeling the energy of people, it is not making you respond, but it is calling you to respond.
• It makes us feel united, like we belong.

The Encampers produced their own chants in their breakout groups. For instance:

“You can ignore your history/but it won’t go away.” (Members of this group spoke about the need for Critical Race Theory to be taught in schools.)

“Justice Can’t Be/Just Us.” (Members of this group spoke to the need for everyone to speak up for others.)

Here is the 2021 Encampment definition of community: A group of people who, even without common struggles, respect each other, have empathy, trust each other and co-exist; knowing that everyone needs to work together.

The Encampers continued the conversation by exploring “Who is responsible in a community to hold it together?”

Here are some reflections:

• “Being a citizen, being engaged in the community, one has a duty to support the other people in the community.”
• “Acknowledging the people in the community is one way to assist the development of a community; one person holding those values and sharing that is a big way to lead change in the community.”
• “Speaking up when you are not happy with something going on in the community.”

The Day 4 morning inspiration and discussion was inspired by viewing Maya Angelou’s YouTube performance of “Still I Rise,”  which led to the day’s focus on culture.

• “A series of customs and beliefs of a group of people.”
• “It connects with music, any form of music — it can spread awareness and start a conversation about it.”
• “It can be a type of food or things you do together, like a family meal or playing a sport.”
• “A combination of experiences that may lead to a tradition or something to do with the community. Music culture and social media is a big way to show advocacy and spread values, and use as an outlet for people to gather to learn.”
• “A mix of traditions, beliefs; it can be in the arts or a shared experience. There are different cultures for each generation, such as internet culture or home culture.”
• “Historically, cultures have been displaced and been erased and overpowered, like with native people; they still feel the effects today.”
• “Social media creates a world culture. Indigenous people here in Brasil were killed — it is crazy that they were here first and now they are minorities. Here in Brasil, people want to look and be more European.”
• “Traditions and cultures that are passed down. We have a dinner party every Friday, called Shabbat, but shaped through our own experiences that are passed down. Even within cultures, there is subculture.”
• “Culture is the foundation that you build yourself upon. You start off as a baby, and the culture around you starts to shape the person you are. Then as an older person, you can choose more.”

Encampers shared artifacts from their cultures, ranging from the Albanian instrument, cifteli; a Chinese jacket; masks and art from Haiti and Africa; a “plastic-free Hawaii” t-shirt; dominoes from the Puerto Rican and South American cultures; a photo of ancestors from Barbados; a book showing traditions from a particular Jewish family; a piece of art from Ghana; foods from Brasil; a surfboard from Southern California.

Inspired by “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou, the week ended with a talent show where the Encampers shared stories, poetry, rap, song, performing on an instrument, and an unusual talent — and underwater cave diving (that the Encamper shared on video).

The videos all provoked discussion about why they had been chosen and their effect on the Encampers. One thing that everyone could agree on is that adding rhythm, music and/or visuals to your message makes it more powerful — able to reach beyond the intellect to inspire a deeper response.

This week, the Encampers practiced a skill that is needed for community mapping: interviewing people in our communities.

Jane Sapp introduced a basic approach: “Curiosity is the main thing that guides you when you interview someone. You are asking: What is your community? How do you feel about your community? What’s inspiring? What are the challenges? What’s good or gives you hope or joy? Where is there courage? Who are the people who inspire you in your community? Where do you find beauty? What sustains you, keeps you going?”

Ms. Pharr talked about her roots in a rural community in Georgia and the importance of mutual aid — community members helping each other. “It’s not about people who have more delivering to those who have less,” she said. “This is the basis of organizing. How do we create community? How do we create community in the face of splintered community? How do we survive, nourish each other and create joy for each other?”

While she acknowledged that our communities are fractured and there is great inequity in healthcare, food and housing, she calls this time “The Great Reveal,” pointing out that, due to social media, nobody has an excuse to say “I didn’t know that inequity is happening.”

Ms. Pharr remarked [excerpted], “It’s important to remember that this is a systemic issue. People say we don’t have enough to go around, but we have all the resources and money that we need — but legislatures are making the laws based on how to protect the resources of the few … racial capitalism has been shaped from slavery onward … As you shape your politics, it’s a human rights issue. There’s a song, ‘Ain’t you got a right to the tree of life’ — we all have the right to shelter, food, healthcare, a safe place to work, and an environment that doesn’t kill us and that shouldn’t have any bias or diffferential … that is your dream … that is the change that we hope for. There is enough to go around. It takes you away from identity politics and brings you into a collective politics where you understand the bias and the prejudice and the harm from identity politics but the overall goal is the same for everyone.”

In response to the question of how to define grassroots organizing, she replied, “Going door to door, wearing out your shoes. Our country is split — people have fallen into the division that the right has been creating and have come to scorn each other … ‘let’s do programs and plans for people in cities and not in rural communities.’ Do it for maybe one group of people and not another … but also not having conversations with people. I don’t think you can expect change unless you say to someone, ‘What is your life? What do you think? Who are you? What do you do? Jane [Sapp] knows this so well because this is the heart of cultural work. You move to the spirit, the daily reality of people, their heart but also their pain … Not commenting but asking, ‘Tell us what that was like’… human to human, face to face, voice to voice.”

She asked the Encampers, “What’s left after protest? It is sustained organizing with faith and hope that plants seeds. I might not see those seeds grow, which is why I believe freedom is in the struggle and victory is in the fight. I see so few victories … I may feel helpless at times, but not hopeless.”

Ms. Touré uses music, song and theater in her organizing work. “When I came to Selma, I used arts and culture because it touches the spirit of people,” she said. “A lot of times, people might not understand the issues that impact their lives. You might not believe in global warming, you may not even know what global warming is, but if you hear a song about the destruction of the Earth … or maybe you don’t understand people from another culture, but you write a song about love and justice, and you perform that song … then that song opens up your heart and your willingness to learn about other people and cultures. I’ve always used music and culture to organize people.”

She went on to talk about her current organizing project: Restoring Excellence, Safety, Truth, Organization, Resiliency, Economy (RESTORE). She said the seeds of excellence are present in marginalized communities, but the system does not allow them to grow. The idea behind RESTORE is to locate the natural leaders in a community.

What RESTORE is doing is nothing new. “SNCC and the Black Panther Party understood that you have to bring something into the community,” she said — nowadays, that might mean providing information about economic programs or hand sanitizer or masks. She believes that it was a failure to stop organizing after the civil rights victories of the 1960s. “Community organizing is hard … back then, it was easier to get volunteers because you could see the ‘colored-only’ or ‘white-only’ signs, which were visible and heartbreaking. They have been removed but it’s still there. That’s why the wealth gap in the Black community is one dollar to the 18 dollars you get if you are a White person.”

She talked particularly about the role of young people in organizing. In Selma, students went “door to door, marching and protesting, because they wanted their parents to be able to vote and they wanted to vote when they were older. That movement was in full bloom when Dr. King came here in 1965. And they didn’t just protest. They educated themselves in the basements of churches, learned the techniques of nonviolence. To be a successful community organizer, you have to be knowledgeable about the community you are in and also past efforts to organize, the strengths and the failures.”

She shared an original song that she wrote for the Encampers, “Morning is Coming,” and asked: Are you prepared for the long-term struggle?

Several Encampers replied:

• “It’s definitely intimidating, but it’s something that we have to do. There are so many issues in our communities and the world that have to be addressed. We have to be ready and prepare ourselves. Otherwise, things are not going to get better.”
• “You have to really think about it and what place you are in, because it is scary.”
• “As long as you are with people who are in for the long haul with you, then you will be able to go through the struggle. As long as you have the backbone in community or people you surround yourselves with.”
• “I think we all have a drive to make some sort of change. To make that change, we need a proper foundation. I am willing to embrace the struggle.”

Ms. Touré agreed that it is scary and that we need people around us to support the struggle. She referenced a song from the musical “Ragtime,” “Make Them Hear You,” saying that “we don’t all have to struggle in the same way. It doesn’t mean you have to be on a picket line or lead a boycott. Only you can decide how you will manifest that commitment. Don’t let anyone put you in a corner as to how you should struggle. That’s your personal choice. And once you make that personal choice, just be committted to it.”

On Wednesday, the Encampers had a work day where they continued the process of doing interviews in their communities. This is an integral part of community mapping and the results will be shared at the InterGen(erational) program on Saturday. They came together intermittently to share where they were in the process and what they were learning.

“Is it possible to work with people who do not agree with your viewpoint?” After a while, the diverse answers were replaced with another question by the Encampers: Who is responsible for educating folks about racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.? These quotes provide a synopsis of that rousing conversation:

• “If you are unable to work with people who don’t agree with you, it’s impossible to make change. It can be impossible in extreme cases, but we should always try to work with people or at least stand up to people with different views. It can be a more-effective way to understand their point of view instead of expressing anger.”
• “If you can’t accept differences, then you are a big part of the problem. “
• “Express that their contrasting viewpoint impacts you; try to work with them; you can agree to disagree.”
• “Try to understand why do people think the way they do and find middle ground.”
• “We’re at a place politically where we are polarized and closeminded in both parties. And the quarantine has created more bubbles, so people from different cultures are not willing to have conversations.”

When does it become our responsibility to educate people — and should it be?

• “Someone was being racist against Jewish people in the supermarket and I thought, ‘You are not entitled to my education.’ Those people don’t deserve that kind of education. I don’t have the energy to have those conversations.”
• “Depends on the person.”
• “I’m willing to talk to people in my communities but not to a ‘white savior’ — even if they agree with you, certain things that happen after that I didn’t ask for, that I don’t feel good about … I think I’m seeing a pattern with intersecting identities being both Black and a woman. I’m exhausted …”
• “I’ve have felt like I was a crazy person because I have different views from my family about environmental issues. And it was frustrating, but I’m glad I didn’t give up talking to them. They’ve changed their minds. I am open to educating people even though it’s hard.”
• “It depends on the situation — if it’s too hard and the situation is not good for you. You have to pick those battles.”
• “Divide and conquer … when the two parties can’t reach a common goal and Congress reaches a deadlock, then there’s no change.”
• “If someone is messing with you and they have a closed mind to bigotry, sometimes it’s a whack of knowledge that teaches them to become better people. If you avoid having a confrontation, then some other random person could be being targeted. You can’t talk down a racist or sexist or homophobe in every situation, but with more education of each other, the smarter the collective will get so we don’t hate each other on things that don’t matter.”
• “It’s better if people coming from a certain background educate the person rather than someone from another group, because it won’t be as accurate, but it’s not that they should have to.”
• “The people of a community do have the responsibilty to share what makes them uncomfortable. Like the N word — if you or someone tells someone that that is wrong, in the future, others benefit.”
• “Google is free! The internet is everywhere. I’m not going to make it easy for you to understand black people when you could be educating yourself so as not to be ignorant.”
• “If people are Ignorant, they may not know it’s offensive.”
• “If you don’t know, have you been living under a rock? What are you doing? I don’t think we’re even having a conversation; we’re just talking about our own viewpoints.”
• “My best friend grew up in Morocco in a poor town and he just didn’t know about America. He asked in the classroom, “Why are there women here, aren’t they supposed to be in the kitchen?” Some people just don’t grow up with that understanding. Helping people understand makes the world a better place.”
• “People do live under rocks. There was a Russian emigrant boy in my class who used the N-word and got suspended because his family is so uneducated and racist that he was completely unaware. It takes maturity to seek out knowledge. Most Americans don’t live in places that are ‘woke.’ … They don’t know they could learn more.”
• “We are all talking to each other and listening — that’s the definition of a conversation. My point of view has changed from hearing different views from one another.”

Michael: We’ve been talking about other people and other people’s ignorance. Let’s take a moment to look inward.

He said that he had been ignorant about homophobia and also about his own sexism until it was brought to his attention at the Encampment. “When you can recognize your own bias and understand it for what it is, it easier to be compassionate to other people who are ignorant,” he said.

The group watched a clip from the movie “The Best of Enemies” that portrays the transformation of a Klan leader due to the lived experience of getting to know a Black woman organizer during a struggle for school integration. “There is power in sharing your lived experiences and your viewpoints,” Michael said. “Not everybody will change, but they might, and they might take it with them and think about it.”

He said that today’s Encampers are training to become leaders or organizers — when they are adults. He let everyone know that we don’t expect much from them now, since they are so young, but, “maybe in future years, they might have the skills and drive to make change.” He asked what people thought about that.

The Encampers argued respectfully that there were examples of young people creating change now. They gave examples from their own lives of participating in a school lockdown; the youth-led 4-H Club; and Malala. They looked for ways to agree with him — to find common ground. For instance, they agreed that young people do need more knowledge and skill-building; they do not have access to the resources of adults; and they need adult allies, particularly in places of authority.

Michael chimed in, saying that he doesn’t see the numbers of youth necessary for a movement. Eventually, they were caught out by a few of the Encampers who called them on setting this situation up. Michael spoke to why they had set up the situation. “I don’t want anyone to feel that in this space you cannot push back,” he said. “I want us to live that and practice that. The more we practice that, the easier it will be for you to address adults when they are being manipulative or disrespectful. You’ll find strategies to do it in a way that is productive … There’s a time when you have to say, ‘You’re disrespecting me and I’m not going to tolerate it.’ … Some people revert to silence because they don’t know what to say. Some people revert to silence because they don’t know how to say it in a productive way, and some people don’t know that they have permission to speak. In this space, you have permission to speak. We need your voices at the forefront.”

Margot Gibney added: “You have history on your side, so the more you know, the better. For instance, a 16-year-old in Virginia kicked off the equal education movement. Her name was Barbara Johns. You have the data to say, ‘[Something] is not true.’ It’s always important, even if you think the other person isn’t listening, to speak the truth and to do the research so you can say, ‘Well actually, if you look at history, here’s 30 examples.’ I started organizing in junior high and it wasn’t until I got to the Encampment that I felt my voice was taken seriously. No matter what the other person is going to do, in my experience, it’s important to always have your voice. That’s a part of leadership and empowerment. You can’t control what people do with the information, you give them but silence is a statement.

“In 1946, during the first Encampment, there were people who fought in the war in segregated units, people coming from the Jim Crow South, people who had been in concentration camps. The founder used to begin the program by giving a fascist speech — this was right after the war — and he would get a standing ovation because people were trying to be polite and weren’t really thinking about what he was saying. Then he’d say, ‘Well what did I say?’ and finally someone would stand up and say, ‘That was fascism.’ That’s what the founders of the Encampment believed: that young people have to practice standing up and telling the truth instead of, for the sake of politeness, not questioning what’s put before them. That’s why things like this happen at the Encampment. We want you to learn to develop that muscle, and to know this is a safe place, like Michael said. No one is going to punish you in any way for speaking up — for having your voice — even if it’s completely contrary to what everybody else thinks.”

What are the ingredients that need to go inside you to be an effective person for social change?

• Open mind: You have to move past your own ideas and your own world, and be open to new people in your life.
• Compassion: You have to care about other people and what they are going through to do the work to help them.
• Vulnerability: I think vulnerability goes with compassion. To make change, you have to listen to other people and be vulnerable.
• Exposure: You can’t care about something until you know something. A lot of the super-privileged people who had a change of heart and suddenly started pushing for change only started doing that because they couldn’t escape the reality of racial injustice while they sat on their couches at home.
• Having grit: Social change is not easy. There will be backlash, and you have to be strong in your passion for that change.
• Strength and courage: This reminds me of what Ms. Touré said about it’s okay to feel helpless (at times) but not hopeless.
• Listening: Be a good listener, respectful.
• Do the research: Know your facts to back up what you say.

Who holds the power? Who is responsible?

The Encampers were guided through questioning and discussion through various layers that address the questions Who holds the power? and Who is responsible?

The discussion started with responses from several people:

• the federal government, the president, the military, other politicians, the wealthy
• rich people have the most power; people like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk can change laws or sway elections through campaign funding and ads
• the White Majority
• power players — people who know the most people can get the most done

Program director Jesus Salcido Chavarria then asked, Who has power in the state that you live in?

• Members of Congress, the police, the governor, or even a mayor in a big powerful city.

What about in your community? When you did your community maps, what did you learn about who has the power?

• Principal and faculty in my school; District reps, elected or non-.

 What is power analysis?

• It’s about the hierarchy.

What about the average Joe? Does he have power?

• Maybe
• Everybody has some power and some people have the power to fire someone or give detention.
• Voting is power.

Who has power in your family home?

• Youth
• The media — TV can show stereotypes.
• Social media has a hierarchy, too — your personal account to a media celebrity to the blue checkmark on Twitter that shows popularity.

 Think about doing this in terms of your community maps — what is the point of power analysis?

• You can learn someone’s place in the hierarchy and your own — who do you know/not know?
• You can understand who holds the power so we can be strategic about making change.

Jane Sapp: “Who determines who has power? When you look at your government, who determines that? … The last people standing are ‘we the people.’ We have more power than anybody else does because we’re the super-majority. If you think about South Africa or Jim Crow in the South, where a minority ruled a majority, [until] that minority decided that we don’t want to be ruled by this little minority … Issues will come and go and people in power will come and go. It will always be when we use our courage, leverage our voice, leverage our vote, we are not powerless. We are still here after lynching, after deportations, after depriving us of decent education and opportunities, after all that has been done. and we are still standing. You as the upcoming generation …. your generation is the largest population of youth ever in the history of our country. You are going to have more power than you can imagine, more of a voice. What you need to decide is how to use it — how you find the courage, imagination and creativity to use it.”

Jesus: Yes, and what we are looking at here is, ‘How do we be strategic with our power?’

Encamper: Does power to the people change if the people are divided?

Jane: “That is why we focus at the Encampment on how to build a united sense of community. It’s not that people have to agree on everything, but that they feel a part of a community for change — then maybe we can get somewhere. Most powerful soil for planting seeds of change is where people have a sense of community.”

Who keeps us divided?

Encampers: People who gain something from that division, making division for their own popularity.

Jane: “‘The people’ is not a concept; it’s my experience. When the people rise up and use their voice, then change can happen, and when they don’t use their voices … when the people have been willing to lay their lives on the line and demand change is when change happened; for instance, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge or during the Freedom Summer.”

Encampers:

• “Some people have more power than others, like at our schools: the teachers, or popular White students or wealthy people who can do whatever they want without consequences.”
• “Sometimes there are idealized Black authority figures in politics, but there may be things behind them that are not seen; for instance, gentrification.”
• “That’s the face you want to see, but there could be a corporation or a committee behind them that is trying to pass a bill, etc.”
• “In the San Francisco LGBTQ community, White gay males rule and they represent the gay community, but not all the other parts of LGBTQ, so there’s hierarchy. We’re all politicians.”

Jesus reminded people to connect this discussion of power analysis to their community maps to home in on the power structure.

 

As part of their presentation, they showed this video. They ended their presentation by asking the Encampers to say what environmental justice means to them:

• Not only green parts being accessible to minority communities, but also treating the land like a person. We all live here. If we do that, we’ll see a lot of change.
• Treating the planet and people with the respect and care they deserve.
• Creating a collaborative and sustainable connection between people, land and animals, making sure everyone is happy. And keeping in mind that environmental injustice affects different communities in different ways. For instance, it disproportionally affects minority communities who live near agricultural industries.
• A better future for ourselves, changing our eating habits and taking care of natural resources. If we don’t take care of the environment, then we are not taking care of ourselves, and it impacts the whole world.
• Finding a way to coexist with nature and having a beneficial relationship on both sides. Nature can rely on us and we can rely on nature.
• Equal environmental rights, as well as availability to all, no matter what situation you live in. Everyone deserves a part of the environment, but we also have to treat it right — it’s a 50/50 relationship.
• Repairing all the damage that humans have done to the environment over so many years; healing it so we can have a better future.
• The environment affects everyone, so all the social justice stuff won’t matter if we don’t have a future — to be alive.

Hausson Byrd spoke about his work as a poet, writer and activist. He said he wrote his first poem at the 2014 Encampment and recited it for the Encampers from memory. He told us that he had been involved in organizing from a young age due to his parents’ involvement in their community. In college, he found his passion in writing and really wanted to write “what was on my soul.” After a while, people started asking him to speak at meetings, marches, etc., so he was able to combine these two parts of himself. “It allows me the freedom to do both — to create for myself, to live the life that I want, making sure I’m doing something to help my community, and the world I’ve grown up in … A lot of my journey has been about finding the balance, making sure I’m doing something to help my community, and also taking care of my spirit, taking care of myself, making sure I’m happy.” He turned it into a discussion, asking the Encampers what they enjoy doing. Their answers: playing bass, ultimate frisbee, making art, being with friends, water sports, yoga, reading, video games.

He responded, “Find ways to make it fun, that speak to your strengths — to counterbalance the things that you don’t like or it will be hard … When you talk about a revolution, there are so many roles you can play … Music is a big part of revolution and art is one of the greatest tools to spread your message, igniting people’s emotions and getting them to participate. Art is able to communicate complex narratives in 30 seconds or 2 minutes; you feel me, creating an emotional tie for someone more than knocking on their door.” He gave an example of how the photographs of police shooting children with water hoses or siccing dogs on them led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. “There are so many ways that your loves, talents, passions can go into this work and that is the best way to make it sustainable.” He referred to all of these activities as he said that joy and taking care of ourselves and each other is a revolutionary act.

X freelon (they/them), 2016–17 alum, is an artist who is also the executive director of a creatively re-imagined homeless shelter in Little Rock, AR, specifically for trans and queer youth. They said that part of their assurance in their role comes from their Encampment experience. They also referred to the importance of role models like Jane Sapp, Margot Gibney and their aunt (Dianne Freelon). “I always had a lot of ‘think for myself’ tendencies. When you are unwilling to compromise on being yourself because that is something you are deeply invested in and you understand that being yourself is a radical act, it becomes important to make that an act of revolutionary awakening every day.”

When they took the job, the homeless shelter — Lucie’s Place — was not working and they re-imagined it, ascribing part of that ability to the Encampment. “We have an intentional living community, which is a space I designed so anybody who is unhoused between the ages of 18–25 and trans or queer from the Delta or Arkansas can reach out to us and ask us to care for them until they are able to care for themselves. Homeless shelters are traditionally really regulated, but I think that’s just a re-making of the prison-industrial complex where people who are considered unruly or in positions of need are often further taken advantage of by the structures designed to help them. I intentionally wanted to disrupt that cycle … that’s another place where my EFC experience touched upon my current work.”

They went on to say that for the eight months they were designing the shelter, “it was really draining and boring, not how I envision myself making art. My skill set is that I’m a spoken word artist; I make film immersive installations … it was difficult to find a way to see community resource curation as its own sacred artform … now I show up as my authentic self to the workplace, continue to invite other people in this environment as a place they can take that on for themselves, encourage themselves in a radical appreciation of self … it’s probably the more rewarding experience I’ve had in the last five years of my life.”

An Encamper asked about how the community around the shelter relates to it. X said initially the community was reactionary but they gave the community members information about what to do and how to do it if there were concerns. They gave an example: “We act as first response instead of the police; at least we try to if people call us. We do de-escalation and intervention … with two to four people who assess the situation … We ask the member what is going on and we try to respond to whatever crisis is happening … we address whatever is happening in the environment and then we get them what they need.”

Some Encamper reactions:

• I appreciated the attitudes of the last two speakers. It is refreshing to see people who are unapologetic. I think it is cool to have a mindset similar to that. I found them inspiring.
• I really liked hearing what these young people had to say about their experience in activism and growing from their place in the Encampment.
• I enjoyed how candid each of the presenters were; they were not trying to soften it. They showed a crystal-clear picture to help us understand everything better.

 

“You are going to be in breakout rooms to think about both perspectives, and you are not going to know which perspective you are going to argue until we come back.”

What ensued was a fiery debate as the Encampers, who were assigned randomly to positions that they may or may not have agreed with, participated with zest. They pushed each other to provide examples for the viewpoints they were defending. While no conclusion was reached, here are some of the arguments:

• Yes, you can move beyond our history, but you don’t necessarily forget your history. We try to build upon our history while moving forward.
• If something poor happened in a community in the past, that doesn’t necessarily define that community. People in that community can move beyond and make sure that event doesn’t take place again within that community.
• The people in that community made that event happen, so if it’s the same people, they are probably not going to want change. It’s still going to happen because they made it happen for a reason and they are not going to change their mind overnight. For instance, if White people are in power, they wouldn’t want to change that.
• This country was built upon slavery and it can’t move beyond — that impact will always be there.
• With time, generations will change and the same people will not be in charge in 100 years. Your argument assumes that people have the same mindset. For instance, with the Holocaust, the German people are trying to make it better. People need to work together and build on the past.
• Part of the healing process was removing people who contributed to the Holocaust; making sure they did not stay in power, but were in jail or executed.
• This is a democracy. People vote and they teach their children ideas that carry through generations. The history is always there and, for the most part, people stick to the past because that’s what they know and that’s what they teach their children.
• You need to have the past — that’s what makes up the community. You can use it to teach the generations — like at my school. If you let go of the thing that makes it the community, then what is the point?
• America now is not like 100 years in the past; for instance, the laws around segregation and those impacts.
• It’s not the same, but there are different forms of terribleness like mass incarceration, police brutality, the biased educational system. America is the worst example of a country moving forward — the people in power are not interested in change — they will only only stop doing what they are doing if there are changes in public opinion, like in the media …
• Maybe a community can slowly develop a better society. It’s not going to be 100% of the community; maybe one small community within the bigger community. In Germany, the Holocaust is a major part of their education system — the U.S. could do that, too.
• In Texas, learning about MLK & native history, etc. are not required in the curriculum.
• If change is never going to happen, why try?
• It’s in my blood, but I’m a realist/pessimist.
• In my own community, people try to make change because they hope for the future youth. They want to push past whatever came before and use their mistakes to make a different future for the youth.
• There are outliers in every generation who are different from those who want to stay in the past, and they can break free and make change.
• You can’t build upon the past. To transform a community, you have to get rid of the system that caused the effects.
• It’s pointless to want to change and not believe we can make change. Brasil is similar to the U.S., but slavery lasted longer than in the U.S. (1888). You can’t ignore the past. Just because the system was built upon slavery doesn’t mean we can’t change it.

She shared the story of the “great experiment” in participatory government in Jackson and its many challenges. She reflected on Mayor Lumumba’s promise to be the most radical mayor in the country: “When you have problems as severe as ours, you need some radical solutions … you need government that is geared toward addressing the needs of your residents, as well as government that is geared toward building institutions, not reforming institutions, that actually work for people. We haven’t been able to be as radical as we would like to be, primarily because the basic everyday issues of being able to provide clean water… address a sewage system that has been systematically neglected for decades … 25% of the residents live in food deserts … The community is constantly bombarded with the problems that come from systematic oppression and discrimination… When you are faced with those basic problems, it becomes very hard to deal with the more creative, idealistic ideas of what government should be … you have to improve the ability of the city to serve the basic needs of its residents — what we call ‘servant leadership’ so they have the quality of life that every human being deserves.”

Dr. Omari talked about building a “dignity economy” where every person has the human right of being treated with dignity and respect. “We are trying to improve the quality of life through education, living wage jobs, neighborhoods and housing that are safe; access to clean water…. And we are committed to educating residents in the importance of participating in their government … We encourage residents to build in conjunction with the community, to be informed upfront and involved. We have peoples’ assemblies … We go to them when we have issues that we need discussed, like budgets, policy decisions and prioritizing … What’s radical about what we are doing is we are trying to insert people back into the government.”

Maribel, 2021 Encamper: How are youth included in your community and in making change?

Dr. Omari: “We engage with youth on several different levels. We have the Mayor’s Youth Council, where we engage with them about issues that directly affect youth. We ask them to come up with policy or solutions for some of the issues. For instance, recently in March/April, we were opening up after the pandemic and we had a lot of teens being killed through gun violence, so we met with our Youth Council. The knee-jerk reaction is ‘Okay, let’s do a curfew,’ but we thought maybe we need to talk to the people who are most closely impacted by this spate of gun violence … Surprisingly, they agreed. They felt that a curfew would make them feel safer as long as we had provisions for them to work and come home …” She also mentioned the Millennial Council for older youth and a new program to divert young people from the juvenile justice system into working for the city, educating them about alternatives and giving them resources, including a paycheck. These are in addition to established programs like Parks and Recreation.

Carter, 2020-21 Encamper: It’s super-amazing how you engage the youth in discussions with the government. What you said shows that there isn’t one objective view of what a community needs — there are different sides to each story; many different struggles for each individual. I liked what you said about if someone is hungry in class, how are they supposed to focus, so that also has to impact the community. It brings up the question, does a community focus on one goal or do they split it up into multiple different sections? It’s a different way to view how communities work.

Dr. Omari said that she grew up in a very close-knit community (Shreveport, LA) among people from diverse backgrounds. “They were all Black, of course, because it was the segregated South, but there were all these different backgrounds and perspectives. It had a solid Black middle class. In many communities in urban areas today, like we see in Jackson, we have some very solid communities. They are community improvement districts and they have nonprofits and boards, and they work to make their communities look the way they want them to look. Then we have communities that have disintegrated due to Black middle-class flight. Where we used to have teachers and police officers and social workers living side by side with the mechanic — when people could move into more stable communities, they did. Those who are left behind aren’t left with very much to work with — not even a vision of what community should look like … People have to have a sense of place to feel like there’s something they can invest in … We help them try to create what they see as a sense of place. We don’t tell them what that sense of place should be. We go in to co-create with them what they would like to see.”

 

Some of the questions and thoughts reported from these powerful conversations are:

• How can we heal our communities?
• How can people from different generations work together to make change?
• What is the role of elders in healing communities?
• What really divides generations?
• Technology has created a divide that makes engaging with different generations difficult.
• Is it possible to move on from the past in your community?
• People have to work together.
• Painful experiences in Primarily White Institutions
• Different experiences of connecting intergenerationally.
• Difficult times often break down barriers and get people to connect.
• Technology can disconnect you from what’s around you.
• Accepting the community’s quirks can bring people together, even though they are from different generations.
• What it takes to connect intergenerationally: respect, really listening, having an open mind, being willing to listen across the barriers that are real.

Jane Sapp closed the session with an a cappella performance of “There’s a Bright Sun Somewhere.”

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, board member Steve Davis kicked off the first session with co-host 2021 Encamper Piper S.

Program director Jesus Salcido Chavarria reviewed how the Encampers had created community maps in a multi-step process that explored community in different ways, which included sharing with their fellow Encampers and defining the issues they would like to address in the follow-up program this fall. He shared the definition this year’s Encampers have for community: “A group of people who, even without common struggles, respect each other, have empathy, trust each other and co-exist; knowing that everyone needs to work together.”

“Each Encamper shared something that reflected her/his own culture and community. They interviewed another Encamper about their communities and shared what they learned with the group. [To learn more, click on link Week One.] We talked about the role of community in making change and had a heated debate about whether it’s possible to work with someone who has different viewpoints from you. [Week Two] We asked questions: How do you engage your community? Who are the players in your community that you want to interview? To gain more understanding of what are the problems, include the opinions of others, and get a more rounded approach to how they see their communities, they did some interviews in their communities after practicing with each other. We also did a power analysis (Who holds the power? Who is responsible?) [Week Three] that went into their community maps. The community maps they created will lead to their action plans in the follow-up program to make social change, however big or small.”

Participants divided into breakout groups and learned about the very different geographic environments that the young people come from, and different types of communities (identity- or topic-related) from the community maps and the discussions. One older EFC alum commented: “It’s great that 2021 Encampers can connect through the follow-up program and EFC network to get help as they take their steps to make change.”

Jesus led off the last session with a rousing rap he composed — several Encampers noted that his willingness to share his creativity had inspired them to experiment with spoken-word pieces for their own presentations. The presentations demonstrated in creative forms what the Encampers explored in the Summer Intensive. Contact us at admin@encampmentforciitizenship.org if you would like to see the Community Map presentations.

In response to a question from a parent about “how to keep the juices flowing [after the intensive],” education director, Michael Carter referred to the four-month follow-up program: “This is only the beginning … we have changed our approach. What we have learned over the years is that the young people who left the summer program didn’t have the tools to navigate their action plans within their communities, so we changed the focus [of the summer program] to learning more about your community … [The focus is] learning about community, understanding community as the center of all social justice, so that, as they move forward and begin to dive into those action plans, they can use what they have learned about building community and how to engage community to navigate as activists in those communities.”

Michael added that the Encampment supports their efforts as they turn theory into practice with the “ups and downs” that come with that process so they do not become too discouraged.

Executive director Margot Gibney spoke about how inspired she is by the 2021 Encampers. “It’s a daunting task to take on another Zoom activity, but you showed up and you did it! You brought all of yourselves and your passion … I appreciate each of you and that’s what makes me hopeful about our today and our future

“Look around at the [Zoom] squares — there’s a lot of power in these squares. This is community; this is our power. That’s what we are building now. Rather than being simply a summer program, we’re pulling on the community of alums and other people who have been involved with the Encampment over the years to create an international community of people of all ages to support the ongoing social justice work of the young people, and the technology is helping. Alums have been meeting in [virtual] groups over the summer and they are inspired by the possibility of being there to support 2021 Encampers, and beyond, and each other. This is where our future lies — working together. We have so much to learn from each other … expertise, knowledge, inspiration, wisdom, energy – the power of community; it’s all right here!”

 

Program director Jesus Salcido Chavarria reviewed how the Encampers had created community maps in a multi-step process that explored community in different ways, which included sharing with their fellow Encampers and defining the issues they would like to address in the follow-up program this fall. He shared the definition this year’s Encampers have for community: “A group of people who, even without common struggles, respect each other, have empathy, trust each other and co-exist; knowing that everyone needs to work together.”

“Each Encamper shared something that reflected her/his own culture and community. They interviewed another Encamper about their communities and shared what they learned with the group. [To learn more, click on link Week One.] We talked about the role of community in making change and had a heated debate about whether it’s possible to work with someone who has different viewpoints from you. [Week Two] We asked questions: How do you engage your community? Who are the players in your community that you want to interview? To gain more understanding of what are the problems, include the opinions of others, and get a more rounded approach to how they see their communities, they did some interviews in their communities after practicing with each other. We also did a power analysis (Who holds the power? Who is responsible?) [Week Three] that went into their community maps. The community maps they created will lead to their action plans in the follow-up program to make social change, however big or small.”

Participants divided into breakout groups and learned about the very different geographic environments that the young people come from, and different types of communities (identity- or topic-related) from the community maps and the discussions. One older EFC alum commented: “It’s great that 2021 Encampers can connect through the follow-up program and EFC network to get help as they take their steps to make change.”

Jesus led off the last session with a rousing rap he composed — several Encampers noted that his willingness to share his creativity had inspired them to experiment with spoken-word pieces for their own presentations. The presentations demonstrated in creative forms what the Encampers explored in the Summer Intensive. Contact us at admin@encampmentforciitizenship.org if you would like to see the Community Map presentations.

In response to a question from a parent about “how to keep the juices flowing [after the intensive],” education director, Michael Carter referred to the four-month follow-up program: “This is only the beginning … we have changed our approach. What we have learned over the years is that the young people who left the summer program didn’t have the tools to navigate their action plans within their communities, so we changed the focus [of the summer program] to learning more about your community … [The focus is] learning about community, understanding community as the center of all social justice, so that, as they move forward and begin to dive into those action plans, they can use what they have learned about building community and how to engage community to navigate as activists in those communities.”

Michael added that the Encampment supports their efforts as they turn theory into practice with the “ups and downs” that come with that process so they do not become too discouraged.

Executive director Margot Gibney spoke about how inspired she is by the 2021 Encampers. “It’s a daunting task to take on another Zoom activity, but you showed up and you did it! You brought all of yourselves and your passion … I appreciate each of you and that’s what makes me hopeful about our today and our future

“Look around at the [Zoom] squares — there’s a lot of power in these squares. This is community; this is our power. That’s what we are building now. Rather than being simply a summer program, we’re pulling on the community of alums and other people who have been involved with the Encampment over the years to create an international community of people of all ages to support the ongoing social justice work of the young people, and the technology is helping. Alums have been meeting in [virtual] groups over the summer and they are inspired by the possibility of being there to support 2021 Encampers, and beyond, and each other. This is where our future lies — working together. We have so much to learn from each other … expertise, knowledge, inspiration, wisdom, energy – the power of community; it’s all right here!”