Dear supporters,
Some of you may know that we have been receiving requests to offer dialogue support and nonviolence/empathy training to various groups related to the Occupy movements, especially those in Wall Street, Washington D.C., and Chapel Hill/ Durham. We’re writing to you to let you know how we’re responding and because some of you have also offered to support us in this, and we want to let you know how you can help.
Right now, we are driving to Wall Street and are planning to offer 3 days of direct support and training to individuals and groups there who are either involved in or affected by the Occupy movement. We plan to continue on to D.C. from there and offer another 2-3 days of support and training to people involved in or affected by the Occupy movement there. We say “involved in or affected by” because we ourselves are not for or against these movements, and we want to be of support to anyone engaged in these dialogues, regardless of affiliation. When we return to Chapel Hill/ Durham, we will meet with groups in our local area.
For clarity, ZENVC and Play in the Wild! as organizations are neither endorsing or lending their name in support of the Occupy movements. However, the two of us, as individuals, are interested in sharing our experience and skills to support ALL voices to be heard in the important discussions that these movements are inspiring, particularly discussions around how to get all people’s needs met, maintaining nonviolence in the actions of the movement, how the distribution of resources affects everyone, and how restructuring governmental and economic systems would include and lead to reconciliation with indigenous peoples of this land.
(for those who are interested, we’ll be keeping a blog of our journey on zenvc.org here!)
Blessings and Peace All Ways,
Jesse and Catherine
P.S. Thank you to everyone who made contributions to help cover the costs of this journey.