Beyond Anti-oppression: An exploration of Pro-liberation*
To me, a core element of anti-oppression work is shifting the narratives that keep us small (I.e. ashamed). One purpose of this exploration is to help empower us to articulate more nuanced narratives of shame and our journeys out of it. The more practice we have discerning for ourselves, the more emergent and affective our solutions will be.
We can begin to discern our unique (and interconnected) experience by becoming more in touch with our felt-sense of contraction. It’s tough work, especially when you’ve learned to repress or numb sensations in situations when they were overwhelming.
Because our bodies are wise, we can feel patterns of shaming (and hegemonic power) when they happen. It might feel like tightness in the chest or a desire to flee.
We can sense when we’re becoming small far more effectively than trying to use rules or prescriptions about when that is happening or what exactly that sequence looks like.
*and* it’s important to affirm the patterns that exist among these noticings.
For example, people with darker skin are consistently treated worse and paid less across cultures. (Credit: Black creators who articulated this)
So are women and queer and trans folks. There are patterns that are important to name.
What’s difficult is when we use these patterns as a hard and fast map to react without holding space to discern.
I propose pro-liberation as a framework that holds anti-oppression practices while emphasizing our capacities to sense and discern.
As pro-liberatory activists and organizers:
We hold grace, compassion, and humility. We see when others are where we once were. We step into our responsibility to shape spaces towards love and restoration/redemption, not policing and disposability.
We work together to build skills to better communicate with one another, own impact, and to give and receive feedback. We have the ability to discern nuances of this work by dropping into our bodies (carefully).
We dance with each other in ways that escape rigid definitions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ behavior. Our teachers are our bodies, spirits, and all of life.
We study naturally occurring living systems (SEE: EMERGENT STRATEGY) and we work in community to articulate, express, and affirm the evolution of a pro-liberation paradigm shift. We are careful not to romanticize any one path or way of being as superior or better.
We are all teachers and we are all students.
*this was written in an attempt to give shape to something floating in the ether of a community I’m a part of, as we work to articulate what we are growing towards. I share with humility and would love to be in conversation about this with you, other brilliant beings. What resonates with you? What do you want to riff on?