gil/garden
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull requests Actions Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity

Journal migration COMPLETE

Browse source
This commit is contained in:
Gil 2024-12-01 09:44:51 -06:00
parent 090163fa90
commit 5358973573
9 changed files with 53 additions and 63 deletions
Show stats Download patch file Download diff file Expand all files Collapse all files

46
.obsidian/workspace.json vendored
View file

@ -4,21 +4,21 @@
"type": "split",
"children": [
{
"id": "97206c5aef6892c4",
"id": "6ce2da187e100885",
"type": "tabs",
"children": [
{
"id": "fd3cc9008b5418d4",
"id": "08eb61187cb057ae",
"type": "leaf",
"state": {
"type": "markdown",
"state": {
"file": "Elements of organizational culture.md",
"file": "Liberationist manifesto/Liberation is material.md",
"mode": "source",
"source": false
},
"icon": "lucide-file",
"title": "Elements of organizational culture"
"title": "Liberation is material"
}
}
]
@ -163,35 +163,35 @@
"random-note:Open random note": false
}
},
"active": "fd3cc9008b5418d4",
"active": "08eb61187cb057ae",
"lastOpenFiles": [
"Liberationist manifesto/Liberation.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Growing your circle of care.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Liberation is change.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Liberation is material.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Liberationist manifesto.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Together for Liberation.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Liberation is human condition.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Liberation is justice and love.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Liberation is connection.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Liberationist leadership.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/On soup theory.md",
"Clippings/Facets of Filipino identity.md",
"Poetry/Lost and found.md",
"Clippings/When Filipinos Fight with Filipino-Americans, No One Wins.md",
"Poetry/The Odyssey was postponed due to adverse weather.md",
"Poetry/More tiny regrets.md",
"Clippings/Calm technology.md",
"Elements of organizational culture.md",
"Clippings/eleventy-cache-webmentions.md",
"Clippings/You Might Be a Late Bloomer.md",
"Clippings/When Filipinos Fight with Filipino-Americans, No One Wins.md",
"Clippings/Webmention Setup for Eleventy.md",
"Clippings/We haven’t always been abolitionists – 18MR.md",
"Clippings/The Problem with Easy Technology.md",
"Clippings/Prefigurative politics.md",
"Clippings/Our Philippine identity.md",
"Clippings/On a technicality.md",
"Clippings/Occupy movement hand signals - Wikipedia.md",
"Clippings/Martha Caley obituary.md",
"Clippings/Identifying “Filipino Identity”.md",
"Clippings/How to Spot a Cult.md",
"Clippings/Gradients of agreement for democratic decision-making.md",
"Clippings/Filipino Identity, The Haunting Question.md",
"Clippings/Fertile Ground.md",
"Clippings/Fediverse Governance Drop.md",
"Clippings/Facets of Filipino identity.md",
"Clippings/Collaboration, from groan zone to growth zone.md",
"Clippings/Calm technology.md",
"Clippings/Book Review - How to Stop Fascism - History, Ideology, Resistance by Paul Mason.md",
"Clippings/A Guide to Alicia's heart (emojis).md",
"Clippings",
"Elements of organizational culture.md",
"Bennett scale.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Together for Liberation.md",
"Liberationist manifesto/Liberationist leadership.md",
"Poetry",
"Reading notes",
"How to",

1
Elements of organizational culture.md
View file

@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ From visible to invisible:
- Are often unspoken and taken for granted
- Provide underlying reasons for an organization's values and behaviors
## Artifacts and physical space
- How is space organized in your organization?

12
Liberationist manifesto/Liberation is freedom.md
View file

@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
Freedom from: injustice (oppression, exploitation, domination, alienation, etc.)
Freedom to: thrive (live as our fullest selves, connect with others)
## On soup theory
Before exploring the topic of freedom, I want to take a brief look at a simpler metaphor for explaining freedom within liberation, one called “soup theory.” As originally formulated by progressive minister Rev. Oliver Snow, soup theory asks “Do you believe everyone deserves to vibe and eat their favorite soup?”[^1]
[^1]: This was first presented on their TikTok page @revpoppopandfriends (where you can also find a playlist of discussions regarding soup theory).
This phrase has specific moral and ethical implications for what freedom means. It also implies a material vision for freedom, with social, ecological, environmental, political, economic, and cultural components.
(and believe me, it is material. Freedom is not built on thoughts and prayers)

1
Liberationist manifesto/Liberation is human condition.md
View file

@ -1 +0,0 @@
Operates on human condition (societal/environmental), seeing limitless potential of what could be, answering what it means to be human, viewing the future not just in terms of “isms” but in concrete/material terms

19
Liberationist manifesto/Liberation is material.md Normal file
View file

@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
Do you believe everyone deserves to vibe and eat their favorite soup?
Think about that for a moment. What is your gut response? How did you react to the question? Have you heard it before, or something to a similar effect? Did it feel pretty simple to you, or did it bring up other questions?
What I’ve asked is a starter metaphor for liberation called “soup theory.” As written above and originally formulated by progressive minister Rev. Oliver Snow, soup theory asks “Do you believe everyone deserves to vibe and eat their favorite soup?”[^1] I pose this question because it gets directly to the heart, the core concepts, of collective liberation. When you think about what soup theory implies, you might find other aspects to consider: Who is included in “everyone”? What does it mean to “vibe and eat one’s favorite soup”? How would society have to be structured for “everyone” to have access to that? What would our relationship be to the land — to nature, the environment, and all contained within — such that we could have that, not just now but for the foreseeable future? What kind of relations would we need to ensure it? This (re)formulation of freedom is collective liberation, and imagining how that freedom manifests and is made meaningful is a critical part of the work.
## Freedom is material
Soup theory is a test of our belief in collective liberation. As a question, it digs deep into our morals and ethics, but how it is expressed emphasizes a material vision of liberation. Understand that collective liberation isn’t just a vague notion of equality and human rights: liberation is freedom for all. A freedom in which we are able to live as our fullest selves is very much a material thing, and it can’t and won’t be built on thoughts and prayers. We can’t be free without the ability to exercise our freedom; otherwise, freedom is meaningless. A system of “rights” without means, with very limited means, or with means provided only conditionally is glorified enslavement. Collective freedom is based around the means of being free, which requires that we have our basic needs met. This includes not just physical needs like food, shelter, medicine, and water, but also needs like relationship, belonging, spirituality, purpose, self and community actualization, role, identity, and esteem. For us inherently social beings these can only exist and have meaning in the context of community. This is the essence of collective well-being. It follows then that liberation is a set of *material conditions*, that it operates on the human condition, and that it deeply relates to the question of what it means to be human on this earth.
## Liberation and economy
Following that, liberation has to directly address *economy* since it sees the future not just in terms of “isms,” but in terms of material conditions. One could say that liberation *is* economy, but it isn’t only that. Economy specifies material conditions: it provides a society’s answer to how needs are met and whose needs are met — freedom under liberation requires an expansion of both. Culture, on the other hand, is the storytelling which maintains economy and responds to economy. Politics is a system of culturally rooted decision-making regarding economy. This all takes place within societies in environments around the world. Therefore, liberation is as much about an economy (one that meets and ensures access to all our basic needs) as it is about the cultural, political, social, ecological, and environmental dynamics and relationships that support and uphold it. To realize liberation — to build a world which prioritizes collective well-being and freedom — entails a struggle not just for transforming material conditions but for building the means of sustaining them. There are limitless possibilities for what it looks like in practice. Like soups of all variations cross cultures around the world, liberation will take different forms wherever (and whenever) it is found.
→ Link to liberation is change? Liberation is connection?
[^1]: This was first presented on their TikTok page @revpoppopandfriends (where you can also find a playlist of discussions regarding soup theory).
[^2]: Such as exploitation, oppression, domination, alienation, etc.
[^3]: Such as the ability to live as our fullest selves or to experience community and connection with others.

20
Liberationist manifesto/Liberation.md
View file

@ -1,22 +1,22 @@
Collective liberation is, generally speaking, a pursuit of freedom for everyone. Liberation understands that our freedom is connected to and dependent on the freedom of others; realizing freedom requires that we work together and that we provide for everyone’s basic needs. It is the spirit which animates Fannie Lou Hamer’s words that “nobody’s free until everybody’s free” and connects that freedom to our basic needs. A liberationist is one driven by this spirit — one who works towards liberation.
Collective liberation is, generally speaking, a pursuit of freedom for everyone. Liberation understands that our freedom is connected to and dependent on the freedom of others; realizing freedom requires that we work together and that we provide for everyone’s basic needs. It is a spirit that animates Fannie Lou Hamer’s words that “nobody’s free until everybody’s free” and connects that freedom to our basic needs. A liberationist is one driven by this spirit — one who works towards liberation.
I look at liberation primarily through five lenses:
- the result, which is freedom for all ([[Liberation is freedom]]);
- the result that is freedom for all;
- the scope that liberation acts within, which is the human condition and the material futures we are building together ([[Liberation is material]]);
- the understanding that this freedom is intrinsically interconnected ([[Liberation is connection]]);
- the scope that liberation acts within, which is the human condition and the futures we are building together, from a cultural and material standpoint ([[Liberation is human condition]]);
- the values that my liberationist perspective focuses on, which are justice and love ([[Liberation is justice and love]]); and
- the knowledge that this freedom requires radical, change-oriented action and reflection ([[Liberation is change]])
My writings on liberation are rooted in many different concepts spanning cultures and movements and radical traditions. The following is not a comprehensive list but documents some works which have been influential to me:
My writings on liberation are rooted in many different concepts spanning cultures and movements and radical traditions. The following is not a comprehensive list but documents some works that have been influential to me:
- [[Kapwa]], a concept and core value in Filipino psychology which is deeply rooted in Filipino cultural notions of inherent unity and interconnectedness between oneself and others
- [[Kapwa]], a concept and core value in Filipino psychology that is deeply rooted in Filipino cultural notions of inherent unity and interconnectedness between oneself and others
- The Combahee River Collective, a Black feminist lesbian socialist organization active in Boston from 1974 to 1980, and their 1977 statement, powerful for a multitude of reasons but highlighted here for their view on oppressive systems (white supremacy, capitalism, capitalism, heteronormativity, etc.) being interconnected and on the centering of Black women in social justice causes: “Black women are inherently valuable, that… (their) liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because of (their own) need as human persons for autonomy…”
- [A Siksika (Blackfoot) perspective on human needs](https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-06-18/the-blackfoot-wisdom-that-inspired-maslows-hierarchy/) and a collective way of realizing them, which Cindy Blackstock refers to as community actualization — sharing responsibility for “the work of meeting basic needs, ensuring safety, and creating the conditions for the expression of purpose” — and which informed Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- A personal perspective (based on various other works) that economy is the system of how we meet basic human needs, culture is the storytelling which perpetuates economic systems while also being shaped by them, politics is the culturally rooted decision-making revolving around economy, and society includes the spaces and relationships in which these processes take place, change, and evolve
- [A Siksika (Blackfoot) perspective on human needs](https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-06-18/the-blackfoot-wisdom-that-inspired-maslows-hierarchy/) and the collective way of realizing them that Gitxsan activist and social worker Cindy Blackstock refers to as community actualization — sharing responsibility for “the work of meeting basic needs, ensuring safety, and creating the conditions for the expression of purpose” — and that informed Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- A personal perspective (based on various other works) that economy is the system of how we meet basic human needs, culture is the storytelling that perpetuates economic systems while also being shaped by them, politics is the culturally rooted decision-making revolving around economy, and society includes the spaces and relationships in which these processes take place, change, and evolve
- [What we mean by collective liberation](https://enfleshed.com/blogs/news/what-we-mean-by-collective-liberation/), a statement from *enfleshed*, a spiritual organization focused on “creating and facilitating spiritual nourishment for collective liberation”
- *all about love* by bell hooks, a book which explores the subject of love within modern society, what our society teaches us about love, and what a more liberatory view of love might look like, presented alongside hooks’ own experiences with love
- *all about love* by bell hooks, a book that explores the subject of love within modern society, what our society teaches us about love, and what a more liberatory view of love might look like, presented alongside hooks’ own experiences with love
- My experiences with the Unitarian Universalists, through whom I have been able to witness more of the spiritual aspects of collective liberation work in a face-to-face setting
- *Let This Radicalize You* by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes, which provides “a practical and imaginative resource for activists and organizers building power in an era of destabilization and catastrophe”
- *The Millionth Circle* by Jean Shinoda Bolen, which reveals a vision of women’s circles as a means of liberatory transformation
- *Let This Radicalize You* by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes, that provides “a practical and imaginative resource for activists and organizers building power in an era of destabilization and catastrophe”
- *The Millionth Circle* by Jean Shinoda Bolen, that reveals a vision of women’s circles as a means of liberatory transformation
- And a myriad of others, whose stories, theories, critiques, models, experiences, ideas, works, and art pieces all had a role in the development of my perspective on collective liberation

4
Liberationist manifesto/Liberationist manifesto.md
View file

@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
The Liberationist manifesto is a collection of my writings on [[Liberation]] and what being a liberationist means to me.
1. [[Liberation]]
2. [[Liberation is freedom]]
2. [[Liberation is material]]
3. [[Liberation is connection]]
4. [[Liberation is human condition]]
5. [[Liberation is justice and love]]
6. [[Liberation is change]]
7. [[Personal evolutions]]
8. [[On soup theory]]
9. [[On symbols]]
10. [[On thought and theory]]
11. [[Growing your circle of care]]

9
Liberationist manifesto/On soup theory.md
View file

@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
As I started to develop my writing on liberation, one of the first questions I asked myself was: What values does liberation require? I wrote previously about love, hope, and vision. I’ve also talked about connection, change, and justice, and I could fill a book with scrawlings about how this or that value relates to this work. Originally, I was going to do that now, starting with love. But when I encountered a TikTok talking about voting rights for convicted felons, I saw a better direction for this essay. In the comments under that video, someone shared a question for testing our readiness for change, more specifically social justice and *especially* more controversial questions like whether convicted felons should have voting rights. As you may have guessed by my title, yes, this one is about soup.
This question originally comes from Rev. Oliver Snow, a progressive Christian minister who goes by @revpoppopandfriends on TikTok, and it goes something like this: **Do you believe everyone deserves to vibe and eat their favorite soup?**
Like with anything on the internet, there were a milieu of responses to Rev. Oliver’s original post. Some wholeheartedly answered ‘yes,’ while others disagreed with the question’s framing. Some agreed but had misgivings, while others rejected it entirely. Surely it’s not perfect, but regardless of where people stood on it, I felt that the question provided a great starting point for having a dialog on liberation (especially our readiness for it). I appreciate particularly how it identifies a moral core, from which we can build social justice; furthermore, I see its potential for inspiring someone who is new to the work, for guiding those who feel lost in it, for evaluating our impacts, and so on.
In breaking down how this question can help guide us, I decomposed what some are calling “Soup Theory” into three parts, somewhat based on Rev. Oliver’s discussion but infusing my own thoughts on liberation. The first part is “*Everyone* deserves”—that everyone (and that really means *everyone*) deserves to vibe and have good soup. The second part is “To vibe and eat their favorite soup”—that, if we really have justice, not only are everyone’s material needs met (food, shelter, clean air, clean water, healthcare, education, etc.) but they are also worthy of comfort, safety, and security. This part centers everyone’s innate dignity. The third part, the invisible aspect to this question, is a call for justice—that we can and should provide for all, that we can find a sustainable, equitable way to do it, and that we commit ourselves to justice.
This isn’t meant to be a one-size-fits-all, dogmatic approach since there are many entry points into justice and liberation. I find, however, that it helps to center yourself and, even better, to model a perspective on justice based on love, rather than based on spite or vengeance. So, without knowing your politics, your morals, or your values, let me ask once more: **Do you believe everyone deserves to eat their favorite soup?** Find your answer, and then we can begin again.

4
Liberationist manifesto/Together for Liberation.md
View file

@ -1,7 +1,3 @@
# Together for liberation
Wokescolding and infighting- American leftists and liberals sabotaging themselves and each other
Spending much time keeping down what we are against but not promoting what we are for - viewing everything as a zero sum game and seeing each other as in competition rather than working in tandem
Using educational opportunities to scold or parade ideological/intellectual superiority rather than teach or exchange info