My Bro has landed! Carnivalistas abound! Things gettin’ built!

We’re weaving it together

There’s so much exciting news to share… Though we want to preface this newsletter with a response to the movement for racial justice that is sweeping our country and the globe.

Black Lives Matter is an unequivocal call for real justice – a call for a shift of values that, if heeded, could save our collective future! To my white friends, we cannot go on with business as usual, and these coinciding pandemics of systemic racism and Covid 19 are an invitation to get rearranged. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride, but our liberation and future depend on what we do within this season of history. Let us commit to our intrinsically shared destiny and embrace the Apocalypse of Whiteness (that link is a sermon by Jim Perkinson). Watch  “Mother Earth’s Pandemic: The Doctrine of Discovery”, to learn about the relationship of settler colonialism, christian supremacy, white supremacy and climate change. I commend this 3 part series within which our dear friend, Sarah Nahar, presented amongst a myriad of Indigenous leaders and teachers. 

I am so grateful to all the BIPOC activists, teachers, and movement elders who keep calling the bluff on all our devised and distorted histories. The veils are being ripped off and white settlers, such as myself, are learning to embrace the full truth of our history. Is it not said, the truth will set you free? It’s time we all learn the names of black freedom fighters, past and present, and the stories of movement leaders. Let us say the names of those taken by state sanctioned violence. Let us compost our tragic history into a just future. We are bringing the hidden stories into the light and this is a remarkable time to be alive! 

Our community and the garden are growing!

As you can see, the construction of the community house has progressed. Also, we’ve made headway on a pole barn and have a niffty new compost toilet / shrine-to-the-multitudinous-gods-of-compost! May our daily offerings remind us that all that rots feeds all that grows! 

In the current, and the upcoming!

We are constantly learning from the land. Every week we have church in the forest and school on the farm. We are learning how to foster dialogue, form policies, navigate projects, develop practices and ethics amidst a pandemic. We are learning how to be community! Some of our current endeavors include:

• We are engaging with a local campaign for racial justice and are thrilled to connect with local folks oriented toward social justice. My ancestors were leaders within this community and were engaged with the dedication of a confederate statue on the lawn of the county courthouse. I am grateful for the opportunity to boldly address my inheritance and model another way of honoring history, (besides repeating all of it’s mistakes).
• We have endless building and land projects ahead of us. We will be painting and finishing the community house- installing trim, a lovely wood ceiling, and staining the concrete floor in the basement. This is going to take longer than expected, the house will be in process for awhile. We are saddened that the pandemic precludes the type of work parties that would lighten the load, but relieved by no pressing need for large gatherings. 
• We are strategizing with Jonathan McRay and Silver Run Forest Farm, for the planting and propagation of native edibles in ecotones, pathways, and patches around the land.
• I’m writing the forward for Jim Perkinson’s new poetry book that is a rewilding, theological, feast for the senses. I’ll let y’all know once this treasure is available.