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Speak Truth To Power

8/25/2012

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R.A.M.P.S. Activists - post release from jail
The election is only a couple of months away. These are ugly, ugly times. Grown-ups who should know better are saying ugly, hurtful, stupid things. People with power talk about ways to use that power to take even more from others, from more vulnerable people. I  am not looking forward to the next few weeks of rancor and spite. Of seeing evidence of misuse and abuse of power.

I remember thinking and talking about power in high school, reading All the King's Men. Hearing for the first time -- "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Really? Does power always corrupt? I hope not - but sometimes it does. Are we helpless in the face of power that has gone bad, rotten, and rancid? I don't believe that we are. 
 
Speak truth to power. In the 1950's, Quakers spoke these words as they advocated for international peace and alternatives to violence. Speak truth to power. That is what black people and their allies did in the Civil Rights Movement - this is wrong; we will not do this anymore; we will not tolerate this. We see it today in the actions of Pussy Riot in Russia and in the Occupy Movement across the world. We see it in all efforts to defend basic human rights to safety, security, freedom, health.

Speak truth to power. I heard these words many times this summer as I listened to young and not-so-young people put their freedom on the line to resist mountain top removal, most recently in the R.A.M.P.S. direct action at the Hobet Mine in West Virginia. Speaking truth to power requires us to search for and wield courage, to be willing to take risks.

In the last couple of weeks, here in Pittsburgh, I met with people who are trying to speak truth to power. Last week, I met Gretchen Alfonso who is trying to establish a Pittsburgh branch office for Moms Clean Air Force, a national movement lobbying for better government regulation of air quality to protect their children's rights to clean air, for the sake of their healthy development.  

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A couple of weeks ago, I heard some folks speak truth to power at an ALCOSAN community forum, where ALCOSAN presented its plans to deal with Pittsburgh's "wet weather" problem - when it rains or when snow melts, excess water can overload the sewer system resulting in sewage overflows into area creeks, streams and rivers, also carrying pollutants, grit, and debris with it. Community members spoke loudly and clearly about the need to include green infrastructure - green roofs, trees, rain barrels and rain gardens, permeable pavements - in the long-range plans, both to reduce costs of the projects and to find solutions that will add to environmental health.
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These are courageous people working for the health and well-being of all of us. But speaking truth to power doesn't always involve being out in public, being part of large movements or organizations, risking arrest. In quiet ways, firm and committed ways, each of us can do our part to resist what is hurtful... by, in Albert Einstein's words, not participating in anything you believe is evil. 

And in quiet, firm, and committed ways, we can counter power gone bad by building, growing, nourishing what we know to be good. Rachel Anne Parsons, a young woman from West Virginia who is the first to say that she doesn't like going out on the front lines in crowds, uses words to foster good and courage and to fight mountain top removal - beautiful words that inspire hope.  

Others literally grow power. A couple of days ago, I re-visited the Hazelwood Food Forest and found a lush forest that is the fruit of careful planning and hard labor by the Pittsburgh Permaculture group - Juliet and Michele - and many volunteers - there are asian pears, apples, berries, peaches, herbs. I hadn't been there in over a year. On this visit, I got to help Bret and Don seal a bench made of cob, a mixture of straw, soil, sand, and water. Reclaiming abandoned lots in impoverished areas and growing food -- Chris Condello has also done this, done "guerilla gardening," passing along valuable life skills to children who may not even realize that food grows from the earth, is not made in a factory. Empowering ourselves and others to learn how to take care of ourselves and one another. My brother Ray does this in Louisville, KY, sharing his wisdom about farming and permaculture with his community, growing raised beds at nursing homes so that older people can continue to garden. 

This is also speaking truth to power - to our own power - "I can do this. We can together do this" - and to that other power that is not always used in the interests of the common good - "We are not helpless - we are strong and will speak up to you from all fronts, with our words, our hammers and rakes and hoes, our votes, and our seeds."
Speak truth to power. Dig down deep inside and find your own power - look at it, bring it out into the light, share it - even when faced with those who don't share. Use that beautiful power for yourself and for the people around you. Use that power of heart and intellect when you vote - but take it further into the world of those who are falsely judged not to have power. You - and they - have power beyond your imagining. You have powerful powerful gifts that can build community, plant seeds of love, heal what is hurt. 
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All I Really Need...

4/1/2011

2 Comments

 
Gotta love Raffi... All I really need is a song in my heart.... And I need some clean air for breathing...

Wednesday night, I attended a symposium about air pollution in western PA. Speakers included the authors of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette series on Mapping Mortality, Don Hopey and David Templeton, EPA representatives, climate and pollution scientists, and most important, residents of communities who have felt first-hand the negative effects of pollution caused by coal-burning electricity plants. These effects are not small - they include chronic asthma and respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart disease, and significant property devaluation. The daily lives and futures of citizens have been damaged.

What did I know going in? I knew that, as Alan Kazdin, former president of the American Psychologist Association, has said - sustainability, climate change, and environmental problems are wicked problems that have multiple causes and no simple solutions. I knew that thinking about these wicked problems is challenging and often disheartening - they feel so big and unwieldy, so out of the control of individuals or communities. I knew that, nevertheless, it is important to keep learning and to keep talking to people who know what is going on and have ideas about what to do.


What did I learn? Many things - my head is still spinning - but here are a few:
  • big corporations that pollute will seldom initiate efforts to reduce pollution from their industries without outside regulation
  • outside regulation is often not sufficient - enforcement of the regulations is necessary
  • some companies would rather pay fines than make necessary changes
  • many plants in western PA are becoming compliant with EPA standards.... from 1997.... they are nowhere near compliant with current standards
  • the federal government is currently considering reducing the power of the EPA to deal effectively with threats to the environment, including threats to clean air
  • this is in spite of the fact the the Clean Air Act and the EPA have had significant positive impacts on citizen health and longevity since their inception a few decades ago
  • few electricity generating plants are built next to the homes of CEOs
  • speaking up as a citizen is important - it is true that the squeaky wheel can get attention - it does take a lot of time and energy, but it can result in change
  • there are lots and lots of good people out there - professionals and ordinary citizens - who are doing this work
In the coming days, I will create a new page with information about how to contact your government officials about issues related to the environment (or other concerns). Stay tuned...


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Dedicated to Julie and Michael...

All I Really Need by Raffi

All I Really Need is a Song in my Heart
Food in my belly and love in my Family
All I Really Need is a Song in my Heart
And love in my family

And I need the rain to fall
And I need the sun to shine
To give life to the seeds we sow
To give the food we need to grow, grow

And I need some clean water for drinking (Drinking)
And I need some clean air for breathing (Breathing)
So that I can grow up strong and take my place where I belong

All I Really Need is a Song in my Heart
Food in my belly and love in my Family
All I Really Need is a Song in my Heart
And love in my family

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    Author

    Mary Beth Mannarino is a licensed psychologist and   an environmental and climate educator and activist. Dr. Mannarino is professor emeritus at Chatham University where she continues to teach courses to students in health professions related to environment and well-being.

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    Follow MBMannarino on Twitter
    My Bloggy Rules...
    I write about my own experiences, opinions, dreams, and ideas. I invite you to share your ideas, and to be part of a dialogue. I will make mistakes! But it is great to take the risk to put this out there and, more importantly, to hear from you.

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