Reconciliation and Social or Community Change

In the journey of bringing change, for people who maybe change agents and consider ourselves to be movers and shakers in the world of social justice and reconciliation, do we have methodology or approaches, tools, techniques and tricks of the trade to bring about the change we desire in our world's arrange?

Do we influence and advocate? Are we creative in our advocacy? Is our conscience and consciousness clear, or have we sold out to a system that is designed to keep the status quo? Are we creative in our social imagination and pursuit of change? Are we staying connected with people and a community who truly seek to inspire our world through the social interventions, innovations and knowledge they create?

We must continue to dream the dream and envisage the future, for without a prophetic dream and vision our social justice and reconciliation intentions will perish!

Considering the work of social change!

People involved in bringing healthy social change, community development, and advocates for human rights, find themselves going about life with turmoil and agitation about the injustices they see. Life is filled with value based conflict for people who desire to see authentic change. Bringing healthy change requires investment of time in the work of reflection and introspection if change agents are to stand the test of time. Personal integrity is of great value when agents of change pursue the commitment and support of communities in different sector of society.

A set of questions to consider in our journey as social change agents, social innovators and social entrepreneurs:
Do I desire to be in community and at peace with people, but find myself being impatient?
Do I lose sight of the humanity of the person who in my view is dehumanising others?
Am I caught in the shameful action of dehumanising the one who seeks to dehumanise the people whom we serve?
Is the change that is being pursued an authentic change initiate, or one that is watered down by the powers that be?
Are people truly benefiting from the change initiative or are we duping people into a top down agenda that is skewed by monetary regulations and funding investors?
Is the plan being implemented to truly engage in critical conversation, deep dialogue and activistic advocacy?

Social change agents have had their learning and approach to activism and advocacy immersed and baptized in the waters of liberation movements. They are inspired by the fiery rhetoric of civil rights icons and human rights leaders. They are mobilized by the demonstrative stomping of the feet of people who struggle for their freedom in marginalised communities. Everyday talks and dealings in the corporate, education, development, and social change world can be so shallow in comparison to the depth one is exposed to amongst people who live everyday with their backs against the wall - people from marginalised communities are consumed by a heightened thirst and hunger for positive change when social factors of education, class, race, gender, religion, nationality, abilities, language and other social factors render them as second class citizens.

It is most unfortunate but many social interventions are designed without the buy in of the people for whom the intervention is designed. Development initiatives and projects fall short of delivering with excellence because social interventions and organisations who deliver them, do not have the voices of people from the margins at their tables of conceptual design and development. One would expect to find people and organisations who are involved in development and social change work, at the cutting edge of delivering social interventions, but many development programs and projects are lead and managed by "do-gooders" who go about their development philanthropy, and lack the skills and training to engage complex social realities of marginalised communities. Social innovations and social change agency must divorce the prevalent culture of paternalism, prejudice, and values propelled by passive and modern racism that plagues many development and corporate social responsibility escapades.

Equality, justice, ethics and values informed by people and communities from the margins should become the order of the day in the culture of organisations designed to bring social change. One would expect that fighting for the rights of the marginalised would be a value and moral code of conduct that is at the core of what development oriented organisations do and say. But there are many who speak of development in very romanticised elite notions of social change. The kind of change that may work in Sandton but never see the light of day in Alexandra-Johannesburg,South Africa. Strategic planning, project prep and layout are all affected by the fact that people are not informed of and by those whom they seek to serve, especially when it comes to serving people who are from social classes in the margins of a political democracy.

My journey of faith, the work I do in development, corporate consulting, and the honour I have of had serving a local communities, are conflicted with the heaviness I carry of having had my eyes opened to social realities of the oppressed and the marginalised. I am blessed to have mentors who remain constant in taking me to task, so as to ensure that I stay on track in my service of people.

It is my hope to see faithful work that will bring people together (people from the haves and people from the have nots, into a beloved community experience). It is my desire to see people smile upon the work and initiatives that is delivered with diligence and determination, consciousness and courage, advocacy and activism, and reassuring-reconciliation-revolution!

Aluta continua!!! The struggle continues!!!!!

Seth Naicker.

Do you and I have a choice?

I have been a part of discussions, talk shops, work-shops, academic presentations and regular person to person discussions on the issue of choice and whether or not people have the freedom to choose. Fundamentally I agree that everyone has the ability to choose and that every person has the freedom of choice, but this fundamental, simple and very shallow acknowledgement must be interrogated by a deeper analysis and the complexity that for some it is easier to choose whilst for others it is not. Furthermore the complexity of choice and the reasoning process lying beneath the surface of choice making or the ability to choose, must be further investigated and discussed. In my experience it seems to easy to render all faults within society, organizations or personal and professional development on the simple statement “you have a choice so choose” or “you had a choice and you chose badly”.

In agreeing that all people have the freedom of choice, it must be clarified that theoretically and intellectually it is so, but the practicality of an ‘I can choose” philosophy is where the problems arise and the rubber meets the road. It is here that I have contested and must continue to contest this simple analysis and shallow propaganda that all people have a choice and all people can choose. My main reason for raising the argument or contestation is based upon my observation that choice making or having the ability to choose is more complex than simple based on the art of choice or the art and educative process of choosing.

The complexity arises from the fact that social constructs and social realities have existed for lengths of time which have unfortunately rendered large numbers of people, communities and a whole generation of human beings choice-less or with the belief that they cannot choose. They do not have the ability to acknowledge that by their belief in ‘I cannot choose’ they are there in choosing not to choose. In fact it is here that smart intellectual arguments and hopeful statements of ‘make a choice to be a better person’ is rendered useless, when people have been plagued by the rationale that they have no choice.

Dominant rulers and dictatorial leadership, who have enjoyed the thrust of colonial escapades and continue to enjoy the thrust of neo colonial escapades, have actually minimized people into a state of social depravity and passivity. Such examples can be seen clearly in the Nazi regime and its brain washing of soldiers who carried out the merciless acts of ending the lives of Jewish people because of Nazi ideology. Yes they made a choice but it is clear that they were influenced by a system that convinced them that what they were doing was right. Again I agree that these people made a choice, but is this the type of choice making that we hear in our motivational pep talks and choice making consultations provided by corporate trainers and consultants. I think and I believe not.

Last week on 3rd assignment, a show that presents provocative media covered a story on mob justice. In this story a mother was told that she had to discipline her son for being a thug and mugging people in their township. The mother was given a bolder and told that she should cast the first stone. The mother clearly had to make a choice, either hurl the stone at her son or face the consequences of the mob dealing with her and her family for her inaction or reluctance to discipline her son. Clearly she made a choice but we cannot deny that there are social factors which dictated circumstances.

It is therefore important to provide people who are in a state of mental, physical, emotional, social, and economic oppression – the opportunity and experience that will aid them in the process of arriving at a place and space where they know how to exercise choice and to choose wisely.

Maybe in the example of the mother being forced by a mob seeking justice, she could have chosen to use some delay tactics or find a way to prolong matters until her son was able to run away or until police came. Maybe when we look at the example of the Nazi regime and the brain washing of people who became agents of evil, we must further explore the opportunities to expose people to the art of choice making.

Especially in the corporate arena or the everyday workplace where we may not face social evils of mob justice or Nazi law, but we do face social realities of people being regulated and many times minimized by organizational rule and autocracy. It is here that we must understand that not eve-ryone feels like they have a choice even if not choosing based upon their belief can be easily argued as they have chosen by not choosing. I have come across many people who feel totally captured and disenfranchised by their environment. I have spent much time coaching people on the method and approach of creating agency within the structural confinements of their working place. The ability to create agency is a choice but it is a skill acquired and an approach that requires time taken to study activism in the workplace that is diplomatic. Creating agency diplomatically provides healthy pressure within gate keeping systems that by design are actually choking the passion out of people in the workplace.

“For to choose is a choice that must be chosen, when you know that choosing is your choice to choose”. I offer this statement in light of deepening our discussions and understanding of life. In my everyday world I see people trapped in social realities believing they cannot make a choice or choose to bring change to their personal and family life circumstances. Social circumstances of unemploy-ment, lack of education, lack of access to resource or social networks, or just the inability to make a choice strategically in light of our complex democratic South Africa, are factors that must be consid-ered when considering choice and people’s ability or inability to choose. Choice is not worth choosing when your choice ends up in you loosing. It is a strategic choice making that must be engaged and explored in a world that is driven by capital gain and upward mobility.

At the close of the Football for Hope Festival 2010

In the air is a sweet symphony of people affirming this wonderful achievement, where South Africa has hosted the Football World Cup in Africa, and more especially the awesome effort of organizing and delivering the Football for Hope Festival 2010, in Alexandra Johannesburg. People who worked tirelessly to deliver this world class event have given of their time, talents and treasure to ensure that this event was delivered with excellence.
It has been a once in a life time opportunity to be a part of a team of people who worked together to ensure that the 11th stadium of the Football World Cup 2010 and all related programming and operations in Alexandra were on par with the excellence and magnanimous achievements of thee other 10 stadia. For those privileged to be a part of the festival organizing team of the Football for Hope Festival 2010, we know and appreciate the symbolism of having a township host a world class event.
As the closing ceremony of the Football for Hope Festival 2010 came to its finality, there was dancing and celebration of young leaders who will go forward to be social change agents and propel development through football in their 40 some odd countries around the world. It was a moment to behold seeing people from a great diversity of language, ethnicity, class, gender, culture and religion celebrating the moment and success of work that has been done, and work that will continue on through young leaders and their passion to see development through football bring social change in their respective localities and nations.
Being present and intimately active in the preparation, strategic engagement and delivery of the Football for Hope Festival 2010, is best captured as follows, “I was no just feeling it, I was responsible for causing the motion that allowed others to feel it.” I believe that while this event like other events has a start and finish, this Football for Hope Festival 2010 will be a solid foundation to inspire the already established Football for Hope movement spear headed by streetfootballworld and FIFA. More especially the memory of this event will be cherished and solidify a collaboration of organizations who have been part and parcel of an event that is a part of a process , a movement , a hope, a dream to see a world where there is equality, freedom and justice for all.
It is my hope that through the Football for Hope Movement authentic social change will emerge, allowing our world to experience social change that is lasting and sustainable. May the work and the future scope of social change possibilities be numerous and amazing, because people choose to really do what we otherwise only dream or envisage but seldom do we realize!

Food for the soul at the kickoff of the Football World Cup 2010

I have committed my work, social action and development endeavours to a social consciousness and awareness that propels a high standard of moral, ethics and codes of conduct. In a world that is plagued with systems of injustice it is a most strenuous task to deliver or uphold one’s personal and professional convictions, as it relates to a value base that seeks to enfranchise the disenfranchised.
I am concerned and interested in staying true to those who are left outside the gravy train, those who are left out of the benefits and enrichment of a democracy that is captured by profit making escapades. I have found that even in the world of development it is most difficult to ensure the goals with which one begins one’s projects and social driven intentions, for more often than not goals designed to aid the ‘have nots’ of our societies, become co-opted and stripped of its’ original moral, social ethic of authenticity.
The wisdom of Gandhi may very well be the food for our soul for those who are committed to the work of development and socially aware projects, and those who struggle with the pain of being inside systems which disappoint the marginalized and further propel broken promises. Gandhi explains that there are seven social sins, “Politics without principles, Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice” (Quoted by Mahatma Gandhi in "Young India", 1925).
Gandhi’s wise words point to a balancing mechanism, where the pursuit of one factor cannot be achieved without the accountability of another. It is most advisable for persons involved in development and social projects to add a balancing mechanism ideology and learning to one’s every day reflection. Having the framework to challenge one’s everyday actions and progression will allow for the potential realization of authentic development goals, which remain true to its’ intention of aiding the marginalized peoples of our world.
As we anticipate the beginning of the Football World Cup 2010, in Johannesburg South Africa on the 11th of June 2010, there are many development goals which we can proud of- as a nation. Infrastructures have been boasted by the influx and projections made prior to this most auspicious occurrence of South Africa hosting the Football World Cup. However there remain those development crises where even post the World Cup 2010, we will continue as South Africans to see the harsh social realities of people who are living in 21st century social disparities - People who are without and people who will always remain on the margins of an economic system driven by a profit making agenda, without a balance of seeing fair trade and equal access to resources for all.
It is my hope that while there may be these social difficulties to contend with, that we will realize in the tribute words of Sepp Blatter to Madiba, “We trust that the FIFA World Cup will contribute to the legacy that you wanted for your country.” Nelson Mandela’s legacy can best be summarized in his well known and profound words, "I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But, if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
It is my hope that the legacy Nelson Mandela pursued for our beloved South Africa will be realized in the moment to moment - everyday actions of people who have the awesome responsibility of driving projects and completing initiatives that are purposed to bring about positive social change. While we anticipate the kick off of the Football World Cup 2010, it is my hope that we will achieve some development goals that will truly realize sustainable social change in the most difficult social realities of our beloved South Africa.

Football for Hope in the township of Alexandra, South Africa!

I have been reflecting upon the awesome opportunity I have, in being a part of the festival organizing team of the Football for Hope Festival 2010. I work in operations and have the responsibility to manage procurement and services. In and amongst my everyday work there are those most inspiring moments. One needs some inspiration when you see the social realities that exist in and around Alexandra.

I am a patriotic and hopeful African, and one who has chosen to wrestle with social change as a life mission, so I propel the spirit of Ubuntu- a spirit of togetherness. I am a firm believer in Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu (A person is a person through other people). I believe whole heartedly in “I am because you are.” But while I am hopeful, I am also realistic. In Alexandra while there are wonderful narratives and testimonies of people like President Nelson Mandela, who once resided in Alexandra and journeyed from prisoner to president, we cannot ignore the continued struggle of hundreds upon hundreds of people who live on in the tiresome and socially depressing ethos of Alexandra.

In the social realities I see and observe, I wrestle with my own middle class South African Indian existence, and that of my fellow South African brothers and sisters. In my work and core responsibilities I count it great joy to advocate, represent and be a driving agent on the ground for a movement such as Football for Hope. Football for Hope and the ideologies that underpin it, present many inspiring moments as I go about securing service providers and negotiating for spaces and services according to our development budget restrictions.

It has been an awesome experience through meetings and presentations to remind fellow South Africans and others of a social change agenda, which we must propel in our work and delivery through the platform provided by the Football for Hope Festival 2010. It is most inspiring to see people responding positively to a social ethic and concern, which seeks to serve others before serving ones’ self:

A social ethic and concern which seeks to rectify the wrong-A social ethic and concern which seeks to resist being entangled by self interest and greed-A social ethic and concern that serves the agenda of social change in a local and global focus.

I am perplexed at times by the hurdles of our everyday work. I am conflicted at times by the self centred interests that seem to dominate and suppress social change. I am at times furious and angered by the continued injustices I see in my everyday world.

But let me tell you: I am able to keep on keeping on with a fierce urgency when I think of the bigger picture and the amazing work that we collaboratively will achieve when it has all been said and done. When that day arrives I hope that my contribution will be measured by my actions and not just my words, in propelling social change and my operational delivery in the Football for Hope Festival 2010.

Operating in excellence!
streetfootballworld
development through football
Seth Naicker
Football for Hope - Festival Organising Team
operations coordinator


e-mail: naicker@streetfootballworld.org | www.streetfootballworld.org

Sick organizations in need of overhaul

The occurrence of ‘Wally’s open heart surgery’ in August 2008 provided the world insight and eye witness to the complexities of such medical procedures. People who had no idea about the mechanics and detail of such an operation came face to face with the negative effects of unhealthy living and the required medical intervention. A heart overhaul is required when a heart has become dysfunctional.
While people’s hearts require overhaul, so do organizations. There is a need for an organizational overhaul that brings serious positive change. Organizations ranging from corporate, nonprofit, youth development, to religious have an impact on the lives of people and society. There are many Organizations these days which have struggles that bring them to a breaking point. Everything looks good on the outside but within they are perishing. Such organizations have an undeniable negative effect on its’ people and inevitably it ripples out into a greater negative societal effect. Organizations are required to take stock of their practices and organizational cultures, and pursue organizational development. The kind which has lasting impact on organizational ethics and morals, as well as the lives of their employees.
Consider people who work in the field of human resources. People in the supposed business of aiding the rights of employees in corporate companies. Unfortunately these human resource agents have expressed the soul killing process of becoming death tools of their executive boards’. Human resources are implicated in building cases that result in employees’ termination of contracts. Corporate organizations are frequently plagued with a working culture that operates like the mafia.
Such shrewd operations have also been noted in the nonprofit sector. There are many organizations that have undergone (major) magnanimous change. In some cases new leadership have not had the time to track the changes and keep up with the demands of new found leadership positions. In South Africa for example, the occurrence of black leadership coming into the influence of previously white lead organizations. Political and racial complexities are present and must be noted.
There are many leaders, managers and supervisors who are consumed by taking their own back. Selfish pursuit of personal luxury and comfort, have taken precedent over and above focus on people and their development. It has naturally led to several levels of misconduct, and abuse of people as well as further corruptions. In social critique and race constructs we speak of the Black elite who have risen to top ranks of leadership but are equally or even more disconnected from the plight of people in so called lower ranks of work, than their previous white predecessors.
While some industries and organizations have seen the rise of black leadership. There are many organizations that remained white and male, dominated in their staff compliment and their top level management structures - even after a fifteen year democratic South Africa. Organizations and workplaces that model inclusion within the workplace culture is quite frankly ignored. Drawing from the vast array of race, class and gender diversity in South Africa is not common practice. Leaders and influencers within organizations do not have an underpinning ideology or consciousness to pursue and develop diverse teams.
There is a call for people to take leadership in making a stand against the corruption, in the midst of organizations that are struggling to ensure that people are not diminished and disregarded. Furthermore we must ensure that we have a reforming of our societies, which are plagued by stressed and depressed people, and societies that are rife with unemployment, stark poverty, broken families and desperation.
Sick organizations; bring about troubled people, which further encourages a struggling society. In the study of organizations we learn of organizations who wield the power to control economic development, and the affect that economic development bears on the development of society. Today we live in a world where the disparity and gap between the rich and the poor is ever increasing. For example, Developed countries thrive off the primary resources of developing countries, while these developing countries try to reduce their Third World Debt.
According to Smith and Todaro , “For developing nations that possess greater resources and relatively more bargaining power, the phenomenon of dominance becomes manifested more in the tendency of the rich to get richer, often at the expense of the poor.”
Provided that we see, understand and recognize the desperation of our times, such desperate times require earnest and compassionate response. A response to bring lasting change is required.
Change grounded in a soulful commitment and social awareness must be considered to keep the heart beat of organizations beating for its people. We as concerned global citizens must agree that “sick organizations need an overhaul” to design, develop and deliver organizations that are concerned and committed to doing the work of social change. Organizations in minor and major forms - and people leading and influencing these organizations have the power to affect society positively. Organizational power brokers must consciously work toward such an end.

Alutta continua - the struggle continues

Alutta continua- the struggle continues!

I have been home in South Africa for two months as of the 6th of August, 2009. I am grateful that my family and I are home in the land of our beginnings. But while we celebrate our 15th year of democracy, and the transition of presidency from Mbeki to Motlanthe and now to President Jacob Zuma, I am critical and concerned about the substance of our democracy.

Now more than ever before our democracy is in need of a check up before we wreck up. People who have been left outside the realm of economic blessings are becoming increasingly agitated by the promises that democracy has not provided within the last 15 years. Just two weeks ago South Africans witnessed the voices of frustrated citizens as they took to the streets of Durban- Kwazulu Natal in protest, demanding government to step in with a monthly remuneration for families without income.

I have been in the presence of committed activists for social change, who cannot but shudder at the continual misgivings and shortcomings of a democracy that continues to serve the elite and economically enfranchised of South Africa. Who will answer the cries of help of the poor and marginalized? Who will come to the aid of people who are fighting to survive the strain of chronic ailments without moneys to purchase life line medical supply and assistance!

It is my hope that people of faith will come to the forefront and take a stand of active solidarity. Fore ideological solidarity is just a scapegoat and not good enough, when people are living in desperate times. It is my hope that people, who profess faith in Jesus Christ, will revisit Holy Scriptures and rediscover Jesus’ concern for the sick, the marginalized, the wounded, and demised. It is my hope that Christians who see the injustices of profit making schemes and capitalistic escapades in their every day working environments, will speak out and provide an alternative option. Jobs need not be cut when top bracket earners can take a slight cut in their salaries. People need not go hungry when restaurant meals have left over going to waste.

The struggle continues in South Africa, it is a struggle that is connected to our past, but it is equally a struggle of our present, and if ethics and economic policies refuse to budge, it will be a struggle that we carry into our future.

Power of the Powerless! by Seth Naicker

In times of great chaos and stress, people need voices of reason and inspiration. Minister Vernon Johns was, is and will forever be one such prophetic voice and stalwart. Johns preached fiery and passionate messages from the pulpit of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama from 1947 to 1952. He was Dr. King's predecessor as pastor, and a mentor of people like Ralph Abernathy, Wyatt Walker, and many others in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

“The road to freedom”, is a movie that documents the life, work and ministry of Minister Vernon Johns, and in many ways the beginnings of the civil rights movement in the U.S.A. Before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Minister Malcolm X came Minister Vernon Johns, who preached in unconventional yet passionate and practical ways. One Sunday morning Minister Johns stood up at the pulpit and reached down to fresh vegetables he farmed in his garden. Minister Johns encouraged his African American congregation to break free from the power of the social reality of a socially constructed racist society. Such freedom was possible if people became producers and refused to exist solely as consumers.

The advice of Minister Vernon Johns must be revisited as a source of strength and a strategic vice to reclaiming a quality of life existence in the midst of tough global economic times. Having people connect with their abilities to produce and initiate is a worthy task. The dominant culture of consumerism has the detrimental result of draining people and communities of their resilience and struggle for political and economic freedom. However the notion of becoming a producer could equally be demeaning to the soul of a person, a nation and a world. Producer-ism must be liberated and redeemed from the hands, strategies and venomous vexes of free trade and capitalism, which seeks to further disenfranchise the already disenfranchised.

The wisdom of Minister Johns is immersed in a notion of consciousness and pedagogy that speaks from, with and in struggle. The producer-ism that Minister Johns encouraged was not to aid the creation of another status quo. Instead it was for people to rise in their consciousness and take a hold of their worth. People were to be liberated from the vicious cycle of systemic oppression, their personal –communal - mental -physical oppression, for the purposes of producing a community of equity, fairness and justice.

In my local community Lenasia, Lenasia South and the broader community of southern townships of Johannesburg- South Africa, townships like Soweto, Eldorado Park, Ennerdale and Orange Farm, there are people living in dire strait circumstances. Right here in the Twin Cities, my community and home away from home, there are people who are equally trapped in troublesome economic times, and house foreclosures. As I walked through the streets of Frog Town in Saint Paul Minnesota, I saw several houses with these bold bright yellow notices stuck on the doors. People have been displaced from their homes and are clearly feeling the pinch, pain and disparity of tumultuous economic times.

The social reality of poverty and further complexity offered by a faltering economy has been prevalent in the U.S.A and the Globe long before the crash on Wall Street. Long before major insurance companies and fortune 500 companies started feeling the pressure of systems they are part of and systems they propel, economic pressure was the plight of people whom privileged people and power based systems would rather deny. There is a need therefore, for power structures and people who have power to invest their time and effort in bringing development and aid to people and communities steeped in globally trying times, and chaotic circumstances.

President Obama has had to defend himself, as he grapples with and attempts to bring resolve to the maze of social factors facing the U.S.A. It may be politically nonstrategic for Obama to go about multiple projects which may result in the lack of targeted success. Being a successful leader is important, especially when success is concerned with pleasing systems of power and having the popular vote. But Obama may be on a mystical path of engagement that may not make sense or fit the arena of logical and strategic thinking. Obama may be about the work of being true to his consciousness, and mindset that has been informed from, with and in the context of struggle. Obama could choose to anchor his ideology, and continue his political leadership and theology in pedagogy of the disenfranchised and oppressed.

However, as much as I am hopeful of the Obama regime I am equally critical of power based systems and people who have the power to bring positive social change. For persons who have come into power have also been noted to fall into the trap of being co-opted into the power frameworks, this ultimately diminishes their advocacy and activism for positive social change.

It is therefore of vital importance for people to emancipate their minds, their social existence and humanity from an unhealthy dependency and consumerism mode. People and communities must come together and pool together their resources to ensure that more families are not dislocated from their homes. People must claim their humanity and get creative with that which they have. It may require planting vegetables instead of purchasing them at the store. It may require communal living instead of individualized existence.

According to Howard Thurman Jesus recognized with authentic realism that anyone who permits another to determine the quality of his or her inner life gives into the hands of the other the keys to his or her destiny. The hope of the poor and the disenfranchised is anchored in their ability to believe in their worth, and to live life in human dignity even though their economic standing is not sound. This hope is provided in the basic fact that Christianity was born in the mind of Jesus, a Jewish teacher and thinker as a technique of survival for the oppressed (Thurman, A Strange Freedom, 1998, pg. 143). Jesus motivated people to break through the psychological oppression and free their minds, to determine their own destiny. Impoverished communities must rise up in the midst of their poverty and draw strength from each other, without the dependence on investment hand-me-downs from power based political systems and haughty people.

It is therefore possible for me to acknowledge my struggles, my failures, and downfalls, but rise in the midst of my troublesome circumstances and social settings. It is therefore possible for me to live with hope and a spirit of empowerment, without the power of position and economic enfranchisement. In my weakness I am strong. In my struggle I am blessed. I can live a life of activism and advocacy challenging systemic injustices. I can mobilize positive social change, and refuse to sell out on my rooted values and core faith inspired ideals. I can act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God, for there is power in collective, community consciousness and pedagogy of power of the powerless!