Reconciliation is the ultimate goal of peacebuilding. It occurs when disputants develop a new relationship based on apology, forgiveness, and newly established trust.
Mennonite peacebuilder John Paul Lederach describes reconciliation as “a meeting ground where trust and mercy have met, and where justice and peace have kissed.” Thus, reconciliation involves all four processes. It brings people together, enabling them to grow beyond the past to re-establish a normalized, peaceful, and trusting relationship in the present.
Obviously, reconciliation is a very difficult and slow process. Lederach points out that it usually takes just as long to get out of a conflict as it takes to get into one. So for conflicts that have been going on for decades or centuries, reconciliation cannot take place in weeks or months–perhaps not even in a few years. It will take many years, perhaps decades or centuries, to fully recover. Yet progress can be made, and even incremental steps can have tremendously beneficial effects.
- Conflict Research Consortium,University ofColorado
The 99 percent movement in Albuquerque, New Mexico decided to alter the “Occupy” name out of respect for area’s indigenous communities, which have been forcibly occupied by the United States
for centuries. Instead, organizers are calling their protests (Un)occupy Albuquerque to connect corporate greed with the ongoing fight for indigenous land rights.
The (Un)occupy Albuquerque Protest Statement
(des)Occupar Albuquerque, en solidaridad con el movimiento OcuparWall Street, los pueblos indígenas y los pueblos colonizados en todo el mundo, nos damos cuenta de que históricamente el lenguaje ha desempeñado un poderoso papel en la transformación social. Dada la “ocupación” de tierras indígenas en las Américas desde 1492, la colonización de África, Asia y otras partes del mundo y la “ocupación” de Irak y Afganistán, nos resistimos a usar el término “ocupar” o, en
este caso, cualquier lenguaje que esté vinculado a la opresión del pueblo.
Photo by http://motleyphotos.net/
(un)Occupy Albuquerque, in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, indigenous peoples, and colonized peoples worldwide, realizes that language has historically played a
powerful role in social transformation. Given the “occupation” of native lands across the Americas
since 1492, the colonization of Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world, and the continued “occupation” of Iraq and Afghanistan, we resist the term “occupy” or, for that matter, any language that is connected to the oppression of people.
Si permitimos que la dinámica de privilegio siga sin ser cuestionada, este monumental movimiento social repetirá las estructuras injustas que pretende eliminar. Estados Unidos es una nación imperialista y colonialista construida sobre tierras robadas a los indígenas y la esclavitud. Es nuestra firme convicción de que un movimiento tendiente a ponerle fin a la injusticia económica tiene que tener como eje central una lucha honesta para acabar con el racismo, la colonización y la oppression en odas sus formas.
" .. ignoring the dynamics of privilege .."
We believe that by ignoring the dynamics of privilege, this monumental social movement will repeat the very structures of injustice it seeks to eliminate. The United States is a colonial and imperial nation built on stolen indigenous lands and the institution of slavery. It is our strong conviction that a movement to end economic injustice must have at its core an honest struggle to end racism, colonization, and all forms of oppression.
*A Note from OccupyArizona
Un-Occupy Our O’odham Lands!
Hello, Firedogs; I’m here to tell you about an event that started today in the American Southwest that I think will excite and inspire you in its audacity, imagery, and historical significance.
When I first read the announcements of the action, I was both thrilled and a bit frightened by its potential ramifications. I hope it sets your imagination to work and that you let your friends and fellow occupiers know via your available social networking tools. These brave folks will need all the help they can receive, whether it’s bodies on the ground or prayers and good wishes through the ether.
OccupyPhoenix has moved to Scottsdale, Az for the next four days, and will join with Salt River Pima (Akimel O’odham) Tohono O’odham (formerly Papago, of the sublime basket-making) First Americans to protest the against the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) “States
and Nation Policy Summit” in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale November 29 – December 3.
You all know of ALEC, but here’s a review for minds that have too many Bad Guys to remember in these days that cause constant head-swiveling to keep up with their dastardly plans and deeds. From the website alecexposed.com
Photo by http://motleyphotos.net/
