Example of applying talking stick in community meetings
Ventura Star, May 17, 2009
Last Sunday, May 3rd, I attended the best youth led community gathering I have ever experienced in Oxnard. Over 100 people of all ages and cultures responded to the opportunity to contribute their ideas for a new mural to be painted in South Oxnard. This event was organized by Arts for Action, an organization seeking to involve youth and their families in using art to improve personal and community life.
I initially dropped by to deliver material requested by my daughter who was volunteering. On this beautiful afternoon, I was surprised to see within the RodeoCommunity Center youth, parents, grandparents, and over a dozen members of a motorcycle club called the Rough Riders. I decided to stay, participate and find out why these people were attending.
Short Address by Roberto Vargas to San Francisco Library Patrons upon being recognized as a Bay Area Author Laureate
Thank your for your presence this evening and the support of the SF Public Library.
I’d like to share a few thoughts about evolution—human, cultural and social evolution, however I first need your assistance set the context.
My question to you, for which I’d like some short responses, what type of society or world do you want? Using a word or phrase describe our vision of the world we desire.Audience response: healthy, understanding, ethical, inclusive, respect, peace, sustainability, people can earn a living, without hunger, with libraries…
For the holidays my familia (which includes the families of all my brothers) will be sharing conversations about gratitude, love and positive change. Our theme is “Celebrating the Holidays in the Era of Obama”. We will make the dialogues happen informally while doing meal preparation and around the jigsaw puzzles we do instead of watching television. It will also be the focus of our traditional talking circle for Christmas and then New Years. Our anticipated outcomes are increased connection with each other, more inspiration, and the evolution of multiple ideas that we can later turn into projects for mutual support and community action.
The following outline provides a step-by-step plan to organize a family talking circle with the agenda of expressing love and conversing about positive change. As some families are not ready for such communication, simplify the plan to meet your reality or organize a conversation among your friends. Remember by initiating such dialogues we deepen our skills to listen to each other and use conversation to support positive action.
The Christmas holidays are upon! Last year I didn’t stop to consider the significance of the times, until it was past. This year, I started my reflection early and know what I’m going to do to make Christmas joyful.
During our familia Thanksgiving gathering we had our traditional talking circle, in which we took turns sharing our feelings of gratitude and thoughts or concerns for the coming year. Our conversation then turned to the upcoming Christmas season. We all agreed upon the vision of a low stress, quality time— feel no gift-giving obligations, share meaningful conversations, and homemade presents are preferred.
A current best selling book is “The Purpose of Christmas.” For me the read was too religious and steeped in the old idea of sin and salvation. However, it got me thinking about the purpose of Christmas that I want to live. To honor the birth of the child who became Jesus, I want to celebrate life and love. Here I share a piece of my evolving “how”—savor the time and meaningful conversations.
I’m such a dedicated activist that I often don’t take time to savor the goodness around me. So, my first resolution is to break away from the anxiety of this period to simply savor life around me—relationships, food, breath, thoughts, stars, plants, and moments I share with people. In doing so I’m beginning to discover even more gratitude for the blessings in my life.
There is a joy resonating throughout the country to be living during this historical moment when we have elected an African-American, an organizer, and a courageous man to be president. It also thrills me that young and old, laborers and professionals, realize that one man cannot advance all the improvements we want for our society, but that we must all move the change together.
In his August 2008 acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr. Obama made it clear, “ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems.” He went on to say “we must admit that programs alone can’t replace parents; that government can’t turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.” Mr. Obama’s appeal is that we all step up and assume our “individual and mutual responsibility” to improve life for our families and communities. To this I say, Yes! To me, family includes neighbors, friends, co-workers, and others within and outside of my community; and we can help each other become more caring people. Keep reading →
Thanks to my good friends at Berrett-Koehler Press, particularly David Marshall, I now have this short three minute video clip to explain family activism– a mindfulness to create the change we want in the world beginning with our immediate relationships.
It’s October and for our family it is time to prepare for one of our most favorite holidays, Días de los Muertos (Days of the Dead), or what we like to consider as “time to celebrate life and honor our departed.” Many who have never experienced this celebration occasion, may think how morbid to gather and talk about the dead. Quite the contrary, it’s inspiring, connecting, and fun!
While the traditional day of celebration is November 1st and 2nd, this holiday invites our involvement beginning in mid October through early November. Just like many families join together to organize their Christmas tree, we enlist each other to organize a place of beauty to honor deceased loved ones. Our altar comprises a colorful cloth upon which we place photos or mementos that remind of us our loved ones, marigold flowers, candles, and various skeleton figures called muertitos (Dead Ones) that serve to decorate the altar and bring humor to the occasion.
Our altar, usually in the living room, appears like a family reunion. There are photos of my dad, brother, grandmother, my wife’s parents, and a number of good friends, along with my dad’s work hook, the muertito of an artist that represents my brother, another of a teacher that reminds of us of Maria, and others. In placing photos or mementos of theirs on the altar we remember them and their gifts to us. It’s then not unusual that over the coming days or weeks, I’ll pass by and say hello to my brother, dad or a friend. Tell them I miss them and what’s going on in my life.
I recently returned from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I applied family activism tools to deepen community and increase inspiration among a network of 40+ notable authors and organization development consultants from throughout the USA. My intent here is to illustrate how several family activist principles and tools can be used to foster community, inspire and encourage positive action. These include the facilitation of conocimiento (communication to connect), and the use of ceremony, the talking stick and inspiration table.
The group who met was the Berrett-Koehler Authors Cooperative, a unique network of individuals who consultant and write about advancing personal, management, and social change. They all publish with Berrett Koehler, a company dedicated to advancing a world that works for all, and they meet once a year to learn and support each other. As a new author, I was invited to attend and participate in designing this 8th annual retreat. As a cultural activist I sought to position myself within the program to best encourage community building and to develop an appreciation for the power of family activism.
Welcome to the Family Activism Blog and my first news announcement. With “Saludos Familia” I am saying, “All family and friends, I give to you my greetings from my heart to yours”. The purpose and spirit of this blog is to exchange thoughts and experience for creating positive change within our families, communities and world.
My first news:
Family Activism is out! The book was launched in July 2008, and is now being read from Hawaii to California and some in Detroit, Chicago, Montana, New York and other places. If you have not read Family Activismyet, it is about how to better our community and world beginning with our networks of family, friends, and co-workers. It is about an organizing approach I’ve been developing over the past 30 years, which recognizes that deep success and life fulfillment comes by creating a good life for everyone you care about and everyone in our world. Family activism is about mindfully relating to your family, friends and co-workers, in ways that help them become more caring and powerful.
The Family Activism blog is now in operation! The purpose of this blog is to encourage positive family, cultural and social change. My thanks to the KaHuliAo Center for Native Hawaiian Law for sponsoring my first author presentation, ‘Olelo Community Television (Honolulu, Hawaii) for producing my first interview program on family activism, and the Hawaiian readers who contacted me to request that I begin a blog so we can share our challenges and learning. Also, my gratitude to Arts for Action (Oxnard, California) for assistance in setting up this blog.
Doing Author Presentations. I have started in Hawaii, continued in California and will begin my outreach into New Mexico and Washington. I am invited to speak about Family Activism in community centers, libraries, colleges and organizations. I tell about why I wrote the book–because I love life and want us to do all that is necessary to prevent our destruction! When I was at the University of California at Berkeley, my studies included evaluating the well-being of Mother Earth. This led to the realization that we have less than a generation to develop a “health promoting” society and ensure the survival of much of our world population, particularly our working and middle class communities. So, I share my vision for the “great turning”, read selections from my book, and share stories about applying the tools of family activism to better our families and communities.
Coming out more! I am a porvida activist and I am more publicly coming out. My activism is about loving life and doing all that I can to advance love, respect, and the survival of all people. Years ago I could find no word to describe my commitment so I chose to add meaning to the words “por vida” (“for life”) popular within my community. I combined these words to read as porvida and to mean “being absolutely for life, love, happiness, and all that is positive.” Making money, electing officials, and serving as leaders is not enough, unless we are also teaching love, respecting our Earth, and creating energy for positive change! Porvida is an appreciation of the best of who we are as humans and a trademark concept–meaning commitment, leadership, and success that is passionately dedicated to the support of life for all people and our evolution as humankind.
What’s coming up?
David Korten, author of The Great Turning is coming to Ventura, California to speak at the CAUSE Community Building Luncheon on September 12, 2008! As an advisory member to CAUSE, I will be doing my best to make this event successful in developing a greater proactive consciousness among Ventura and Santa Barbara’s civic and community leaders.
Roberto will offer a workshop on “Family Activism and Multicultural Respect” at the First Annual Symposium on Race sponsored by World Trust Educational Services on October 11, 2008, First Congregational Church of Oakland. Visit www.world-trust.org for more information.
For the holidays my familia (which includes the families of all my brothers) will be sharing conversations about gratitude, love and positive change. Our theme is “Celebrating the Holidays in the Era of Obama”. We will make the dialogues happen informally while doing meal preparation and around the jigsaw puzzles we do instead of watching television. It will also be the focus of our traditional talking circle for Christmas and then New Years. Our anticipated outcomes are increased connection with each other, more inspiration, and the evolution of multiple ideas that we can later turn into projects for mutual support and community action.
