Hope's Edge

"The first step is losing naive consciousness," Joao Pedro emphasized, "no longer accepting what you see as something that cannot be changed." (I'm amused by the irony that here in the U.S. it's the opposite. A person gets labeled naive who believes that things can change.) "The second," Joao Pedro continued, "is reaching the awareness that you won't get anywhere unless you work together.

"This shift in consciousness, once you get it, is like riding a bike: no one can take it from you. So, you forget how to say 'yes sir' and learn to say 'I think that...' This is when the citizen is born.

"This change of consciousness is hard to measure statistically," Joao Pedro reminded us. "You can't count it the way you can the number of families we settle or the number of hectares the MST makes productive. But it is equally, if not more, important."

-Hope's Edge, Francis Moore Lappe and Anna Lappe

I think there's an important link between citizenship and empowerment, or the ability to think and act independently. This distinction is painfully obvious for the work that the MST does in moving landless workers onto private land, and then demanding the government fulfill its laws and grant the settlers rights in Brazil.

First, we can learn a lot from how people organize in environments like Brazil. There's a honed skill to creating lasting relationships, empowering people through teaching and collective growth, and building power in a decentralized system.

Second, is there an advantage to organizing and empowering people in a poor and disadvantaged area, over in a privelidged and satisfied upper-middle class setting? Its possible. We can start figuring out how to make change the norm, and the strength of working together appealing to our peers.