[CRNMC] Decolonization of Mind - Discussion Group - Meeting Notice

[Charles Cresson Wood]

DECOLONIZATION  OF  MIND 

Lunch-Time Discussion Group Announcement
Event Title: Discussing Racism
Time & Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2015, at 12:30PM (second Tuesday of month)
Location: Downtown Ft. Bragg (see directions below)

Event Description
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Racism exists as a tool for economic exploitation. It’s an entirely artificial idea created to provide a pretext for exploiting people. It was created to condition people to see others not quite as they see themselves; not quite as human—just as nationalism does, just as all oppressions do. It puts distance between people so that we think of our own interests first and so don't fight against the oppression of someone else. It divides people into “us" and “them." Our conversation will examine the ways we were raised in regard to racism, the stereotypes perpetuated by racism, and the ways that racism hurts not just those against whom it discriminates, but hurts us all. We will additionally discuss the opportunity that overcoming our taboo of discussing racism provides, including confronting our ungrounded fears of differences.

Facilitators
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Charles is a law school student and a professional writer. Among is books is a frame-shift meditation book called “Opening To Abundance,” which can be found on Amazon.com. Charles will talk about psychological strategies for self-emancipation, including letting go of racist viewpoints, and the opportunity to be in truth by stepping outside of those cultural beliefs that enslave us (some call this the “matrix”). Also facilitating this meeting will be Linda, a local activist and co-counseling teacher. She will speak about mutual support as we navigate a way through our personal process of escaping from the matrix of racism propaganda and related cultural myths. She will cover the lessons we learned as young folks. Many of us were subtly indoctrinated to be racists. As adults, we can come to see that these childhood beliefs don’t work any more, and are actually destructive. The perspectives of the group participants will also be actively solicited, pondered, and discussed.

Location & Directions
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The location of this meeting will be Linda’s house in Fort Bragg. Consistent with the nature of our discussions -- which are not approved or endorsed by any government or corporate entities -- there's no official address that you could look up on Google maps, since Linda lives in an alley. To get there, drive east on Oak Street for about a mile from Hwy 1. Wall Street is on the right side and her house is in the alley right after Wall Street (between Wall and Sanderson). There's a fire hydrant at the alley. Make a right into the alley (you can't make a left) and her house is the first (and only) house you come to. The house number is 139-1/2. 

About the Decolonization of Mind Group
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An outgrowth of Mendocino Coast Transition Towns and the Community Rights Network of Mendocino County, the discussion group was a spin-off from a weekend workshop that activist Paul Cienfuegos facilitated. That workshop, dealing with community rights, and the powers of people versus those of corporations, included a challenge from Paul that the participants not only understand how our minds have been colonized, but that we escape from that colonization. In keeping with Paul’s challenge, the decolonization of mind group seeks to go beyond the propaganda from government, the indoctrination of the public school system, the brainwashing from corporate advertising, and also the myths created and perpetuated via movies, TV, newspapers, Facebook, and other modern media. The discussion group seeks to empower people so as to emancipate themselves from all that, and to come back to our own personal power to live the life we feel called to live. For further information, contact Charles at ccwood at ix.netcom.com.