November 2024: ancestral wisdom
Each month, we break down our topic into four weekly modules. Catch up on previous editions here.
This week's module: REFLECT
- ✅ CONNECT | Conversation prompts about an Indigenous activist who defeated oil drilling
- ✅ LEARN | Learn about living root bridges and regenerative architecture
- ✅ ACT | How you can implement ancestral wisdom and practices into your climate action
- 🎯 REFLECT | A poem and a nudge to share your commitments (TODAY)
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
P.S. our last event of the year is coming up soon and you're invited! It's virtual!
Here's what we'll learn today Reader
The first week of this month, we circulated some connection prompts about an indigenous activist who defeated oil drilling in the Amazon and won. The week after, we learned about regenerative architecture built from millennia of ancestral wisdom. (Honestly some of that was unbelievable; my brain is still processing.) Last week, we committed to taking action in a way that honors earth, community, and time-tested knowledge. Catch up on previous editions here.
This week, in our REFLECT module, it's time to tie it all together. You'll have the opportunity to record your actions, read a poem, and take a reflection question with you on your journey.
If my email reporting is right, at least half of our 8,000 Changeletter subscribers are in the United States. Thanksgiving is tomorrow. It's popular as a holiday where families come together to give gratitude and share meals that honor the founding story of America. The problem is... the real founding story of America is full of colonial violence. That part gets conveniently skipped.
That's why, this week for our REFLECT module on ancestral wisdom, we're presenting a poem called "Remember" by a Native American poet, Joy Harjo.
If you're with family this week, maybe summon the courage to read it out loud before your meal!
Also important! Come to our last event of the year (virtual!) on Dec 16 - RSVP here
Huge news just in time for holiday giving: Soapbox Project is now a tax-exempt non-profit organization!
PLZ consider donating to us this holiday season. If this Changeletter has made any sort of difference in your life, I would really really really appreciate a contribution so we can keep doing this work <3
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Your bite-sized action plan Reader
✅ REFLECT on your commitment to honoring planetary boundaries and ancestral wisdom.
To close out this month's Changeletter on ancestral wisdom, here's the poem "Remember" by Native American poet Joy Harjo.
As you reflect, here are some questions you can ask:
- What lines, themes, or images struck you?
- What are the feelings this poem brings up in you?
- What is this poem revealing or reaffirming about yourself and your worldview?
Bonus points if you read this poem out loud this week and ask the people you're with: what does it mean to remember? What is the arc of memory? What are we forgetting that we can't afford to any longer?
I'll sign off now so you can end today's Changeletter with the poem. Sending you love for another week ahead, and if you're looking for somewhere to donate on Giving Tuesday, please please please please please consider Soapbox Project, especially now that we are officially a tax-exempt organization!
"Remember" by Joy Harjo
Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.
Please consider telling your friends + family about Soapbox
aaand telling them you've got a great nonprofit to donate to this holiday season that will reweave our social fabric, offer bite-sized climate education, and empower people to take action together!
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