[Liminal Letters] The radical ancestors, kinship and one big union
|
Not into weekly newsletters? You can opt-out of the weekly newsletter without removing yourself from other updates HERE! Hey, Reader! Last Monday, on the day of the Lunar Eclipse in Libra, I made a trip to leave some flowers and some prayers a nearby memorial that recognizes a worksite tragedy. The radical ancestors - both of my own lineage and of the collective - have been loud lately so I wanted to take some time and make sure I let them know they were being heard. The memorial I visited was erected to memorialize the 4 people who died and the 4 people who were injured when a crane collapsed during the construction of a highway bridge. It’s a lovely memorial, within sight of the bridge, surrounded by river birch trees. It is circled by flags for each of the local building trades unions, including one that reads “one big union” and the flag of the union my father and grandfather belong(ed) to. It’s a beautiful monument, but nowhere is it mentioned that the crane collapse wasn’t just a freak accident, that it wasn’t some unavoidable tragedy. This crane collapse was a result of the willful negligence of the company that installed the crane. Four people died and 4 more were injured because of a company’s willful negligence, for which the company paid a fine of less than $300,000, or about 1% of what the bridge cost to build. I describe all these details because they’re relevant to why the radical ancestors have been showing up lately, for me personally, but also for the collective. For me personally, I remember when this crane collapse happened. I remember seeing it on the news the way a lot of people my age remember September 11, even though it happened on the far side of the state from where I grew up. I remember seeing the pictures. I remember hearing the shock of the reporters. And I remember how distressed my father was. My dad, like his father before him, is an operating engineer. As an operating engineer, my dad could operate cranes like the one that had collapsed. It was work that paid more than his work operating a front end loader in the steel mill. It paid more because it was much more dangerous. In fact, as he told me, it was often more dangerous than necessary because the companies that set up the cranes often cut corners and the operator often had little recourse when a crane was improperly installed. Sitting in front of the TV that day, watching the footage of the aftermath of the collapse, my dad stated surely that the company who installed the crane installed the crane improperly and was at fault. An investigation into the cause of the collapse proved that his supposition was correct, but in the end, even for their “gross negligence” the company given a fine that amounted to less than 1% of the total cost of the bridge. At the time of this tragedy, I was at just the right age for it to dawn on me how cruel and callous the world is, to settle into the horrifying reality that companies could - and in fact often did - knowingly cut corners in ways that endangered and killed people. That day it also settled into my consciousness that adults must make calculated bets against these callous and violent systems. Growing up, my family often struggled with money. My dad could have made more money, enough that that struggle would have disappeared, but he chose not to. That is part of the violence of this world, the choice (that really is no choice) between the fact that a company sees you as a rounding error and having enough money to exist comfortably. My dad made his choice because he knew the kind of irrevocable emotional violence that could result from making the opposite choice: his father died in a workplace accident when my dad was still a kid. My dad didn’t want to take on that risk and leave his kids in the same situation. That choice was one that brought it’s own violence. It is hard to look at this kind of violence and call it violent. It is hard because this kind of violence is omnipresent in our world. It is hard because we have been trained not to see it as violence. But it IS violent. And, as the radical ancestors have been reminding me, there have been times without this kind of violence. The radical ancestors who have been very present for me of late - The Luddites - are a group of ancestors who existed at an inflection point between the times without this kind of violence and the times we now live in. If you haven’t heard of The Luddites, I’ll drop some links at the end of this thread, but a quick summary is that they were skilled textile workers whose work was de-skilled by automation in order to be done “cheaper”. They were driven into poverty and banned from organizing, but through secret organizing launched a rebellion against the very foundations of the Industrial Revolution. They wanted the dignity of a skilled livelihood. They wanted the right to organize. They wanted their humanity to be prized over inanimate machinery and capital. They rebelled against those violences that have become so common place today. And they were far from the only people at this point in history rebelling against the ways capitalist Empire was establishing itself. Like so many rebellions of this era, it was put down with a drastic, heavy-handed, and violent response from the state. It takes a lot of violence for violence to become normalized. To my knowledge, I do not have any Luddite ancestors in my own family lineage. But that hasn’t stopped them from showing up for me. Because in this age of global capitalist Empire, birthed from the violence at the inception of the Industrial Revolution, we are all subject to the daily violences and offenses that they once rebelled against. From the Luddites to those construction workers, from my grandfather, to my father, to me, we already are one big union. We just have to remember that and remember that a world without this violence is possible. When I talk about ancestors, I try to indicate which group of ancestors I am talking about. I prefer to say “my” or “your” ancestors, rather than an overly vague “the” ancestors. But when it comes to the radical ancestors, while I have radical ancestors of my own lineage that I connect to and specific non-lineage radical ancestors that I have cultivated a relationship with (shout out to Sacco and Vanzetti!), the radical ancestors are in many ways ancestors of us all. If you dream of liberation, freedom, and justice… Then the radical ancestors are your ancestors, too. And they have messages and lessons of hope, solidarity, action, and radical imagination to share with you. The radical ancestors are strong allies in recognizing, coping with, and resisting the violence of this world. If you're interested in learning more about the Luddites & connecting with these radical ancestors I've included a list of resources below! And if you want help building a resilient and radical connection to your ancestors (whether radical or otherwise), my books are open for ancestor work readings! Resources & Further Reading:
FREE meditation for empowered, interconnected energetic sovereignty!The muse struck this week and I was inspired to create a meditation for centering in yourself and finding your power to craft meaningful energetic relationships. If you are... Then this meditation is for you! In the free meditation, I lead you through a reflective journey to help you get acquainted with your energetic relationships and your sovereign power to interact with, grow, and influence those relationships, which is another way of saying connecting to your intuition and finding your power to make some fucking magic!
In Case You Missed It:
This Week's Joys & Gratitudes
What's bringing you joy this week? Where are you finding magic? Feel free to hit reply and let me know! Until next time! In Joy, Magic, and Solidarity, P.S. Know someone who would find magic in this newsletter? Please forward it on! Word of mouth is one way we weave connection & magic! |