Wildflower Alliance

Home to the Western Mass Recovery Learning Community

Pushing Back After Charlottesville

No CakeThe Western Mass RLC is at its heart, dedicated to civil and human rights. We are committed to fighting oppression of every kind, including discrimination, racism, homophobia, transphobia, poverty, power imbalances, and for the acceptance of natural diversity.
 
This particular moment in time calls for our community to engage, and to offer what we can. Now is not the time to eat cake, no matter how tempting that option is for people of privilege.
 
There are many ways to push back against the hateful rhetoric that is currently on the rise and being encouraged by our current climate. There are opportunities at every energy level. Stuff envelopes. Educate yourself. Talk with the people you know, or those you don’t. Donate money or time to help support victims and organizers, and help pay for their medical and legal needs. We can phone our country’s representatives. Show up at counter-protests and demonstrations. Or we can start something altogether new. Regardless of our limitations, or our expectations of ourselves, there is room for everyone somewhere.
 
If we don’t show up for the fight against racism and other kinds of hate and discrimination, we are lying to ourselves in our mission statement. If we don’t show up for this fight, we are an altogether different community. We have a mission – we cannot “opt out”.