January 9th 2022
It is with great excitement that The Blast (A) is spreading the word of the new south side Chicago-based community builder We Each Belong[1].
We Each Belong’s “mission is to nurture deeper communication and deeper connectedness between Asians x other folx of color” by “holding Circle spaces of deeper listening and love, and providing Circle training for folx of color who help grow an abundance of these spaces.”
By purchasing We Each Belong clothing from weeachbelong.com, proceeds are going to fund FREE Circle trainings for historically oppressed peoples in Chicago (and possibly Illinois later) to build and maintain community, as well as to do conflict resolution within a restorative justice framework.
We Each Belong’s Circle trainings are also available to white neighbors, as well as to collectives and organizations for very reasonable costs.
The Blast (A) cannot over-express how important this work is to support and to also participate and get trained up in.
In Chicago there is a new spirit of self-determination incompatible with solving our problems by means of cops and prisons. Many Chicagoans are grappling with how to solve our problems without the philosophy of punishment nor the intervention of the State in the face of real conflicts we are seeing while developing new relationships with neighbors as never before.
We Each Belong is an incredible steward who is striving to meet this demand and needs as much support as possible to disperse its knowledge into the community with the incredibly subversive and ambitious goal of cultivating one Circle Keeper per block in Chicago.
People across Illinois may also access We Each Belong training in the future by two ideas that are in the works: For three-day trainings from Friday to Sunday, people from further out in Illinois would either drive in each day on a weekend or request two-night housing in Chicago (this would depend on funds and COVID safety). The other possibility that may emerge is online training. Though this is more accessible and affordable, depth of connection and depth of learning could be lost.
Many revolutionary groupings have failed and movements flounder today in significant part because we lack such knowledge, practice, and intentionality in holding Circles that “nurture deeper communication and deeper connectedness” among our friends, collaborators, families, and neighbors to overcome our own dysfunctions from growing up in a corrupt world. And practicing Circle is incredibly important for withstanding repression and sabotage in their so many manifestations.
To support We Each Belong is of absolute critical importance for the success of anarchy. This is just a starting point and already so many more necessary things for a free world that shall stem from such cultivation seem all the more reachable and easy. This is an indispensable basis of the new human-centered economy that the current system intentionally disinvests in.
If our communities work alongside We Each Belong and together we are successful in creating one Circle Keeper per block in our communities, the social effect would be among the most dangerous blasts of life-giving air that will take us to where our spirits are tending toward.
Every revolutionary anarchist and abolitionist should be competent in how to hold Circle to build community, to prevent harm, and to meet the challenge of solving complex problems in our communities through the practice of Circle. And this competency must spread throughout the population to become part of the general culture by our intentional effort and support.
RECOMMENDED NEXT STEPS AND HOW TO SUPPORT
Please tell your friends and organizations about We Each Belong, and please consider reaching agreements to carry out one or more of the following with your collective, mutual aid group, organization, office team, volunteer team, etc.:
- Boost We Each Belong’s work at least once per month in-person and, or through social media.
- Purchase merch[2]. Use your organization’s funds to help group members purchase or acquire We Each Belong’s clothing to fund free Circle trainings for our communities.
- Have your organization request a Circle[3] to get training(s) for your organization. If there has been no conflict in your group, this is the perfect time to get training, in which you’ll be unpacking the gift of your friendship with others and preventing avoidable conflict.
- Join a Circle[4]. This is a recurring Circle that is open to (almost) anyone.
- Request a Circle[5] with a specific group you care about. This is a closed/focused series of Circles to match a unique group’s needs.
- [Gift links are forthcoming. -The Blast (A)]
If there are any individuals you know who might be interested in joining a Circle or learning how to hold Circle, share We Each Belong’s Circles or trainings with them and, or connect them with We Each Belong via email through andrew.jin.hong [at] weeachbelong [dot] com
The Blast (A) is willing to publish the activity, reportbacks, and common values of any Circles who wish to make this public to help plant seeds in other communities until a better repository for such dear information is made.
Long live the encounters[6], networks, and federations of community-building and healing Circles!
Remember, growing deep, unbreakable relationships is an equally essential part of the revolutionary work. And this is something that practicing Circle is key to building and sustaining.
Let’s Circle up!
ENDNOTES
[1] https://www.weeachbelong.com/
[2] http://weeachbelong.com/shop
[3] http://weeachbelong.com/circles-on-request
[4] http://weeachbelong.com/circles