Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds

by Adrienne Maree Brown

Humans are unique because we compete when it isn’t necessary. We could reason our way to more sustainable processes, but we use our intelligence to outsmart each other.

Of course, whenever I think things like this, I turn to Grace Lee Boggs and find that she was there ahead of me—on the wall of her home is a sign: “Organizing is to the community what spiritual practice is to the individual.”

Are you actively practicing generosity and vulnerability in order to make the connections between you and others clear, open, available, durable? Generosity here means giving of what you have without strings or expectations attached. Vulnerability means showing your needs.

On so many levels, interdependence requires being seen, as much as possible, as your true self. Meaning that your capacity and need are transparent.

The easier “being wrong” is for you (the faster you can release your viewpoint), the quicker you can adapt to changing circumstances. Adapting allows you to know and name current needs and capacity, to be in relationship in real time, as opposed to any cycle of wishing and/or resenting what others do or don’t give you.

Just at least consider that the place where you are wrong might be the most fertile ground for connecting with and receiving others.

And most of all, the childlike request inside of story telling: Can you listen while I feel this? Again? Again?

That said, the line between constructive critique and hater is a hard one to navigate.

that grief is the growing up of the heart that bursts boundaries like an old skin or a finished life.

There is such urgency in the multitude of crises we face, it can make it hard to remember that in fact it is urgency thinking (urgent constant unsustainable growth) that got us to this point, and that our potential success lies in doing deep, slow, intentional work.

the role of organizers in an ecosystem is to be earthworms, processing and aerating soil, making fertile ground out of the nutrients of sunlight, water, and everything that dies, to nurture the next cycle of life.

“Dii Nvwati (Cherokee). Translation: Skunk medicine. The skunk asks us to defend ourselves effectively, without causing further conflict. Self-protection but do no harm. Gangsterish peace-making. That is the kind of masculinity that I try to embody. With my leadership, with my poise, with my privileges.

That process is amazing and teaches me that as we change and transform, we also have everything we need already right inside of us. So

I will admit here that even some of my closest loved ones find me naive for holding a vision of a humanity with no enemies. I can imagine it though, and in fact, it seems like the only viable long-term solution.

Transformative justice, in the context of emergent strategy, asks us to consider how to transform toxic energy, hurt, legitimate pain, and conflict into solutions. To get under the wrong, find a way to coexist, be energy moving towards life, together.

Transformative Justice: Acknowledges the reality of state harm. Looks for alternative ways to address/interrupt harm, which do not rely on the state. Relies on organic, creative strategies that are community created and sustained. Transforms the root causes of violence, not only the individual experience.

Together, tell the story of your relationship to a trusted and neutral friend. What happened, what was great, what did you learn? Be as honest as possible, and take the time to tell the whole thing.

When you feel ready, dream together about the new relationship you want to have with each other. As you come into new, post-breakup relationship with each other, watch for your patterns and take it slow. Celebrate your maturity and growth and ability to be present and do this. Invite others to celebrate and applaud the efforts.

If you have the ability to see the dynamic, to see yourself in a pattern, and walk away before reaching the point of emotional or physical harm… Bravo! And if not, hey—most of us don’t.

If it feels like there is work that can be done for mediation, healing, and transformation, by all means put time and attention there, but with some humility—the nature of abusive dynamics is that they are foggy and hard to navigate from within. Often we leap to couples therapy or office mediation while still in the private fog of it all. Get transparent and current with trusted friends or comrades who can offer perspective on the situation.

Relinquish Frankenstein. You are not creating people to be with, or work with, some idealized individuals made of perfect parts of personality that you discovered on your life journey. You are meeting individuals with their own full lives behind and ahead of them. Stop trying to make and fix others, and instead be curious about what

“Why?” often leads us to grief, abuse, trauma, often undiagnosed mental illnesses like depression or bipolar disorder, difference, socialization, childhood, scarcity, loneliness. Also, “Why?” makes it impossible to ignore that we might be capable of a similar transgression in similar circumstances.

or get caught up with the idea that visibility is the same as doing the work. When I am flowing and can hear that small but powerful voice say ‘yes,’ I feel a complete sense of calm, I know I am heading in the right direction.”

But how do we disrupt the constant individualism of creation when it comes to society, our shared planet, our resources?

Visionary fiction (a term that Walidah coined) includes sci fi, speculative fiction, fantasy, magical realism, myth, all of it.

The future is not an escapist place to occupy. All of it is the inevitable result of what we do today, and the more we take it in our hands, imagine it as a place of justice and pleasure, the more the future knows we want it, and that we aren’t letting go.

“Our fruits are only as strong as our roots.” —Thenjiwe Tameika McHarris

I often tell my students that there is a reason humans are born unable to move, dress, eat on their own, unable to protect themselves.

I love that part of consensus actually. Being able to really see another person’s expertise without being upset by it.

Nothing blooms 365 days of the year, someone told me that.

I have a commitment I repeat to myself in key leadership moments throughout the day. “I trust myself in the face of the unknown.”

Do you increase or decrease tension or dramatic moments that happen between you and loved ones (family/lovers/friends)? (If you aren’t sure, ask them.)

What are all of your gifts? Are you living a life that honors all of your gifts?

If we begin to understand ourselves as practice ground for transformation, we can transform the world.

What is it we need to practice as individuals and communities to come more into alignment

We heal ourselves, and we heal in relationship, and from that place, simultaneously, we create more space for healed communities, healed movements, healed worlds.

And it’s all mutual. We are in daily contact, and we have intensive visits to check in on our development.

It’s friendship, but with a lot of transparency and intention woven into it. Another way of speaking about this is coevolution through friendship:

This curiosity ranges from philosophical to academic, historical, nosy, somatic. Our lives are our life’s work.

“What if I am responsible for everything?”

Sometimes what is happening in the world is so terrifying and urgent that we forget our complexity, or wonder why we would spend time on ourselves or take time for our friendships when there is so much external work to do. What I am noticing is that it is not a privilege to practice coevolution through friendship—it is the deepest work.

We are living now inside the imagination of people who thought economic disparity and environmental destruction were acceptable costs for their power. It is our right and responsibility to write ourselves into the future. All organizing is science fiction. If you are shaping the future, you are a futurist.

The best way to practice visionary fiction is to get to writing. The Octavia’s Brood website offers workshops, and you can also write on your own, form writing groups, and share stories with others.93 You have worlds inside you. You have permission to share them.

but we have not developed the capacity to be with that increased awareness of suffering.94

Somatics is about being a fight for, rather than a fight against. Being in a fight for myself has led me to be honest about what makes me feel happy, strong, like I am realizing my miraculous potential. I’ve also looked at my friendships and relationships, asking myself how can I be a fight for my loved ones? This means not just listening to them, but listening for the truth within them, listening for what they are longing for, for what they know they deserve, for what they need.

We say, “We don’t practice to feel good, we practice to feel more.”

It works to increase your ability to transform your own trauma through your body, and engage your history, resilience, and purpose.

It’s just really wonderful being loved deeply in nonsexual ways. Perhaps the most beautiful shit ever.

In my mind, this is a book about facilitation.