Solidarity in the struggle: Embodied activism in the Pacific

Description

In her book As We Have Always Done, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson writes about decolonial struggle. Though struggles against ongoing disregard, displacement, dispossession, and disappearance can be heavy and heartbreaking, they can also be, as Simpson notes, quite beautiful in the ways they serve our collective dreams for better, stronger, and healthier futures. It is struggle, for example, and recognition of struggle that often brings peoples together.

Looking at specific examples of activism in the Pacific, this session will reflect on what it means to be in solidarity, and perhaps more importantly, how we might engage in struggle. In doing so, this session will reflect on the concept of “embodied activism,” considering not only what solidarity looks like but what it feels like when we lend our minds, bodies, and spirits to the struggle, whether at home or in the wider Pacific. Finally, this session will reflect on how we take up the work of struggle in both public and intimate spaces, not just carrying the struggle but being changed by it.