In 2012, I was lucky enough to attend a remarkable weekend-long Class Action Train-the-Trainers mega-workshop. I did not attend to learn techniques to raise awareness about class and classism but instead to improve my skills as a trainer on the topic of communications and marketing. While the focus of the Class Action workshop was, of course, on social class […]
Spirituality and Ending Classism
Rich People’s Church, Poor People’s Church
I have much to say on the topic of religion and class, but let me begin with a disclaimer. I know people who experienced the same churches I did and did not come away angry, feeling they were warped by them. So I recognize that more than one experience is possible. Like many poor and […]
Pope Francis’ Call to Action
Paving a New Path for Economic Equality Last Thursday my heart swelled with pride as I listened to Pope Francis call the U.S. Congress to action against the extreme economic inequality in the United States and throughout the world. In his opening remarks, he reminded Congress of their larger mission to “defend and preserve the […]
Exhilarating discoveries at anti-racist conference
I’m entranced with the White Privilege Conference’s culture and community. I was a first-time attender at the 14th annual conference in Seattle last week, and the experience was a series of exhilarating discoveries. What most buoyed my spirits seemed to buoy others too: seeing about 1,500 white people who are so committed to ending racism […]
Thinking Positive Thoughts as the Ship Sinks: Oprah, Tolle & New Age Classism
I’m concerned about classism in the new age, self help and spiritual movements. Oprah Winfrey’s show and “lifeclass,” which many people study religiously, promote individualistic “create your own reality” ideas, including the philosophy of guru Eckhart Tolle. “Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it,” Tolle writes. These ideas can be […]
Lettuce in winter: When more is less
We all know what it’s like to appreciate a rare event–a fine restaurant dinner, a vacation to a far-away place, even an evening at home without the children. We savor them. We talk about the pleasures and hold them in a special place in our memories. These times are part of what makes our lives […]
Being Indebted Is My Real Wealth
I’m distressed that academic conventions seem to preclude, or at least discourage, acknowledgment that the work I will present to my dissertation committee is not, properly speaking, mine. “My” project involves spiking seawater samples with methyl mercury. My background is environmental health, not analytical chemistry. I don’t have the skills to handle methyl mercury safely. […]
Giving thanks humbly or smugly
When I was a girl, at the beginning of Thanksgiving dinner, my family would sing a beautiful old hymn, We Gather Together, the most traditional Thanksgiving song, written in 1597. I loved the melody and the tradition and didn’t think much about the words. But in my 20s, with my newly critical eye, I scrutinized […]
Your Class War (for Felice Yeskel)
A memorial for Felice Yeskel will be held this Sunday 10/23 at 1:30 at the Jewish Community of Amherst. Felice’s long-time colleague Chuck Collins wrote this poem in honor of this occasion memorializing Class Action’s kick-ass co-founder. Your Class War (For Felice Yeskel) Class war! You would laugh at the absurd idea of the poor inconveniencing the rich. You […]
Owning Class Folks – Let’s Explore Some Tough Questions
How can we owning class folks who care about enormous horrors going on today initiate a systemic difference by speaking up about the harm that continues in a drastically different manner? For some of us, the origins of today’s enormous inequities are from the source of our wealth. Will you join me in this conversation? […]
Query: How to open discussion with a poor-basher?
Dear Class Action, What should I do? My neighbor in my conservative rural town emailed this racist/classist piece of junk to me. I need some advice on what to do next. I asked the one who sent it to me and another womyn if they had any interest in coming to my house and watching […]
Deep Interrelatedness and Transformation
Perhaps ending classism is not so much a political process but a spiritual one. Humanity is evolving! We are at a new and extraordinary threshold in human history. We appear to be on a cataclysmic collision course, and more and more people are using their spirituality to engage the world. They are transcending the negative […]
