Real Change News | Director’s Corner

June 23, 2010
Vol: 17 No: 26

Director's Corner

Director’s Corner - Power and love

by: Timothy Harris , Executive Director

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Last night I had the honor of being part of a graciously hosted dinner gathering mostly made up of education and social movement activists. The featured guest was Adam Kahane, a man whose recent book, “Power and Love: The theory and practice of social change,” grew out of decades of reconciliation work in places like South Africa, the Middle East and Guatemala, and his deep appreciation of the relationship between power and love.

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. expressed this idea, just months prior to his death, in the often-quoted but poorly understood sentence, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.”

To paraphrase Paul Tillich, power is the value-neutral condition for effective action and the ability to bring vision into being. Love, on the other hand, is that which unifies what is separate. This weekend’s Seattle Unity Forum, described here last week, is a rich opportunity to explore the possibilities of this framework.

How can activists in social justice, sustainability and in communities of color build for and interact with power on shared common ground? Can we mutually embody our passion to mend and rebuild the world, and embrace the notion that love is the necessary foundation for transformational change? Love is not, in the words of King, just “some sentimental and weak response” that is little more than “emotional bosh.”

This work begins when we wade into the murky waters that lie beyond certainty and control. Love is courageous. Love is about trust. Love is a verb. While each of these qualities are naturally occurring phenomena, they are all best realized when nurtured over time.

Real Change is an organization that embraces the risk and possibility of transformational change. Meeting our spring fund drive goal of raising $200,000 by June 30 is essential to an effective future of impassioned and inclusive movement building. Since April 1, 492 supporters have already invested $166,089 into that future. Over this final week of the drive, we ask that you join them.

Our success comes one supporter at a time. Please visit realchangenews.org to make your secure on-line gift today, or mail your support to Real Change, 219 First Ave. S., Ste. 220, Seattle, WA 98104. Our work is made possible by you.

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