NVC from the eyes of St. Louis community activist

Posted July 17th, 2008 by jwbrown518

I spent 5 years of my life as a political activist and community organizer , ranging from the end of my undergraduate years at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) into my mid- to late-20s.

During this time, I ate, breathed and lived social change -- I found meaning in seeking to transform social and political structures that I saw as unhealthy and authoritarian. While these days I focus my social change efforts on sharing Nonviolent Communication, I still enjoy staying connected to others' efforts at creating change.

 

I have made an acquaintance/friend in St. Louis over the last year, Konstantin, who among other things, volunteers with the Community Media and Arts Project, where Rhonda Mills and I recently led an 8-week class series on NVC.

Anyway, Konstantin recently wrote an article about NVC in the monthly, St. Louis-area journal Confluence titled, "Compassionate Communication: Killing the Cop in our Heads."

I enjoyed several things that Konstantin wrote, including:

"[NVC] is an attempt to deconstruct the domination/submission structure in language and instead create connections of compassion, cooperation, understanding, and respect."


 

"...we can use NVC to create sustainable social networks--things that affirm life rather than alienate us from each other... It has the power to drastically change the world we live in by challenging oppressive social systems (even within radical groups) through connecting with what’s alive in us and others."

I am particularly excited about this last quote, because in my work with social change groups, frequently I would find that the very methods the groups were using to transform social institutions were based on the same kind of thinking that created those institutions: thinking in terms of right/wrong; good/bad; appropriate/inappropriate; benevolent/evil; etc.

I am hopeful that NVC can empower social change activists to create a certain kind of social change that is lasting and sustainable, and is based on equally valuing everyone's needs in the process. In short, I want to see effective social change, where somehow we inspire people to see how they are interconnected and interdependent, and they willingly change their behavior because they can see how changing contributes to their own well-being, as well as the well-being of others.

Finally, I am excited to see Konstantin's article because I experience companionship in spreading NVC consciousness in St. Louis! Rhonda Mills and I have been organizing quite a few workshops and presentations over the past 2.5 years, and I'm especially happy to see NVC spreading virally, through others involved in other groups.