Statement Against all Forms of Abuse and Oppression in our Communities

= About this statement = This statement was read before the delegates meeting two weeks ago and has been adopted by the CDC on 2015-02-08. (more to be added) = Statement Against all Forms of Abuse and Oppression in our Communities = Realizing that conflicts and oppressive patterns of behavior will emerge over the course of this project and that we will encounter difficulties in resolving them, we feel it is important to reaffirm our commitment to making the Omni a safer space.

We acknowledge that we live in a culture of intersecting forms of oppression and that these intersections complicate our ability to connect with one another and to confront the various power dynamics and privileges at play in our relationships.

We are committed to continuing to engage in the work of dismantling systems of oppression both inside and outside of ourselves in order to build stronger relationships and a more resilient community. This will require us to acknowledge and engage in conflict and to take seriously the process of conflict resolution.

Acts of violence, abuse, intimidation and other forms of oppression can not be tolerated within this community. In the event that a member or members of our community feel that they are the victim of violence, abuse, intimidation or other forms of oppression, we expect all involved to pursue conflict resolution in good faith.

We are all complicit in the perpetration of acts of violence in our communities and can all take responsibility for building the culture we would like to see here at the Omni. We should feel empowered to hold both ourselves and one other accountable. Every one of us has room to learn, to grow and to heal.

We don’t believe in using pressure and threats to force rushing to reach resolution. We entreat the community to have patience with the healing process and to recognize that confronting systems of oppression and engaging in the unavoidable conflicts that will arise as a result is the real work of this project.