As women, indigenous, poor, black, brown, red, occupied and colonized, all of our identities must be central to liberation struggles. When one's identity houses multiple or all of those constructs there stands before us a well informed individual with countless contributions to make to the struggle. The struggle shapes our commitment to the recognition of freedom at every stage be it mobilization, the war itself, or postwar political and material relations. In the past a blind compliance and obedience was fostered by many movements under the guise of supporting the revolution for the independence or the nationalist struggle. Inherent racism, sexism and ethno-centrism were embedded and injurious to many in the struggles. This was and is a grave error in liberation struggles as no person by virtue of their race, class, sex, age, ethnicity, religion, or orientation is inessential or secondary in liberation struggles.
How then do we transcend isolation to create a community and network of allies across our families, neighborhoods, communities, nations and world? We must be clear that evil resides in the denial of freedom. We are responsible for ensuring the existence of the conditions of freedom for all the people: the women, the aged, the poor, the invaded, the occupied, the exploited, and the people of the world. We must learn our lessons from the past. My freedom is dependent on yours and yours is dependent on mine. This is the inescapable human bond.
June Scorza Terpstra, Ph.D. is an activist educator and university lecturer in Justice Studies, Criminal Justice and Sociology. She has founded numerous programs for homeless, abused, youth and oppressed people in the USA. She is presently teaching courses on Law and Terrorism, Social Justice, Resistance, Criminology, and Juvenile Justice. She is a former Community Research Fellow and doctoral graduate of Loyola University Chicago.
http://juneterpstra.com/
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