Solidarity With Front-line Struggles
Earth Activist Training is a place for stewards of soil and spirit to gather. Where, hands, calloused yet tender, cradle seeds—the sacred promise of sustenance and renewal. As permaculturists, we weave threads of connection, invoke magic, and stand in fierce solidarity with all life.
Threads of Connection and Earth Care: Our roots intertwine, seeking nourishment from the same Earth. Just as mycelium weaves through soil, connecting trees unseen, we too reach out—across borders, cultures, and generations. Our shared heartbeat echoes through forests, deserts, and urban jungles alike. We cradle our planet, knowing that her health is our own. We compost, regenerate, and honor the cycles of life. The land beneath our feet is not mere substrate; it is the living tapestry of stories—the whispers of ancestors and the promise of generations yet unborn.
Magic of Seeds and Global Activism: Each seed we plant carries memory—the resilience of countless ancestors. It holds the promise of sustenance, resilience, and beauty. In our gardens, we invoke spells of growth: sunlight, rain, and the alchemy of soil microbes. As we sow, we honor the spirits of land, water, and air—the unseen allies who dance with us. Like activists on the streets or halls of power, we raise our voices against oppressive systems. Our banners bear symbols of solidarity: hands, seeds, and spirals—a reminder that our liberation is bound together. We chant, “Another world is possible!” The global uprising is not a distant echo; it is the pulse of our collective heartbeat—a rhythm of change, demanding justice for every blade of grass, every forgotten voice.
Reparations, Reciprocity, and Fair Share: We recognize historical wounds inflicted upon marginalized communities—the stolen lands, erased cultures, and silenced voices. Our solidarity extends beyond words; it demands action. Reparations are not charity; they are justice. We redistribute resources, amplify marginalized voices, and work towards healing the wounds of the past. But justice is not a one-way street. Reciprocity is the heartbeat of sustainability—a dance of giving and receiving. We give back to the Earth what she provides—a cycle of care and nourishment. Just as the sun’s warmth fuels photosynthesis, our actions ripple outward. We share knowledge, mentorship, and abundance. In this reciprocity, we find resilience—the promise that sustains life.
So let us tend our plots, whether vast or humble, with reverence. Let us share seeds, stories, and sustenance. And when the winds of change blow fierce, may our solidarity be the shelter that stands unyielding—a living testament to our interconnectedness. The magic of solidarity blooms fully when we actively engage in reparations and embrace the reciprocity that binds us all.
Earth Activist Training invites you to join this dance—to weave your thread into the fabric of change, to honor the land, and to stand in fierce love.
Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
Earth Activist Training is honored and humbled to be located on the land of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples, and hold its in-person intensives on the land of the Kashaya Pomo peoples, in what is known as Northern California.
We recognize that we have so much to learn about how to live in harmony and in abundance with these sacred ecosystems, which the Indigenous peoples of California have stewarded since time immemorial.
We recognize that the Ramaytush Ohlone and Kashaya Pomo peoples understand the interconnectedness of all things and have maintained harmony with nature for millennia. We honor them for their enduring commitment to Mother Earth. As the Indigenous protectors of this land, the Ramaytush Ohlone and Kashaya Pomo peoples have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all of the peoples who reside on their traditional territory.
We recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. As uninvited guests, we affirm their sovereign rights as First Peoples and wish to pay respect to the Ancestors, Elders, and Relatives of the Ramaytush Ohlone and Kashaya Pomo communities.
We recognize that to respectfully honor the Ramaytush Ohlone and Kashaya Pomo peoples, we must embrace and collaborate meaningfully to record Indigenous knowledge in how we care for all peoples.
Acknowledging in words our honor and gratitude to Indigenous People is a start, but to be meaningful, it must be accompanied by actions. At Earth Activist Training, we provede Diversity Scholarships for indigenous students as well as people of color, as one of our forms of action.
Adapted with gratitude from the San Francisco Public Library Indigenous land acknowledgment, created in partnership with the American Indian Cultural District
Black Lives Matter Solidarity Statement
We wish to publicly state our support for the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing fight to end all police violence against communities of color.
Permaculture is a system of regenerative ecological design rooted in indigenous knowledge and wisdom. Its three core ethics, care for the earth, care for the people, care for the future lead us to call for accountability for police who currently target, harass and murder people in communities of color, and especially the black community, with impunity.
We cannot care for the people unless we assure justice for all people and assert the value of every person’s life.
We see this current system is designed to benefit certain people at the expense of others and is part of the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few. Out of this comes an opportunity to redesign a truly restorative way of dealing with injustice, conflicts, competing needs, and past wounds.
At this time of grave environmental crisis, we recognize that the divisive impact of all forms of discrimination and prejudice hamper every effort to shift the path of our society off of the road to ruin and onto the path of regeneration. Our economic, political and social systems can only find ecological balance when they are founded upon justice.
One of the core permaculture principles is that diversity creates resilience. We are committed to envision, design and create a world in which we affirm and celebrate human diversity, where we can learn from one another’s perspectives and support one another’s struggles. We are proud to lend our support to all those who work to make that vision real.
Statement by Starhawk, Earth Activist Training and Pandora Thomas, Black Permaculture Network
Standing with the People of Gaza
Earth Activist Training teaches permaculture and ecological design with a grounding in spirit and a focus on activism and organizing. Our acronym spells ‘eat’, and we are devoted to feeding and nourishing people and creating resilient systems that meet human needs while regenerating the environment around us. We realize that we cannot sit back complacently while people are being starved, displaced, bombed, maimed, and killed in Gaza or elsewhere.
The issue of justice for Palestine and an end to the current war on Gaza is one that is close to the hearts of the Earth Activist Training team. Our staff and teachers include those of Jewish, Palestinian and indigenous heritage, as well as those who have journeyed to the West Bank and Gaza, and participated in active solidarity with non-violent Palestinian efforts to end the Occupation.
We condemn the horrific assault committed by Hamas on innocent Israelis on October 7, and we condemn the Israeli military assault against the entire population of Gaza, the vast majority of whom are not Hamas but are children, elders, and civilians who simply want to live their lives. This mass collective punishment will not be effective in attaining Israel’s security or the release of the hostages who are also suffering unjustly.
We stand by some simple truths: children deserve to be protected, hospitals should be places of healing, getting food should not require risking one’s life, and all people should have a voice in what happens to them and their communities. The people of Gaza have the right to be secure in their homes, go to school, have healthy food and clean water, take part in the governance of their lives, and do it all while feeling safe, just as Israelis do.
Vengeful retaliations against Palestinians will not bring security to Israelis. We urge
Israeli and American policy makers to look at the root causes of the Hamas attack. Decades of a siege that has turned Gaza into an open-air prison, restriction of Palestinian rights, in settler incursions in the West Bank that have undermined any potential for a Palestinian state all create an atmosphere of hopelessness, rage and fear that will breed more acts of hate. Injustice can never be the foundation of real security. Only justice can create the conditions that will further a peace.
Solutions are complex, but the situation is not hopeless. A durable peace is possible, and it begins with the cessation of aggression, access to basic human needs such as food, water, and medicine, and the recognition of people’s right to self-determination.
We urge an immediate ceasefire, negotiations to assure the safe return of the hostages, massive deliverance of aid and resources to succor the people of Gaza and rebuild the land, and meaningful progress toward a just and lasting peace.
Accessibility and Inclusion
Valuing diversity and fostering beneficial relationships is at the core of Earth Activist Training’s (EAT) approach to permaculture. We understand diversity is much more than a set of traits one is born with; it includes a rich multiplicity of ways people show up in the world, both seen and unseen. We celebrate that our students, staff, and instructors bring their unique gifts, wounds, and experiences that add to the richness of our community. EAT strives to make our workplace, courses, and events accessible and inclusive to all who want to attend.
In recent years, we have focused on improving accessibility and inclusion of Indigenous Peoples, People of Color, those on the front lines of environmental and social justice struggles, and those in the def community.
To foster accessibility EAT:
- Offers diversity scholarships with associated organizational support
- ASL Interpretation for our seasonal free events and courses as needed.
- Closed captions for all of our live and recorded events
- Include Accessibility tools on our website for easier access
- Provide a range of dietary options for our in-person classes
- Have staff dedicated to supporting accessibility needs
Diversity Scholarship
Earth Activist Training teaches ecological design with a grounding in spirit and a focus on organizing and activism. As part of our commitment to reparations, we offer scholarships to Black and Indigenous students and students of color engaged in social and environmental work. One of the permaculture principles is that diversity generates resilience, and over and over again, we see that in action!
The problems of climate change are rooted in injustice and inequality, and taken together, they can all feel overwhelming and insurmountable. However, there is a global movement of people working quietly in small and large ways to regenerate the land and bring hope and healing to their communities. We are so grateful to be part of that movement and to play our part in bringing training and education to those on the front lines of struggle.
EAT is committed to increasing the diversity of global permaculture and regenerative land movements. We recognize the history of this land, which is called the United States and Canada, and seek to do what we can to rectify the deep injustices and systems of inequity that formed and continue to shape society today. Diversity Scholarships are available for Indigenous Peoples and Peoples of Color working in their communities on environmental or social justice.
Diversity Scholarships are pay-what-you-can with the recommended value of 50% of standard course tuition for online courses and a pay-what-you-can, above a fixed reduced price for in-person courses.
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