Dear Community,

It has been a while.

This letter emerges, in part, as we continue to be shaken by the genocide in Gaza, but its concerns are situated in the long duree of colonial dispossession that spans from Turtle Island to Palestine, and connects us through a common ancestry in movement. We write, too, in the shadow of the recent tragedy at the Lapu-Lapu Day Festival in Vancouver, BC (where most of the IA members reside), where eleven lives were taken in a devastating act of violence. We grieve for those taken and harmed, while also holding space to understand the conditions and pain that led to this tragedy occurring.

We are reemerging from an extended hiatus during which we embarked on a journey of reflection and renewal, and we would like to share some of what we learned with you.

The following statement reflects on over a year of internal conversations, mostly held on the shores of the Ch’ekxwa’7lech, the “sometimes dry land,” with an aim to emulate the wisdom of these shores, when it does get dry at times, and the caretakers who named it, by looking to the example of the mycorrhizal networks that stretch below the surface sharing water, nutrients and resources.

We invite individuals and organizations committed to social change to join us to go deeper—let us examine the systemic patterns that persist not just in the world around us, but within our own practices, paying attention to the epistemic and operational norms that condition our work. Too often, these patterns maintain the status quo, diverting our attention and resources away from the urgent calls coming from struggles in the Global South. This letter emerges in part in the wake of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, but its lessons draw on a longer legacy of colonial dispossession—from Turtle Island to Palestine—and its resistance that binds us through shared legacies of resistance and movement.

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‍Context of Crisis
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Over the past three to four years, the Inner Activist (IA) faced a significant internal crisis that brought to the fore concerns about structural asymmetries in power in the workplace, and counterproductive conflict resolution processes. The events emerged within the context of the organization’s innovative, and unprecedented, restructuring, which broadened the scope of how diversity was imagined and enacted (resulting in a prolific team of trainers delivering programming) as well as deep programmatic engagement with alternative paradigms for inner and personal work, conflict resolution, repair and education with our tools and frameworks.

The crisis began with a formal complaint made against IA leadership, but became exacerbated through a series of alienating processes that were tethered to HR and institutional protocols and revealed the fundamental lack of a system of conflict resolution in place that reflected the breadth of vision, life experience and expertise of IA membership. This lack exacerbated existing tensions, leading to a near complete breakdown in internal relationships. Members felt isolated and silenced and began to demand accountability based on models that centered care and transformative justice, rather than the ‘jury-like’ driven and punitive structure of HR-led approaches.

Because of the sensitive nature of this complaint, there was a thorough—but confidential—HR investigation. The need for confidentiality during this process conflicted some members’ calls for transparency and contributed to an environment of mistrust and speculation. Existing tensions worsened, further intensified by the isolation of the pandemic lockdown. Many members, feeling increasingly alienated, began calling for a different approach. They demanded accountability models rooted in care and transformative justice. In this spirit, IA engaged an external facilitator to begin a new process of accountability and repair, and in this, recognized the need for a more nuanced approach to conflict resolution that goes beyond the legal frameworks used in conventional HR.

By late 2021, the remaining (some left) IA members began conducting exit interviews with former members in order to gather insights that would help foster the process of healing. Engaging with an experienced external facilitator was important, as it led to the consolidation of a report that helped us to begin to find a way to re-engage and laid important groundwork for repair.

The IA’s struggles are not isolated; they emerged within the historical context of struggles such as Black Lives Matter, which informed the conversations and agitations of members within the organization. This letter underscores the importance of aligning personal growth with a broader commitment to justice. We want to recognize that individual, workplace, and collective actions intersect and must form a dialogue with larger systemic fields.

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Path Forward: Repair and Learning
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We share this statement as a reaffirmation of our vision and mission. Despite the genuine, sustained efforts of many people committed to love and justice, the organization faltered. We fell apart. And we did so, in part, because we—like all of us—are entangled in systems of oppression. In our efforts to resist, we replicated familiar patterns: opacity, control, reactive decision-making, cancel culture, and more.

Confronting these patterns has been painful but necessary. It has also given us hope: we believe it’s possible to build something more resilient—something that can hold difficult truths while staying connected. We know that whatever truths we refuse to face will become embedded in our culture, our relationships, our policies, and our programs. Our hope is that the next time we fall apart—and we will—we’ll do so having made only new mistakes.

Looking ahead, we recommit to equity, mutual accountability, and a multidimensional approach to healing—one that centers both individual and collective care.

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Conclusion

We invite you to engage with us. We will be offering modified versions of our programs, and please reach out to those you feel closest to at the IA. You can also reach out to the project director (PD) who is committed to listening, learning, and growing through our work ahead. We acknowledge the complexity of the journey ahead and express gratitude for the contributions of those who have been part of the IA. This document serves not as a conclusion but as a step towards a more aware and responsive organization dedicated to social change.