"Becoming We the People" -- workshop with Paul Cienfuegos

Sept. 27-29:"Becoming We the People," with Paul Cienfuegos.   This workshop, a repeat of one we offered this May, is an immersion into Community Rights work, which has over the last 13 years served to protect 150 regions in 9 states from certain corporate harms. Are there any problems in your community caused by the activities enabled by the so-called personhood of corporations?  This workshop will inform you about how you can stop that as others have successfully done. Those of us from Iowa who attended the May workshop are full-speed ahead with this work and have organized this Sept. workshop for you because we feel it's so important. Here's the site where you can learn more, and a link to the registration site. If you prefer to register with a check or cash, you can send it to Liz Rog at 1591 Manawa Rd, Decorah IA 52101. Sign up soon--there are 13 spots left of 30 available.  Here's what some had to say about Paul's May 2013 workshop in Decorah:  "I came away from this workshop feeling like I know how to be a better citizen of my country. Paul opened my eyes to parts of our country's history that saddened me, and parts that really inspired me too.  I have a clearer understanding of why everyday people often feel powerless to make change for a better world.  And I now know what we can do about that.  Paul renewed my interest in participating in governance that is truly of, for, and by the people."  "I was impressed with the democratic vision of the community rights movement.  It's easy to lose faith in democracy when you only watch it operating on the very large, corporate-controlled scale of the federal and even state government--it's much easier, and much more exciting, to imagine democracy among neighbors, in local communities claiming the right to local control.  Paul's history of the United States through the lens of corporate personhood rights helped me to understand why I was skeptical about our large-scale "democracy", and I appreciated the discussion of decolonizing our minds from corporate control.  I believe it's time to put the rights of human beings and of the earth on a higher priority than the rights of corporations, and I'm grateful to Paul for showing us a path to making that happen!"  "a very enlightening weekend. I found out where my fear of large corporations comes from and how--with compassionate informed neighbors--we can move forward to demand a more just land."  "Wanting a better world for my daughters convinced me to attend Paul's training.  I moved from feeling ignorant, to oppressed, to empowered.  We can build a world that holds the interest of ourselves, our children, our whole Earth Community at the forefront.  And there are other communities leading the way!  Join me!" "I have been very sad for a very long time, seeing our personal lives, our health and our world threatened by all of the corporate harms we seem so powerless to affect. And for the first few hours in the workshop, Paul's history of our democracy-- and how it has been, from the beginning, torn asunder by a system stacked in favor of corporations-- brought back all of the sadness and helplessness. But it also made me realize this sadness is a natural response to what we and our non-human allies have been experiencing. And the workshop didn't end there; it provided us with tools to work on the local level to protect our natural environment (which is what sustains us after all is said and done). It inspires me to think of coming together with friends and neighbors (and the friends I haven't met yet in my community). And I could see potential for networks of communities coming together to weave a web of protection. Now I see what Paul was talking about happening all over the world. There are no guarantees, but there never have been. It gives us a challenge worth taking on."