peace team curriculum materials

List of Possible Exercises for local peace teams   by Rosy Betz-Zall 9/2012

1.   confidence and competence building     Peace Team Visualization

2.   Listening skills:     Affirmation part of C-LARA as a whole group exercise

   Team Building:  3.   Introduction or closer: Poem of Hope created by the circle of people.

  4.    Bump and Thank-Light and Lively

  Self Calming:    5.  Slowing breath.

6.   entering exercise—willow tree and rock

   Skills needed during the act of serving as a peace team:   7.    a) WPT-Peripheral Vision Exercise—b) centering exercise—willow tree and rock. c). Slowing breath.  d)  Bump and thank     8.  Distraction and Redirection exercise–

Empathy:  9.  Needs and Hurts –Empathy Building:  Intellectually developing empathy

10.   Circle of Truth:  from Janet Chilsolm

 

Crisis Debriefing Support:   11.   Intro: Why it is needed

  12.   Debriefing Support, longer version-Post-Action 2012

13.     The Huddle:  used-pre and post action

14.      Role Play’s  neighbor confronts an identified peace team member, they do not        want the peace team in their neighborhood

Role Play Scenario: Andres’s re gang clothing.

Role Play:  Food Bank

Distraction and Redirection: quick mini role plays

 

15.     Peace Team Stories:  …WPT and individuals  Story 1,2,3, Witnessing and Nonviolent presence, Story 4 Presence, Story 5, 6, Interpositioning

 

EXERCISES

1.   Peace Team Visualization

Goal: confidence and competence building, give people a chance to explore NCI actions they might take with their only their own guidance-not looking to someone else for the answers, encourage independence and trust in their own intuition

Introduction:  Ask people to close their eyes and begin to do some deep breathing in order to be grounded and centered. Tell them to keep breathing deeply while you tell them about the next exercise.  (You can use any way to help people prepare for a visualization exercise that works for you and your group).  “I am going to set up a situation/a story line/a scenario, and you are going to imagine your response.  Let yourself dream of some way to help out in this specific situation. There are many possible answers/many possible responses to this situation.                  I am going to have you imagine walking with friends on a nice night. There’s a warm breeze. You are all in a good mood having had a great dinner together and great conversation.  These friends you are with just happen to be part of the peace team.  You all got together for a fun evening, and now find yourselves at the scene of a minor fender-bender that just now took place at the intersection you are approaching.  There are just drivers involved and they get out of their cars and start yelling at each other.  What do you and your friends do?  REMEMBER, ENTERING INTO THE SITUATION WITH CALM, FRIENDLINESS, AND PERHAPS SURPRISE, MAY HELP. Keep thinking about what those yelling people need, too.”

After about 5 minutes have people begin to come out of their visualization and ask them to show a sign that they are back in the present time, e.g. open their eyes or raise their hand briefly. When everyone is back in the present…

Debrief:      Take some time to shake off the feelings.       What did you do?   What kinds of NCI techniques did you or your invisible partner’s use? Were you able to hold onto calm during the visualization?  What felt good about what you did?  After listening to others responses are there actions that you would take that you didn’t take during the visualization?

2.    Affirmations— part of the C-LARA technique    (8-10 minutes)   

          Whole group exercise—can be continued as pairs or triads  

Equipment:  a flip chart of C-LARA and what each part stands for and provocative statement list

Introduction:  We’ve already done    Calm    and   Listening.    Now let’s look at the whole technique—Use the flip chart of C-LARA.  Facilitator may need to review all the steps and then concentrate on Affirm.   We’re going to spend time working on the Affirm part of C-LARA.  What does it say about affirming?   We affirm a truthful connection with the person to whom we are listening.   Listening deeply and well is critical for de-escalation.  How do you know if what you’re saying is an affirmation?   It is the gut reaction the speaking person feels when you reply that tells you if you are actually affirming them.  When I am affirmed, I feel relieve and less stressed.  I feel ‘heard’ when I am affirmed.   I feel more open when the affirmation is working and closed down when it is not working for me.  An affirmation that works for one person may not have the same effect on another person, so you have to keep your empathy antennae working. It is just fine to keep listening and asking clarifying questions even when we think we know what the speaker means.

Think about basic human needs when searching for an affirmation.   Feel free to connect with and tentatively name the emotion or need that the person is expressing.        

 The facilitator can choose to give the group some simple gestures to show the listeners whether their affirmations are working for the provocative person.      I am going to show you some signals the provocative person can use to show how the attempts at affirmation are feeling to them.                            Signals:           Neutral: hands at rest in lap,    Opening (Affirming): both arms opening outward from neutral          Closing (not affirming): both arms folding over chest.

Facilitator: First do one or more examples in front of the group.  Have someone read a provocative statement and embellish on it while the facilitator tries to verbalize an affirmation. The person who is reading the provocative statement could use the hand signals to show their reaction to your words.

Then have another person read a provocative sentence and ask the whole group to search for an affirmation.   A good list of provocative sentences is found in the NCI handbook, e.g.  PARENT AND TEENAGER AND MESSY ROOM, or TROOP SUPPORTER AND ANTI-WAR PROTESTOR.

The group can then move on to work in pairs or groups of 3 with one observing and helping to discover affirmations as in the NCI handbook.      Pass out provocative statement sheets—one to each pair—not to each person. One person reads the statement and the other person tries to react with the C-LARA method just up through the affirmation.      Participants can use a provocative statement from their own life if they wish. This can lead to ways of connecting with someone  that are unexpected and that will help out in your own life.

Debrief:   What affirmations did you come up with?  What worked?  What was hard?  Anyone have an idea for an affirmation for the one that was hard?

 

3.   Poem of Hope

Goal: build community, foster hope,  connect people with their dreams and the dreams of others

Useful as an opening or closing circle

Introduction:  Share with the participants your sense of gratitude for their participation in the workshop. Ask people to take a minute to think of one word that describes how they want the future to be. Let people know it is OK to pass and that repeats are fine. We often share similar dreams about the future we are working to create.

Go Round the circle: with people speaking their word.

End by thanking people for the beautiful vision.

 

4.    Bump and Thank:   Light and Lively

Goal:  work on flexibility of behavior, responding differently in a circumstance we have all encountered in the past, feeling foolish so we can be foolish doing NCI when necessary, and team building fun.

Introduction:  Facilitator may want to talk about how this particular Light and Lively fits into skills needed to do NCI.  Then ask group to stand up (if possible) and place themselves around the room.   Direct everyone to begin milling around the room in different directions-kind of like gently robots.  When they bump into someone, they thank the person and then move off into a different direction. This continues for a few minutes.

Debrief:  Thoughts about this exercise?  Do you see/feel a relationship to the times you have done NCI?

 

5.   Slowing Breath:  useful for self-calming

 Goal:   help people learn another way to return to physical calmness from a state of fear or tension.  

Introduction:  This breathing exercise is useful in slowing our breathing and heart rate. It can also result in lowering our blood pressure. It is often used to diminish stage fright and so is very useful for anyone who is experiencing fear or stress. When we eliminate the physiological effects of fear,i.e.the shallow breathing and fast heart rate, our minds are more open to the idea that we are in control of ourselves and we can relax.

What you do to slow your breath:  This exercise can be done sitting or standing.

Just continue to breathe normally as I tell you how to do this slowing breath exercise.  You are going to count the beats of the breath that you are currently taking, and then when you breathe our you are going to add one beat to that amount. When you breathe in again you will breathe in the amount of beats that you just breathed out. Each breath out will add on a beat until it feels like you are breathing deeply. At that point you breathe an even amount of time in and out.  You may find that on the way to deep breathing you take several breaths with the same amount of beats.  This is perfectly normal and don’t let it bother you.  Each of us has a different lung capacity and also a different feeling of the timing of our breaths.     Please go ahead and practice for the next 1 or 2 minutes.

 

6.    Centering:  Physical and Emotional    Push and Center in pairs

Goal: develop a grounded and calm personal presence, work on physical ways to recover your center when upset, and recognize the benefit of calm centering for a peace team member

Introduction: Facilitator can talk about why centering is an important skill for a peace team member.  The way we look (relaxed and friendly or tense and worried) and present ourselves at an action really effects how we are perceived by those around us.  Staying centered helps us to stay focused on the present moment.  (Can also mention how remaining relaxed and centered and breathing deeply can lower your blood pressure. )

1. Have people stand in a circle with loose (not locked) knees start to rock back and forth and from side to side in order to find their own balance point.  2.   Have participants find partners in order to practice both tense and relaxed stances. Partners ask each other if it is OK to push each other gently on the shoulder or in the sternum area.  Then partners take turns being pushed while tense and then being pushed while relaxed.

Debrief:  Have people get back into a circle. Facilitator asks about the differences in what it felt like to be pushed while tense or relaxed.  How was the breathing different? What can you do to go back to relaxed? Was relaxed perceived as weak or open?

Variation (Willow and Rock): feeling like you are a willow when pushed or like a rock.  The willow is like the relaxed stance, but the rock is like the immovable force in Aikido.  It can be a very grounded stance The person who is an immovable force is still relaxed and breathing deeply unlike a tense person who is breathing shallowly.

End:    Everyone please show your most calm and open way of being.

 
7.          Peripheral Vision Exercise
Purpose/Rationale

Awareness of surroundings is important during any action. (If time, get participants input about why this is important. If not, will discuss more in debrief.)

We tend to look straight ahead and ignore our peripheral vision, especially when stressed.

This exercise reminds us how far to the sides we can actually see when we use our peripheral vision.

So, we are going to use this exercise to test the range of our peripheral vision.

 

Instructions   (Before participants stand up, tell them what you will be asking them to do and find out if there are any questions. Ask again for questions before walking around holding up fingers. You can also demonstrate how to move arms during the explanation.)

Stand up and place yourselves around the room.

Leave enough space between you to stretch your arms out to the side.

Look straight ahead throughout this exercise.

Raise your arms shoulder height in front of you.

Start wiggling your fingers.

Continue wiggling your fingers while moving your arms out to the side, still at shoulder height.

Remember to look straight ahead.

See how far you can move your arms out to the sides and still see your fingers wiggling.

Some of you may find you are moving your arms a bit behind you.

Find the place where you can still see your wiggling fingers, but cannot if you move your arms further.

You have found the limits of your peripheral vision,

Begin to walk around the room with your arms out as far as your peripheral vision extends.

I will be walking around the room holding up different numbers of fingers.

Don’t look directly at me.

Use your peripheral vision to see how many fingers I am holding up.

Call out the number.

Now just stand still and notice what you can see in your surroundings using your peripheral vision.

Shake out your arms and take a seat.

 

Debrief

What were the surprises in this exercise (i.e. did you realize how much, how little, you can observe using peripheral vision)?

What about using peripheral vision will be helpful during an action (i.e. knowing the location of your buddy, noticing something out of the ordinary happening off to the side)?

How come we are not always aware of and using our peripheral vision (i.e. Distracted by so many things in front of us, tending to focus straight ahead as when using computer.)?

What will help you to remember to use your peripheral vision during an action?   Any other comments, ideas about this exercise?    Thanks!

 

8.    Distraction and Redirection:  quick mini role plays

Goal:  Give people practice in the entry stage into de-escalation, develop and practice practical ways to distract and redirect people involved in a verbal conflict

 Introduction: When we look for ways to de-escalate a conflict the best time to act is as close to the beginning of the anger cycle as possible.  This is when you’ll usually hear voices beginning to be raised, bodies moving with more agitation.  That is the time to begin de-escalation.

     SCENARIO: You can use the same scenario for each type of intervention, e.g.    2 people are in an argument because one is carrying a sign that really disgusts the other person.

Divide the group up into small groups of 3.  Each person will have a chance to do each role in the role play. That is, the role play will be done 3 times, one time with each kind of intervention, and each time people will play a different role. Have the group brainstorm what actions a person could take just before each role play, think creatively.  See if you can stay calm, remain centered, and keep breathing while doing your intervention.

a)      Peace team intervenor asks for Help…directions, car needs starting, can I get help moving these chairs, etc.

b)      Peace team intervenor  interposes self between the conflicting people-just by “obliviously” walking through, by facing one or the other, by being at an angle to one of the conflictor,

c)       Peace team intervenor offers something….. help with…, want a cookie, want water,

Debrief each role play as it finishes:  It looks like all of us have something to learn from this.  It is not easy to do and taking your time to observe the conflict first is good. Often the conflict will end with no intervention.  Ask the two in conflict:  what helped you out of your angry state? What action or words were de-escalating for you? Ask the intervenors: were you able to stay calm?

 

9.      Needs and Hurts—Empathy Building:

Goal: Develop the concept of Needs/Interests, see how each group may have the same needs, empathy building

Intellectual small group work about empathy begin with Maslow’s list of needs or something similar — Total time (20 min)

Get into Groups of 6 people-if 18 count off by 1,2,3            We all have basic human needs that are part of being alive on planet earth—food, water, etc..  When involved in a conflict if we can focus on the needs that others are trying to get met we can make more sense of what they are asking of us.   We need to listen in positive way and find ways to affirm the kernel of truth that is in every one we meet, even people we are in conflict with.  We can do that by listening for their underlying needs and interests.This way we can empathize with them and affirm that they have a right to these needs (maybe they could meet their needs in a different way, but they certainly have needs we can relate to).  

  Brainstorm and Flip list of basic HUMAN NEEDS.  Tell people they can add to this needs list in their small group work, too)   

Below is an example of the hurts and needs chart

        Palestinians

Hurts                              Needs
              Israelis

Needs                                   Hurts

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

. Each group can choose a conflict to work on.             What other opposing groups are possible besides the one in the example, e.g.  Palestine/Israeli, or police/inner-city residents, whalers/environmentalists, others?    We won’t be dealing with the power issues that these groups might represent    Each small group choose one conflict to work on or every group can do the same conflict.   15 minutes to work in small group. Each group please choose reporter to report back to the large group.  Have groups write on a big sheet of paper.    

 Debrief:     what was surprising about the needs listed?  What were commonalities?  Did you find points of common interest?

10.     C ircle of Truth   (originally learned from Janet Chisolm)

Goal:  Empathy building, learning about nonpartisanship/multi-partisanship from the inside out, building our capacity to connect with each person from their perspective, deep listening-to our own heart and to the hearts of others.

Facilitator chooses, ahead of time, a negative action that is impacting the community and has several roles that people can imagine themselves into, e.g. a setting in Israel: Circumstance: there has just been stones thrown and shots fired.  Roles could include a Palestinian, a Jewish settler, a peace team member, a young Israeli soldier. CARDS WITH EACH ROLE ARE CREATED AHEAD OF TIME.

Introduction:  This exercise is about building our empathy muscles.  Each of us will be putting ourselves into several other peoples shoes and trying to say an “I feel” sentence from their perspective.  We will be looking with love, without judgment, into the heart of each character in this exercise. This is not about trying to explain our character’s actions, just their deepest, most heartfelt feelings.  This exercise can bring difficult feelings to the surface for participants, so please feel free to talk with me or another facilitator after the training about this if they don’t get resolved today.

I have chosen to use the example of a recent police shooting in Seattle–the shooting of the late John T. Williams—does anyone not know what I am talking about?  If so, explain the circumstances.     Roles: family member of John T. Williams, the police person who shot him, peace team bystander, police chief.

Have a group of 4 demonstrate the physical movement of this role play.  The role cards are placed on the floor in a circle facing out. Each person stands in front of a card, head bowed, then turns away, thinks of their one or two sentences of feelings, turns back to face into the circle. When all are facing in, each will take a turn to speak. This turn taking can be in order around the circle, or who feels moved to speak next.   When each has spoken everyone moves to the left to stand in front of the next card and repeats the actions in the same way.—  Facilitator can say: When your group is done please sit down together in silence to let the other circles finish.

Debrief: Shake off your feelings, please.  Possible questions: What stood out for you during this exercise? What did you hear or feel that surprised you? Do your view of people you might ordinarily view as your opponent change?

 

11.      DEBRIEFING/SUPPORT:  WHY IT IS NEEDED

 

Post-Action DEBRIEFING

 

The purpose of the Debriefing/Support Group is to give Washington Peace Team

Members  the opportunity to talk about how we experienced an action. Such discussions

help us to understand and normalize our reactions and to get a better sense of what

we might need before, during and after an action. We are focusing on how we felt and

thought, not what we did. So this is not a critique. For most of us, ideas do come up

about what we could do differently. These are important and can be brought to the next

team meeting. In the group, we want to listen to each other, understand our reactions

and not be distracted from the immediate experiences by critiques. As in all groups,

confidentiality is an issue. We can limit what we tell people in our networks to our own

experiences.

 

Getting an overall picture of what happened:

In many situations, we only have a part of the story. There is no way any one of us can

track everything that has occurred. By sharing information, we can help each other fill

in the blanks so we have a more complete description of what occurred. Questions can

help remind us of the specifics: Where was I when it happened? What was I doing? What

was going on around me? Who was close to me? What were the sights, smells, sounds,

physical contacts? Many people find this one of the most important parts of the group:

being able to have more information and different perspectives to better understand what

occurred.

 

What were our reactions:

Each of us may react differently before, during and after an action. Our reactions may

even vary between actions. There are no right or wrong ways to think or feel. Questions

can help us remember our emotional, cognitive, physical, and behavioral responses: What

was I thinking when this occurred? What were the feelings I had during different parts of

the action? What was I doing with my body? What physical sensations did I experience?

What were some of my behaviors? Again, this is not a critique. It is a chance to have very

specific descriptions of our reactions. Knowing our responses can also help us understand

what we need during an action.

 

Looking into the future:

Thinking about what we need before, during and after an action can enable us to get the

support we want. Some of us may have delayed reactions to an action i.e. we go home

and find we cannot stop thinking about it, feel anxious, worried, or scared even though

we did not feel that way in the moment or immediately after. There are physiological

reasons this happens, so it is important to know how we can care for ourselves. Talk with

a team member, go for distraction like movies reading, etc., be with friends who laugh,

take time alone, exercise, do the calming exercises, whatever healthy choices work for

our self-care.  If we are concerned about ongoing symptoms like flashbacks, lack of sleep,

or lack of appetite, it certainly makes sense to consult a professional.

 

12.    Debriefing/Support  Longer Version – Post Action
Washington Peace Team
                                        2012

Purpose:

Everyone gets an opportunity to talk about how action affected them

Reduce symptoms of possible trauma

Get a better sense of our individual and group needs for future actions

 

How:

Any member can ask for a debriefing/support group

Request can be made in post group huddle or a call to another member

We may not realize a group would be helpful until after the action

Attendance is voluntary; however, it is very useful if everyone attends

Team member(s) takes responsibility for setting it up or asking for help

from team member not at action

 

When:

Debriefing/support group held as soon as possible after action

Buddies or other team members support each other until then

 

Set up:

Facilitator can be:

someone in group, who was not at action,

an outside person or

a team member at action who feels able to lead group rather than be a participant

 

The Debrief Session: Ground Rules

Ground Rules below are described at the beginning by Facilitator:

There is no right or wrong way to think or feel

Participation is voluntary, however Facilitator can ask questions

of people not participating who can be grateful or say lay off!!

What team members share is confidential

Team members can, of course, discuss their own reactions with

people in their network

The focus is on how we thought and felt

After Ground Rule discussion, Facilitator asks for agreement on ground rules

Peace Team Debriefing/Support Group – Long  Version

 

What Debriefing/Support Group is not:

The group is not the time for critiques of the action

No one wants to feel criticized and unsafe when talking about

how they are thinking or feeling

Ideas about how Peace Team can improve are very important and

can be discussed at a meeting for that purpose

 

 

 

After Ground Rules-Fact Finding

This is a very important part of the group. Each team member has seen a part of what

happened in the action. Putting these pieces together assists in getting a more complete picture, Some people find this  the most useful part of the Debriefing.

Each participant relates the facts of what they observed and experienced

Facilitator can help with questions like:

Where were you when this happened?

What were you doing?

What was going on around you?

Who was close to you?

What were the sights, smells, sounds, physical contact you experienced?

Facilitator and group members summarize the “whole picture”

 

Personal Reactions: Physical, Emotional, Behavioral, Cognitive

Discussing reactions helps to defuse some of the intensity and to understand

possible delayed responses

Everyone can react differently before, during or after an action

Knowing other team members also had a variety of reactions

assists with diminishing feelings of isolation

There may even be differences in reactions between actions

There is no right or wrong way to think and feel

Emphasize that this is not a critique of the action

Being aware of responses is also useful to know what will personally be

helpful before, during and after an action

Facilitator can help with questions like:

What were you thinking when this occurred?

Peace Team Debriefing/Support Group Long Version

 

 

What were the emotions you experienced?

What physical sensations did you experience?

What were you doing with your body?

What were some of your behaviors?

Facilitator and other group members can summarize the reactions

that occurred, noting common and different reactions

 

Planning into the Future:

Facilitator and group members review reactions and discuss those

that might continue or arise after the action

Delayed reactions are possible such as continuing to think a lot about the

action, feeling anxious, worried, scared, angry, some form of physical distress,

changes in sleep or appetite, flashbacks of the action

Facilitator and group members discuss the physiological reasons for

responses

Facilitator and group members discuss making specific plans for individual self care,

including talking with friends, distractions like funny movies, reading, exercise,

having alone time, doing calming stress reducing exercises, talking with buddy

 

If reactions continue and are disturbing, consulting a professional might be a good idea

Everyone in the group has a plan for self-care

 

Closing:

Team members discuss if a meeting is needed to discuss strategies related to the past      action that can be useful for future action

Everyone says what the Debriefing/Support group was like for them

Everyone shares appreciation

 
13. The Huddle
Goal:   a way to have Peace Team member contact immediately before and after   an action
 
Pre-Action
Calming and grounding exercises
Stating last minute concerns –be specific, concrete
Review strategies, roles, and buddies

 Post-Action
Calming and grounding  exercises
How am I feeling? Specific, concrete
What am I thinking? Specific, concrete
What do I need? Specific, concrete: Talk with buddy, other Peace Team member, request Debrifing/Support Group
If no has requested one, is a Debriefing/Support Group needed?
Who will organize goup
Remind each other request can be made later as can phone calls to talk about action?
Is strategy meeting needed?
Who will organize strategy meeting?
Congratulations and appreciation

 14. 

Role Plays and some suitable for spectrum of appropriate/inappropriate actions for peace teams:     

Andre’s role plays:  you are being a peacekeeper at a demo. And someone comes up to you who is very indignant that you are there. They don’t want peace keepers to be there.   They want you to leave immediately.  Debrief:   shake off the role.   What felt good?  What worked?  Body language?

Andre’s role plays:    Peace team member witnesses a neighbor confronting a young person because they think the young person’s clothes show they are a gang member.  The neighbor doesn’t want any gang members around.  Peace team person, who is also a neighbor intervenes.

Basic Scenario 1:  A small food bank with lots of people being served.      Can be used for spectrum

Chicken distribution table:   People ordinarily receive one chicken for a family.

1. The volunteer in charge of the meat gives out more than one chicken:   The peace team member stands by watching, or, the peace team member yells at the volunteer that it was unfair, or, the peace team member goes and tells the manager.

2.  A client of the food bank starts yelling at the chicken distributor to give him 2 chickens.   It looks like the volunteer is beginning to get angry as well—it has been a long day of handing out meat for 6 hours in the cold and rain.    Peace Team members:    stand by to see if assistance will be needed, or, casually move forward so that the person wanting more chickens can see that a peace team member is nearby, or, offers to help give out chickens, or,  tries to distract the client and communicate that each family gets one chicken.

3. Pushing in Lines:  Everyday when the numbers are given out people get into very tight lines and often there is discomfort about the closeness of each person to the next.  Some pushing ensues.     The peace team stands nearby watching for any verbal or physical conflicts developing, or, a member or 2 of the peace team goes into the thickest part of the line and stands near people who are feeling uncomfortable talking to them with words such as “everyone will get their food today”, or,  …

4.  Fairness in Line

We will be doing a role play with both the food bank lines going in and also people will be inside the food bank distribution room.  Describe the physical layout of the room and line:  here on the map see the space.  People enter here and move between the shelves in a counter-clockwise fashion. Each shelf has a certain kind of food. E.g. grains, or vegetables, or meat, or fruit. The vegetables and meat are the most important shelves to most of the people and that is where the most conflicts take place.

Roles:  staff       volunteers      guests      peace team

Someone cuts into the seating arrangement and doesn’t understand the system. Two languages are represented, one person says,”Step Back,” the other person knows just enough English to say “what?” They start to get angry at each other.  (Maybe someone else in line who speaks their language can help the situation—PT member could ask for help.

5.  Early Morning at the food bank:  Before 7am, cold, rainy, and dark. People are huddled out of the rain under the awning sitting if they can or standing, some standing out in the rain.  Peace Team job is to introduce selves if it seems correct to do so,  and to hand out the peace team vision statement that is translated into  at least 8 languages.

6.  NUMBERS BEING GIVEN OUT SOON:  7:55am. Almost time for the distribution numbers to be given out. Surge of tension in line. Peace team has made plans ahead of time.  How can we best position the Peace Team to help out as the numbers are given out.

DEBRIEF:   remind about cross-cultural issues that can play a part (eye contact, gestures), the fact that at a food bank and many other places we can be acting to help out and so will not be taking leadership or worry about right and wrong.  We will be concerned with safety for all and de escalating situations.

 15.    Peace Team Stories:  Washington Peace Team and individuals

Story 1,2,3, witnessing and presence, Story 4 Presence, Story 5,6 Interpositioning

1. Witnessing/Presence:  Intervention of 2 people fighting in the yard.

Two young men stop their trucks abruptly out on the road near my house.  They jump out and start fist fighting. I leave the house and walk up near them and say “hello, I am just standing here to make sure things go OK.”  They looked vaguely embarrassed and soon get into their individual trucks and drive away. (Rosy)

2. Witnessing/Presence: Intervention at traffic accident near home.

I heard the noise of two cars running into each other followed by yelling. I left my house and saw that one woman was yelling at the other.  I walked up to them with a concerned, friendly expression and asked if anyone was hurt. No one was hurt. One driver had someone with her, so I felt she had someone to talk with. She was calling the police and I ended up focusing on the person doing most of the yelling. Gradually the yelling person calmed down and both drivers were calm by the time the police arrived. (Rosy)

3. Witnessing/Presence:    Intervention with man hitting a woman late at night.     I worked near Seattle Center and several times a month would be driving home late at night. I always drove on an underpass below a major 4 lane highway. One night, around 1a.m., I was driving home from work—this was about 8 years ago.  I was in a very low traffic area of Mercer St.—for some reason that night no one was driving that way.   I saw a man and a woman walking on the sidewalk.  The man was hauling the woman along by one arm and occasionally hitting her.  What I did was slow my car down so I was next to them.  I opened the window and asked the woman if she would like a ride with me or if there was anything I could do for her—was she OK?   As soon as I started talking the man stopped hitting her and released her arm. I figured, at that point, if she wanted to, she could dash into my car. The woman responded that she was OK and kept on walking with him.   I slowly drove my car along until they got out to the intersection up from under the bridge. I wish that she had wanted to get clean away from him, but my guess is they were in a relationship with each other.

My actions that night contained several elements of nonviolent conflict intervention:  witnessing, interrupting violence, distraction, and solidarity.

(Rosy)

4. Presence: Rainier Valley Food Bank: See the History of WPT for the story of how WPT got involved, how we interacted with the Guests (introductions, vision translated, supplied music, and lots of nonverbal interactions about the weather and how long the wait was, assurances that everyone would get food).  We were there to make it easier for the volunteers and staff to give out the food.  Results that the staff and volunteers said they felt that people were calmer, there was less shoving, several arguments were de-escalated by simply walking near or between the people with the conflict.

5. Interpositioning:  WPT members and confrontation by 2 groups at occupy.

Fall 2011      Education Day at Occupy Seattle: rally and march of over 2000 people. Handed leaflets about WPT out at rally to many demonstrators and  to many bicycle police. One policeman wished we could be there next week at the Anti-Police Brutality march and rally. Three women on the team de-escalated by forming a line between group of 15demonstrators and a group of 4 counter-protestors (you won’t go to heaven message).  Asha, Kate, and I saw the group of men about 20 feet from the counter-protestors suddenly move to within 5 feet of them and took action. Here is how one of the team (Kate Krieg) described what happened that day starting before the especially intense interaction.  “Seeing you and Asha there (at Westlake Center where the rally was) immediately made me feel more powerful and calm about the potential of handling any conflict situation, or our ability to create peace in general.

Getting the green vest on my body was like an instant magnet, because not 2 seconds later, a couple approached me and asked, “Who are you with and what is the Washington Peace Team?” I think the vests are a good signal for people to approach and ask questions.

I liked walking around the perimeter of the park and seeing the different groups that had formed and the feeling of the different spaces within the park. While I was walking around, I was thinking, “Are there any spaces/places/groups that look like they have the potential to not stay peaceful?” I got the sense that everyone was generally peaceful.

As Asha and I walked to the corner to meet for the march to the bank, we saw that a man preaching extreme or conservative Christian sayings was garnering a crowd. We just stood and watched. At one point, I know you joined us on the corner. After you joined us, a man wearing overalls starting blowing cigarette smoke into the Christian man’s face from about 2 feet away (less?). I know Asha and I weren’t quite sure what to do, and we kept watching. I think it was at this point that the crowd surged toward the Christian man, and it seemed like without warning that many people in the crowd were gawking at and teasing the Christian man. Almost as quickly as the crowd had surged, the crowd backed up again. I don’t know why. I think this is when I noticed that you had moved to talk with the man holding a sign next to the Christian that said something like, “God hates people who hate people.” I was thankful that you had seen this as a potential source of conflict and moved to talk to him. Asha and I quickly conferred and decided to hold hands and stand between the Christian and smoke blower. We just stood there in mostly silence and talked to each other (and inhaled that man’s smoke!). At some point I suggested that the Christian man might move to another corner–he got agitated by this suggestion. I also noticed a bike cop right behind us while all this was happening, and the bike cop seemed to willingly ignore what was happening or seemed totally oblivious–not sure. I know that the guy you were talking to with the sign also got agitated and yelled at Asha and I at some point–but I was confused by his anger and wasn’t sure what it was about; I don’t remember what he said. I was so glad that you continued to talk with him, and I saw you smiling at him after this. I thought, “Wow, that is so great that Rosy stayed calm and friendly toward that guy.”

I liked marching with the crowd to the bank, but wasn’t sure if taking part in the call and responses would make me seem “not neutral.” But, by not taking part I also thought I was taking a particular stand against the marchers. At the end of the march that led to Chase bank, I felt a little ineffective in trying to let people know that they could/should go around the crowd to spread out on the street (gender? height?). And, I felt ineffective when trying to ask people to move in front of the cross-walk when cops were trying to get it clear to let traffic through. Maybe I was being perceived as in an “authority” role and people seemed to be ignoring me. Other people were really nice and thankful for the information about where they could stand/walk etc. I stayed with you, your roommate, and Asha for a little bit at Chase bank and we were human microphones for a little bit. I thought it was great that a woman from the crowd stood up and emphasized that the event should be non-violent and that we should continue to be peaceful. After a little while longer (30 minutes?), I left.

I was happy to contribute in whatever way I could and to feel a sense of community from the peace team members. It was also great to get hands-on peace team experience and to see you in action!

 

Thanks Rosy!

 

Have a good weekend,

Kate”

 

My recollection is that I had just joined Asha and Kate when we spotted the surge forward of a group toward the counter-protestors.  Kate, Asha, and I told each other we needed to take action and joined hands and stepped between the two groups.  The counter-protestors had their heels against the curb in a place with dangerous traffic directly behind them. I know I wanted to make sure that they were not pushed into traffic.  As we three women stood together facing the larger group I realized that the crowd was stable for the moment so was able to continue to hold onto Asha linked to Kate, but also turn around and focus on the person who had been the first to start blowing smoke at the counter-protestors.  I talked with him about how everyone here had a right to their own opinion and asked his….As I was focused on him I also saw that the bicycle police were directly behind the counter-protestors and I believe that their goal was to protect us all from traffic.  The crowd stood in front of the counter-protestors for about 10 minutes, with at least one other blowing smoke directly into the lead person’s face, before moving back.  All this time Kate and Asha faced the crowd with a friendly, open posture.  (Rosy)

 

 

6.  Interpositioning: WPT standing between bike police/standing police and a woman demonstrator with a bike (Anti-Police Brutality March in 2011, Seattle)

This rally and march was personally difficult for me. I arrived after the rally was over and the march had been moving for at least 30 minutes . I checked in with several people from WPT who needed to leave. They had already been serving for more than 2 hours. I checked in with Diane Dunn and Carlos and we formed an affinity group. The march leaders had not explained the exact route. We did know that we were going to be stopping at several places, e.g. the federal courthouse and the downtown police station.  As soon as I started to walk along with the march I noticed that a woman was in the march on her bike.  The march was surrounded by bicycle police as we walked down 2 lanes of the downtown streets. This particular woman was verbalizing a continuous stream of invectives and sexual slurs to the police person that she rode beside. My instinct was that she was not mentally unbalanced, but was having fun with this and perhaps could be de-escalated.  I decided that I wanted to be near her to monitor the level of tension that was created. As I walked I tried to think of ways to intervene with her to help her move away or change her behavior. During this time I took several personal breaks to check in with Carlos and Diane (my team-and the only WPT people still at the march) and get hugs from them to de-escalate my own tension. This continued for several hours. When the march stopped at the police station there was a double row of police standing guarding the station. Bicycle police were in front and police without bikes stood  behind them.  The police were not in riot gear. I had talked with Diane and Carlos about the woman on bike and we observed her at the front pressed up against the police with her bike. We felt that there was a strong possibility of violence by the police or by her and worked our way through the dense crowd to right next to her. Joining hands, and at times wrists, we stood between her and the police facing in 2 directions. Two of us had part of her bike between our legs. I don’t think she was conscious of that. She was still continuously verbalizing negatively to the police.  At one point she did try to lift her bike up in order to hit the police. While I was right next to her I was whispering to her that I could understand her feelings and wondered if what she was saying was going to help out in the long run. She continued and I looked around and saw that the crowd around looked very interested in what was going to happen. Meanwhile, most of the marchers had left to continue the march. After many minutes of watching her and the crowd around us, it finally dawned on me to ask, “Is anyone here her friend? I am really worried that she will get hurt.” I might have repeated this statement a couple of times in different ways. One young man soon stepped forward, talked with her, and in a few minutes persuaded her to rejoin the marchers. (Rosy)