Author: Tawana Petty

Help Sustain Eclectablog

Help Sustain Eclectablog

It’s fundraising week here at Eclectablog, so I’m appealing to those of you who enjoy the content we provide to support us by making a donation. The sustainability of Electablog is especially important during this seemingly unpredictable administration, because the bloggers at here are committed to keeping you in the know and countering the false narratives as they come. Please […]

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photo from CNN.com

A Poem for Erica Garner

What becomes of the broken hearted? Ventricles rotted with despair Your father lost his air for us You shared your grief with us Y’all gave your lives for us A lineage of reluctant Ancestry Two bodies Deceased prematurely Molded out of tragedy Like Whitney and Bobby Kristina We grieve your tragic endings Though we watched you suffer publicly May the […]

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(photo by Tim Spannaus)

Anti-racism Organizing Has Staled

During this period in my life, I have found myself committed to participating in anti-racism organizing efforts that move beyond black people and other people of color trying to convince white people that they have privilege and white people admitting to that privilege. Those of us committed to anti-racism organizing need an entirely new conversation, one that has white people […]

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https://rebecca4plainfieldcouncil.blogspot.com/2013_01_01_archive.html

Our Movement Moment

The year 2017 has proven to be a year of movement nostalgia. From the 50th Anniversary of Dr. King’s Time to Break Silence speech, to the commemorations around the long hot summer of 1967 where rebellions sprung up all across the globe (most prominently in Detroit); to the ramping up of white counter-revolutionary forces and the reemergence of the Poor […]

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ORGANIZING IN DETROIT: WHY IT MATTERS TO ME

ORGANIZING IN DETROIT: WHY IT MATTERS TO ME

I am a social justice organizer who enjoys introducing conferences and other social justice initiatives to my great city, Detroit. However, it’s more than just organizing. It’s a responsibility that I find as difficult as I find rewarding. Detroit is a city that is over 80% black. It is a city that was disinvested in for many decades and, in […]

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22nd Annual PTO Conference comes to Detroit

22nd Annual PTO Conference comes to Detroit

The 22nd Annual Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed Conference (PTO) will be held in Detroit, Michigan from June 1st – 4th and Detroiters can attend the entire conference for just $30! The PTO conference will be in Detroit commemorating the 50th Anniversary of 1967 Detroit Rebellion and Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence – […]

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Detroit Joins Hundreds of Thousands to March for Climate Justice

Detroit Joins Hundreds of Thousands to March for Climate Justice

Three years ago, I was fortunate enough to join nearly 400,000 people in New York City for what has been called the “largest climate-change demonstration in history.” I was in NYC with water warrior, Monica Lewis Patrick of We the People of Detroit to attend the climate march and facilitate a workshop on water at the Church Center for the […]

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Let the Poems Fall Where they May

Let the Poems Fall Where they May

It’s been a bit difficult for me to blog these past few weeks with everything going on in the world. Fortunately, the poet in me has regained her inspiration to create. April is one of my favorite months of the year. It’s a month that encourages me to celebrate poetry every day. It’s a month where poetry isn’t just an add-on, […]

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Visioning a world beyond struggle: What it means to be human

Visioning a world beyond struggle: What it means to be human

This past weekend, I joined thousands at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) for the protest against Trump’s most recent inhumane decision, his temporary Muslim ban. As usual, it felt exhilarating to be among so many people with similar views on humanity. And as usual, I felt the familiar sense of deflated adrenaline when our protest came to an end after 2 hours of pre-planned […]

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America’s Truth: The Moment We Must Now Face

America’s Truth: The Moment We Must Now Face

This movement moment is calling on those of us who believe in the vision of Dr. King to respond. This movement moment is calling on us resist. But, what does resistance look like? In 2014, I published an article in the beloved, but now defunct, Michigan Citizen newspaper called, “A Time for Visionary Resistance”. In that article, I said in part: We […]

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I Too, Sing America

I Too, Sing America

I am a true believer in the power of poetry. After all, I have considered myself a poet since I was 7 years old. I can still recall the butterflies I felt in my stomach when my elementary school teacher had me read, and later perform Langston Hughes’s I Too, Sing America. It was a life changing experience. I grew up […]

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