The Common Fire Foundation! and Climbing Poetree!

so, this is going to be a two part post. this part is about the common fire foundation, started by jeff and kavitha in the hudson valley! (i helped!) jeff and kavitha are really amazing people, and i've been bumming recently that i haven't seen or talked to them in a while. they work so hard to contribute to the world in radical, creative ways, and i am blessed to know them. this video was shot maybe three years ago now, and if you look close enough....you can see me in the background of some of the shots! the footage is primarily from the grand opening ceremony for their super-green co-op building. the event was really fun and joyful. and they got julia butterfly hill and climbing poetree! how cool is that?

i love you, jeff and kavitha. i hope you are well. samiha too!



so, the second part of this post is about climbing poetree. after watching the previous video, you're probably asking yourself, "oh my god, who is climbing poetree? they are amazing." and i am here to reply that they are in fact amazing. i actually found that common fire video looking for videos that featured them (teehee). my friend anna just saw them perform and was blown away by them, which reminded that they are incredible.

i think that what is particularly powerful about the previous common fire video and the following two videos featuring climbing poetree is that both are examples of what is possible. in jeff and kavitha, we have two people who created a non-profit and coordinated the creation of the greenest building in the east, an accomplishment so big that they constantly had to remind people of their long-term commitments to social justice, camps, retreats, etc. and in alixa and naima, we have two women who have decided to let their lives be their vision, who have decided to speak out for justice, who have decided to create radical, transformative art, and who have decided to be alive for the sake of awakening the consciousness and collective power of the masses. not to mention that all of them are so much more than the sum total of these words...

whoah...and can i just say how amazing the poem in the second video is? i just got chills...it reminds me that i gotta start doing some shit. seriously.

thank you. thank you. thank you.

as my mentor trayce says, "you're allowed to shine."

www.commonfire.org
www.climbingpoetree.com