emergent strategy shaping change changing worlds by adrienne maree brown

Emergent strategy is a way that all of us can begin to see the world in life-code-awakening us to the sacred systems of life all around us. I love the scene at the end of The Matrix where Neo sees everything in green-on-black code. Laying in a hammock and watching mosquito mamas approach me, wait for my attention to wander so they can feed on my blood. Diving under the moving surface to see how everything humans leave in the water is repurposed as an ecosystem. The waves drifting me towards and then away from the shore, seabirds of all kinds flocking over the salty blue, pelicans dropping down and scooping schools of tiny fish into their big mouths. I came to this edge of Mexico to pull a book together because, a few years ago, it was here, near this tiny portion of the massive ocean, that I began to realize how important emergent strategy, strategy for building complex patterns and systems of change through relatively small interactions, is to me-the potential scale of transformation that could come from movements intentionally practicing this adaptive, relational way of being, on our own and with others. Something is injured in my knee, but I am feeling alive against my limits. I feel good, I’ve been meditating, picking up my yoga practice, biking the two miles to the beach when the sun comes out. It’s been raining for a few days and the air feels thick.

A car backfires and I flinch, a lizard peeks at me from the door. ¹Īs I am gathering and writing this book, there is a trail of ants moving along the ceiling of my room, and the sounds of a small jungle town coming in and out of the screened open windows, birds cawing, laughter, children’s delight emerging from that, then tears. Here you are, in the cycle between the past and the future, choosing to spend your miraculous time in the exploration of how humans, especially those seeking to grow liberation and justice, can learn from the world around us how to best collaborate, how to shape change. Now, another for the day and night coming. Take a breath for the day you have had so far.Īnd a breath for this precious moment, which cannot be recreated. Wherever you are beginning this, take a deep breath and notice how you feel in your body, and how the world around you feels. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed living, learning, and gathering it. This may only be a dream of mine, but I think it can be made real.įirst and foremost, thank you for opening this book. I dedicate this book also to the memory of Charity Hicks, who saw all the interconnected patterns as clear as day. She said, Transform yourself to transform the world. I dedicate this book to the memory of Grace Lee Boggs, who opened the door to emergence and pushed me through, who taught me to keep listening and learning and having conversations.

Emergent strategy shaping change changing worlds by adrienne maree brown