This weekend 50ish people gathered at the Cabrini retreat Center a little north of Chicago to build the RYSE , RAN , SEAC networks. I went to meet up with other folks who have been working in their own communities all across the north american continent and to hear the stories they brought from their homes. Sometimes it takes being in a room full of strangers to realize how similar you are. Take the tar sands project - I'd never even heard of it and yet as I listened, I couldnt help but draw the parallel lines between the struggle of the indigenous people of northern Alberta who can't fish from their river because its been poisoned as a result of the ever growing oil industry and the struggle in my own Appalachian community where people have sludge running out of their kitchen sinks in the name of cheap, dirty coal. It's all part of this global picture of oppression- corporate power exploiting those who may be more isolated or prejudiced against and who have been told they don't have big enough voices to stop it. My perspective was significantly adjusted and I really connected with the struggles people are facing all over the place, all fighting for (in the words of Clayton from the Indigenous Environmental Network) their basic rights for a healthy place to live, work, pray and play.