Reversing the Missionary Position: Learning Solidarity on Mayan Time book/film event last night in Grand Rapids

Roughly 70 people attended the event I hosted last night to watch a film a made a few years ago about the work of accompaniment I did in Guatemala, El Salvador and Chiapas, Mexico, along with my book release.

The conversation was uplifting and the questions I was asked were heartfelt and important. Here are five points I wanted to make about the book:

1. Reversing the Missionary Position: Learning Solidarity on Mayan Time is the culmination of the work I have been doing since the mid-1980s, around resisting US economic and military policies in Central America and Mexico, and how those policies are the root causes of people coming to the US as undocumented immigrants.
2. What I mean by reversing the missionary position is that we need to both rethink how we show up in the world and how we need to take ownership of the fact that when we go to Guatemala, El Salvador or Mexico – either as tourists, Peace Corps workers or missionaries we are not practicing solidarity, but perpetuating white saviorism.
3. Instead of telling undocumented immigrants what they should do, we need to walk with them in solidarity, listening to what they want us to do and then to leverage our privilege to resist state terrorism in the form of ICE.
4. My book is also about how the people I worked with in Sanctuary in Grand Rapids and the people I did accompaniment with in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico and how they ultimately became my teachers, my mentors, especially around what solidarity looks like and how we need to show up for affected communities.
5. When I was doing accompaniment with people in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico, it was to reduce the chances of them being disappeared, tortured or murdered by their own military that the US was funding and training. Now, through GR Rapid Response to ICE we accompany people who fled state terrorism in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico only to be terrorized by the state in the form of ICE here in West Michigan. The reality is that many of the people GR Rapid Response to ICE does accompaniment with here in West Michigan are likely to have been from the same villages, same regions and maybe were even the children or neighbors of people I did accompaniment with in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.

I am including the 55 minute documentary here for those who were unable to attend last night.

I am hoping to screen this film again through West Michigan and to use it as a tool to talk about ICE terrorism in our communities. If you are part of community groups or organizations that would be interested in hosting a screening of the film please contact me at sjeff987@gmail.com.

You can also purchase copies of my new book from Schuler Books, you can contact me to obtain hard copies and for those who want it in digital form they can message me for PDF copies.