This Sunday members of the public met up with me and my friends for a Ceasefire Walk for Peace and Vigil in Steinbach. The walk ended at a piece of the Berlin Wall at the Mennonite Heritage Museum where we laid down 13000+ unfired clay flowers for those who have been killed in the violence between Israel and Gaza. Together we held vigil for those killed on both sides of this terrible conflict. Together we walked for ceasefire, liberation and peace.
As an artist I am interested in relational aesthetics. At this moment, I am interested in the way that the acts of creation can help us navigate differences and create bridges for dialogue without asking us to set aside our beliefs and values. At this point in my life as an artist I am interested in my practice being integrated with life–not contained or even containable in a gallery.
As as activist I am interested in doing something different. While I believe there is a need for protests, marches, and non-violent disruptions to change the world, I also think we need more practice finding bridges for collective liberation. To quote my favorite Nigerian philosopher and writer, Bayo Akomolafe, “Maybe how we respond to the crisis is part of the crisis.” I have reflected on these words and I am looking for uncommon pathways through the woods, something that is off the highway of dualisms that entrench us and keep us from the hard work of hearing each other’s voices.
Finally, as a human, a sister and a lover, I am interested in never losing sight of the dignity of each precious life in the web of all life. I am interested in pathways and habits that keep my heart soft in a hardening world.
Photo credits to my friends. See Instagram for tags.
Below are my speeches I made on Sunday.
Walk
Welcome Here.
Thank you for your presence, your willingness to be here together.
Land Acknowledgement–Treaty One Territory
We acknowledge this land, and it’s soils, are alive; powerful in spirit and mystery. The story of this land is lived by the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene, and it is from this soil that Metis Nation was born. We join this story and seek to live in right relations with all the beings of this place.
My name is Alexandra Ross. I wear many labels. I am an artist, an anarchist, and an American. These words identify and separate me, so perhaps more importantly:
I am a human, a sister, and a lover.
A human–tangled up in the web-of-all-life with human and other-than-human alike.
A middle sister–a rebel and peace maker; a bridge burner and bridge-seeker.
A lover–I love and cherish this life, this land, this planet, and those with whom I share breath.
It is in this spirit of interconnection, complex sister-hood, and love that I invite you to walk with me for ceasefire, liberation, and peace.
Walk with me for Ceasefire.
For this I borrow AOC’s declaration:
Ceasefire means release the hostages. All the hostages.
Ceasefire means stop the bombardment now.
Ceasefire means defend the innocent.
Ceasefire means transcend cycles of violence.
Ceasefire is not just realpolitik it is spiritual
We are being called to be higher than our history
We are being called to transcend the tit for tat
We are being called to transcend the sanitation of atrocities.
We are being called to center human value and dignity above all else.
Ceasefire is not just an option. It is our only way out of this.
Walk together for liberation. For this we practice the ‘politics of tenderness’ that Nigerian philosopher Bayo Akomolafe references. ‘The times are urgent’ he says, ‘let us slow down’ We slow our pace so that no one is left behind. Liberation for all under oppressive systems is a must. We call for an end to anti-semistim. We demand an end to the occupation of Palestine. We are not free until we are all free.
Walk together for peace. I welcome you to adopt the rebel-middle-sister way wisdom with me, looking for a crack in the structure. Find a bridge over the binary that severs us from seeing our shared humanity.
There is no place for hate here, no place for othering.
Let’s walk together to remember that true peace is inseparable from liberation.
For liberation to occur we must listen to each other.
To listen to each other we must be able to hear eachother’s voices.
To hear eachother’s voices we must stop the gunfire.
Walk together for a ceasefire.
Walk together for liberation.
Walk together for peace.
Practical notes: walk is 45 minutes. Stay on the sidewalk, follow traffic rules. Bring the flowers.
Vigil
Welcome Here.
Land Acknowledgement–Treaty One Territory
We acknowledge this land, and it’s soils, are alive; powerful in spirit and mystery. The story of this land is lived by the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene, and it is from this soil that Metis Nation was born. We join this story and seek to live in right relations with all the beings of this place.
Dear ones,
Thank you for being present here with each other today. Thank you for bringing your heart, your presence, your breath to this moment in time and space.
I invite you to lay down 13000+ flowers in silence with me for each person killed by violence between Israel and Gaza. Together let us mark and hold space for the 1200+ Israelis who lost their lives on October 7th—the largest massacre of Jewish civilians since the Holocaust. Let us mark and hold space for the 12000+ Palestinians who have been killed—the majority of whom are children.
Not very long ago, this piece of the Berlin Wall stood to divide Germany–East from West. Called the Iron Curtain, it divided the world into two separate factions and keep people from moving between physical places, evolving ideas and wisdoms. A hard line, a binary, a Dit-Sied and Yon Seid to physically mark the “us” vs. “them”.
At a time when walls are being built, hard lines being drawn, and blood shed in the shape of these faultlines, today in this moment we are choosing something different. We are choosing a politics of tenderness, a radical path to find the bridge back to centering human dignity. Here in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall, we witness that walls can come down. Hostilities can cease. A wall turned on it’s side becomes a bridge.
No one is born hating. You have to learn to hate. We were all of us children. Each of us watched the world around us and learned. Today we bear witness to where hate leads, and we show up to the work of liberation and peace making. If we can learn, we can also unlearn. Together we can teach our children and each other a different path.. A path of love. A path of liberation. A path of peace. We make a path by walking.
Practical notes:
Within each carton there are 100 unfired clay flowers. You are welcome to assist me in laying these flowers onto the earth. Before this I would like to ask for 14 volunteers to hold candles in a circle while we lay down the flowers. After this we will light the candles by the wall and hold a moment of silence.
[lay the flowers]
[light the candles]
Together let us take a moment to honor the dignity of each precious child, mother, aunty, brother, sibling, father, parent, uncle, elder, friend, neighbor killed by violence.
[Moment of silence]
Close:
Together we hold space for those who have been killed.
For those who have lost their loved ones.
and for those who wait in the unknown.
[prayer by Gary]
Peace upon you.
Peace upon us.
Peace upon this earth.
From the words of Octavia Butler:
“So be it. See to it.”
Alexandra Ross Works 
Such an amazing expression of solidarity. I love this.