Blog: Gill Tract Reflections—On Boundaries and Consent

They've got the farm, and now they want our "." But these community outreach efforts feel like appeasement after the act, with nary a "thank you, ma'am" or apology in sight.

And see how easily I have collapsed into an oppositional use of "they!" With these words I have drawn a line, a boundary, between my imagined us and their imagined them. An indication of the nonconsensual nature of our relationship. The result of boundaries breached. 

And lots and lots of assumptions. 

There are lots of good things in this world, including fresh organic produce, joyous radical action, sex... but none of them are good if they are foisted on people who haven't explicitly asked for them or been able to negotiate the circumstances of their delivery.  

In some ways, Albany probably seemed the perfect, sleepy sitting duck for an action of this kind, but a little advance research into the nature of the community and its demographics would have revealed the kind of community relations nightmare that could daunt even the most experienced PR sharpie. 

For one thing, it's a very small town—16,148 people in 2009—with a lot of interwoven relationships. I don't know how many degrees of separation we have in Albany, but it's gotta be less than six. Like an island, what goes around can come around rather quickly. 

The median age here is a little over 36. One quarter of the people who live here are "foreign born," including the international scholars who live in University Village. It's not a place with much poverty; incomes (and the cost of living) are fairly high. But one of the striking statistics has to do with how people are employed in Albany: 21 percent in "educational services" and 17 percent in "professional, scientific, and technical services." 

Connecting the dots: Here's a place with quite a lot of people residing in housing on UC land, and probably also quite a high percentage of people studying and/or employed by the university or in collegial or neighborly relationships with people involved with the university. Like it or not, much of our housing and jobs are entwined with UC. What we know so well we may not like but, even so, I'm guessing that actions against the university may be a harder "sell" here than in many other places. 

What's a quickly cobbled together, grassroots, community relations campaign to do? 

Well, there's always positive spin to win those stubborn Albany hearts and minds: Doesn't it feel much sweeter to be "for" the farm than "against" the university? Look, vegetable seedlings! Turkey eggs! There's no denying that widespread urban agriculture is going to become a necessity in the . So why not get started now? 

Yeah, but... nobody asked us if we wanted to hook up. Or wanted to hook up with them. You know? No cultivation of prior relationship, no courtship, no chance to check the chemistry, no permission, no opportunity to say yes or no. And now that it's a done deal, we're supposed to like it and want more?

Farmers, don't you see? Planting the earth, making a garden and a farm - these are beautiful things. Just like certain forms of human relationships can be beautiful. But you gotta ask first, and let the other party have a say. Trying to make it up to us later, telling us we should have wanted it all along... well, that's junk. And if you are struggling to understand why some community members feel sour and resentful when you're all working so hard over there, it just might be because they never had a chance to consent, or even get to know you first. 

(P.S. There's still that little nagging question of worker's rights. Who among you are raising funds to feed, shelter and clothe the workers you've displaced?)