Solidarity

International solidarity is “not an act of charity but an act of unity between allies fighting on different terrains toward the same objectives.” - Samora Machel
“Unlike solidarity, which is horizontal and takes place between equals, charity is top-down, humiliating those who receive it and never challenging the implicit power relations.” - Eduardo Galeano

So the end of this meeting is in sight...  I've spent 35 hours of my time here in Poland stuck inside this godforsaken conference room... Wish I had more time.  

Poland's new president was sworn in two weeks ago, following a run-off election after that horrible airplane crash earlier this year which killed the former President.  Poland's first democratically elected president was the legendary Lech Walesa, Nobel Peace Prize winner and the founder of the Solidarity movement...  If you haven't heard of him, he's well worth knowing about, because his rise to power mirrored the decline and fall of the Soviet Union.  He did as much as anyone to expose the Soviet system of domination for what it was... Here's are a few great quotes from one of Poland's national heroes, and below is a passage explaining how this trade-union rabble rouser helped start a movement that helped bring down an empire...

"Established in September of 1980 at the Gdansk shipyards, Solidarity was an independent labour union instrumental in the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, and the primary catalyst that would transform Poland from a repressive communist satellite to the EU member democracy it is today. The Solidarity movement received international attention, spreading anti-communist ideas and inspiring political action throughout the rest of the Communist Bloc, and its influence in the eventual fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe cannot be understated or dismissed."