Marcus Kar on Transformation (Reconciliation, Healing, Growth)

Achieving Transformation: Marcus Kar is a native of “North” Minneapolis, a predominantly African-descent (African-American) community struggling to overcome racism, poverty, and other forms of American-institutional abuse. Marcus is program director for Youth Farm, “a multi-faceted youth development organization growing food and young leaders, healthy bodies and minds, positive identity, neighborhood connections, community opportunities, and healthy relationships.” In this interview he shares garden-grown wisdoms on how and where to find healing and healthy-self. His insights are extensive (see Quotes, below). He is interviewed by friend, Rev. Louis Tillman and AllCreation exec. editor, Chris Searles, as part of our collection, Envisioning Transformation.

Learn More

• Youth Farm
• Marcus’s LinkedIN
• Marcus’s compelling music  

PROGRAM
0:00 Intro

2:45 Who are you?

   > about Youth Farm 

   > 4:00 about Marcus

   > 5:20 about working w kids 

   > 6:00 about redirecting energy and cultural identity

   > 7:30 about his homegrown Minneapolis Food Council 

   > 8:40 about his nature healing / nature wealth movement 

   > 10:00 on success & his vision

11:30 Does is take a village to raise a child?
   > 15:00 On separation and learned-behaviors

   > 15:50 “Nature is medicine... No one knows how to put the pieces back together... That’s what nature does“

   > 18:40 “I’ve been guided by powerful women“
   > 19:40 America’s worldview = Duality (duality is a divider)

   > 22:20 We have to find social balance.

   > 24:00 Comments on Bio-intelligence  

   > 28:35 “I want people to know…“ 

32:00 What is your message to the world?

   > 38:45 Coming together nonverbally, redirecting trauma, angst , pain and alienation

44:45 Wrap up

 

References

• “North“ = North Minneapolis 

 
Quotes

I’m an indigenous person. I’m a product of so many people.

What I try to tell people now is: I wish they would spend a little time with me when it comes to what they wanna see as far as change in their immediate environment, because I redirect energy...
  
No one is helping young people understand how to feel their feelings.       
 
I’m trying to create a movement around growing and I want people to use it as medicine. I wanna share what I gained from nature with my entire environment. 
  
One of the elders told me, “If you don’t move your physical, you lose your spiritual.”

Nature is medicine.

There’s a very thin line between a plant and a human being.

Everything we want for ourselves and we want to know about bettering this world, bettering our environment, you can find in the bio-ecosystem. We need to be a part of it, not necessarily be in control of it. You can’t control her.   

I tend to never be married to any one idea or approach. I’m not trying to sustain any of these (institutional) systems. I’m really try