KESN is a grassroots collective of organizers determined to support the Kingston Bell Park encampment residents as well as people who are unhoused all over the Kingston area. They are an “episodic” group, with initiatives centered around education and empathy and empowerment, while working in collaboration with many Kingston activist groups.
“We support encampment residents' rights to self determination, to live how and where they choose, with safety, security and dignity.”
KESN formed officially in June of 2023 to support the encampment during their legal fight with the City of Kingston and around the time of the first draft of the Community Standards bylaw and have been fighting for the encampment ever since. They are formed of activists and knowledgeable community members from a wide array of backgrounds, and in a hierarchically flat structure that aims to reduce activist burnout and overexertion.
“ [We] care for the people that we're supporting. Really just making sure that their voices are heard. Making sure that they're involved in every conversation. And part of the way that we've been doing that [...] I think it is just trying to interrupt narratives, interrupt systems, with education, with research, with a counter narrative to the city’s bullshit.”
What are some challenges that your group has faced?
“I think [...] what I would say is that the challenge is that we're not sure what we are [...] maybe we have different expectations of what it is or isn't. [...] And so I think that I think that's actually one of the reasons why we didn't grow, because we didn't take the time to figure that out. Because we were just immediately responding to the crisis at hand. And I don't I don't regret that decision, though I do wonder if we had done that work, would we look different right now?”
What is the point of your fight? How to keep pushing through the burnout? What motivates you to keep going?
“ I think that we want to be in a community that respects the dignity and autonomy [...] of people who are unhoused, and I think while we might all come at that from different places. Like I want to live in a world where everyone has what they need, not just to meet their basic needs, but to thrive and to live a self determined and meaningful life. And I also think that part of the way that I will speak for myself personally about what helps me reduce burnout. And I think, for me, one of the things that feels really ingrained in my own value system is working with other people toward a shared purpose. And that is a very nourishing and inspiring experience for me, and that's why I like working in groups.
“I think if you asked every KESN member what the purpose of our fight was, I think they'd all say something a little bit different because we're all coming at it from different perspectives.”
KESN takes an intersectional approach to activism, recognizing the system of power at play in every issue and movement.
“We can say a lot about a community by how it treats some of its most marginalized and oppressed. And so I think that it is, you know, it is an intersectional fight in that sense [...] it's about capitalism and how it keeps all of us down, but certain groups in [...] particular. [...] It's also about settler colonialism and white supremacy and all those things. And how they intersect. So I think that that's like part of the point of the fight”
Burnout is a major challenge facing many activist groups now. How does KESN organize around and in response to this phenomenon?
“So I think that, to me [...] it’s about relationship building, because I don't want to only be in groups towards building a better world. I also want us to change ourselves in the process. How do we actually build healthy relationships? How do we treat each other better? How do we prefigure those relationships? So we're living in that world now. Where we're not waiting for a future moment, instead building those skills, working and getting to know [...] new people [...] and [...] going outside of our comfort zones.”
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