Understanding freedom means recognising we are all in this together

Thursday, 17 February 2022

Stuff took a walk through the anti-vaccine mandate protest on February 11.

Kassie Hartendorp (Ngāti Raukawa) is a community organiser and director for community campaigning organisation ActionStation.

OPINION: I’m a proud part of movements for a fairer and flourishing Aotearoa, from Te Tiriti justice, to LGBTIQ+ rights, to workers’ rights.

I’ve been organising protests outside Parliament for the past 13 years.

I’m the director of ActionStation, a community campaigning organisation where our daily work is supporting people to create the change they want to see for their communities. That often involves holding the government accountable for their actions, and pushing them to do better.

This means I have been watching the protests outside Parliament very seriously. In a time of mass global uncertainty that has intense impacts locally, it makes sense that this action has grown in numbers, energy and resolve.

There are good, caring people involved in the protest, Kassie Hartendorp argues.

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Kassie Hartendorp, director of ActionStation, for op-ed on Wellington protest

While the Government's effort to stop the spread and prevent people getting sick has been world leading, there are people who have been let down, unsupported, and alienated – from before the pandemic, and through the policy responses over the last two years. This protest provides a literal meeting point for some of those people.

It has also been sparked by far-right political actors who spread disinformation and misinformation to take advantage of people who have been let down by the Government. Far-right philosophy is behind the Christchurch mosque killer, and many anti-abortion, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim extremists.

Protesting provides hope. It offers agency and collective action that can feel so liberating, it changes your entire life. It is euphoric and it is spiritual. I can understand why every day people who feel let down might choose to put their bodies on the line for a cause. I understand the need to stand by a set of values.

“Freedom” has been the catch-cry of the protests at Parliament, but what does it really mean?

But let’s talk about those values.

The catch-cry of this protest is centred on freedom. But, the freedom I know is interconnected. To be free is to be in relationship with others. It is deeply woven, a tapestry of tūpuna, community, friends, loved ones and those yet to arrive.

Like with whakapapa, freedom goes hand in hand with responsibility. We take care of the people who need it the most, our babies and our elders. We try not to cause harm to others, because our connection tells us, it will harm all of us. If someone in our family or social circle is struggling, we all know it and feel it. We are impacted by others’ actions constantly.

The pandemic itself proves how interconnected we are. In every community case, lies community. In every close contact, exists connection. We are undeniably interwoven through the very air we breathe.

If acting on my individual freedom means that I put another’s health at risk, is it worth taking that action? I say no.

That is why I have been voluntarily self-isolating, or close to it, for the past few months. If my world shrinking means another person lives, then it is worth it. If my inconvenience means our frontline workers can safely return home each night to their families, then it is worth it.

I have run countless protests to fight for people’s right to live free of oppression, and I could simply never imagine asking people to gather during a time like this. I could not live with the thought of preventable death on my hands. Some things simply matter more. Life matters more.

What I am most worried about, is how the far Right are bringing their values to the forefront of how we address what is a collective issue.

The idea of individual freedom, as expressed in this protest, is exactly how the far Right wants us to see the world. But it ignores our relationship to our world around us – our awa, maunga and moana. It diminishes our relationship to each other, and the invisible connections that nourish us, and tell us who we are.

I don’t think the majority of people involved in the convoy see themselves as part of the far Right. I know good, kind, caring and just people who are genuinely worried, and want to see our Government make different decisions.

But their involvement strengthens the people who are leading a global pushback happening against the social change that millions of us have fought for around the world – for Indigenous rights, for women’s rights, for the protection of Black lives, for LGBTIQ+ rights, for disability justice and more.

People in Aotearoa must continue to challenge the Government to look after our country. To offer protections for livelihood, for better housing and for improved wellbeing. Many of us are working towards this every day.

But let’s build our movements on an interconnected freedom. One that centres the health of our vulnerable and immunocompromised people, our babies and our elders. We are all connected, whether we like it or not, so let’s look after all of us.