Two graduate students at Washington State University have just proposed curriculum which they say combines "anti-fascism, eco-justice, decolonization, and arts-based curriculum theories."

The scholars, Brandon Edwards-Schuth and Marco AG Cerqueira write in their paper,

Ultimately, we are connecting wholeheartedly with the anti-fascist movement all over the world by appropriating their acronym (Antifa) with deference as a way to plant seeds of love against hierarchies. We are Plantifa!

Upon first reading the paper, I was a little confused as to whether it was a parody or not, so I looked up the authors on the Washington State University website.

It is not a parody.

One of the authors, Brandon Edwards-Schuth (who is referred to as he/they, the first tipoff that this was not a joke) is identified as,

a doctoral candidate in the Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education program at WSU.

Hmm.

There they teach social studies for elementary school teachers (TCH_LRN 385), highlighting the importance of decolonizing and eco-democratic approaches in conjunction with human/children/indigenous rights. With publications in the field of philosophy, education, and art; his research interests focus on the intersections of radical democracy, emerging arts-inquiry methodologies, and podcasts as public pedagogy.

Before WSU, Brandon received their BA and MA in Philosophy at San Diego State University and their hobbies include archery, making cold brew coffee, and playing guitar.

Given that this is the author of the curriculum, I think we can now gain a better understanding of the context of the curriculum.

So what exactly is this "guerrilla gardening" that the class will be teaching?

I'll let the authors of the curriculum explain:

While traditional gardening in communities may manifest in designated flower beds or defined community gardens, guerrilla gardening is intentional gardening without borders. It is direct action in the specific form of "illicit cultivation of someone else's land," because it ought to be utilized for growing trees and food for the community (Reynolds, 2014, p. 25). Thus, vacant lots, medians, and "derelict land" are still spaces of eco-potentiality.

So guerrilla gardening is really just planting stuff on land that isn't yours, in order to "decolonize" the land. Or recolonize it for yourself, depending on how you look at it.

In actuality, I think the authors of this article realized the utter failure of the CHAZ/CHOP garden in Seattle's "autonomous zone" and realized they needed some practical experience before they try to start their next commune.

Remember this?

They may need to get some advice from someone who's actually in the Agriculture Department, but maybe they plan to add in the actual gardening portion of the curriculum later.

Given the illegal nature of their proposed class projects (you know, the trespassing, the "illicit cultivation of someone else's land", etc) I think it will be a while before it's approved in its entirety, but I have no doubt that this is the direction that Washington State University and many other woke schools are going.