[Street] 7th Annual Radical Organizing Conference - you're invited!

Katie Gradowski katie at occupyboston.org
Thu Mar 15 00:25:37 EDT 2012


*Join us for the 7th Annual Radical Organizing Conference!*
*
*
*Saturday, March 17*
*9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.*
*SEIU 1199, 150 Mt. Vernon Street in Dorchester*
*JFK/UMass stop on the red line*

Meet with organizers across Boston for a day of movement building, skill
sharing and strategy development!   What is a radical outlook?   What are
our shared assumptions?   How does it differ from a progressive or liberal
outlook?    The Radical Organizing Conference is a chance to talk strategy
and deepen an analysis of radical organizing -- an opportunity meet
together and learn how, through organized resistance, we can uproot the
systems that create the problems we face in our communities.

Organizing groups include City Life / Vida Urbana, Chelsea Collaborative,
DARE Providence, Springfield No One Leaves, the City School, Jobs with
Justice, Mass Uniting and this year, Occupy Boston!   Handicap accessible.
   Lunch is included, suggested donations is $10, all are welcome
regardless of ability to pay.   Childcare and interpretation available.

For details, visit www.clvu.org/ROC, or contact katie at occupyboston.org.

RSVP here!   http://www.facebook.com/events/200338140067122/

*Workshops include:*

*The "Law" of supply and demand; The "Religion" of the free market*
How are these ideas used to defeat progressive change?   What's wrong with
the "law" of supply and demand? Why is  the "free" market not quite so
free? What is our response?    (Steve Meacham, CLVU)

*Challenging market ideology while doing practical organizing*
We want to offer practical help to people who need it, but we want to
organize in a way that undermines the system that caused the problem. Come
learn about City Life's organizing
model, which aims to undermine market ideology while it helps people fight
for their homes.  (Steve Meacham, CLVU)

*Start by Telling Your Story*
In this workshop, we will explore how the power of your story can support
organizing. Learn how to frame your story and help others tell their
stories in a way that is empowering and builds
the movement. to the person walking in the door, but organize in a way
that undermines the system that caused the problem.   (with UNITE HERE, the
hospitality worker's union)

*Organize to Overcome Fear*
Sometimes, the obstacles and opponents we face seem insurmountable.
Creating real social change--from fighting eviction and foreclosure, to
organizing at work, to strengthening the community in your neighborhood--
IS possible. In this workshop, we will help people move from "I can't" to
"we can!" (with UNITE HERE, the hospitality workers union)

*New kinds of labor organizing*
Learn about the campaign against WalMart. How can labor and communities
target big box stores to bring justice to workers and sound policies for
communities?  (with Jobs with Justice)

*Short-term Demands/Long-term Transformation for Our Cities*
At this workshop we’ll discuss how we can fight for short-term reforms
while at the same time empowering working people, people of color, queer
people, immigrants, youth and all others
committed to a truly democratic society. We who live in the cities should
have he power to determine the future of our cities.  (with Robbie Clarke
from Causa Justa and Right to the City/
Oakland, CA)

*Who Broke the Economy?*
Learn who really drove the economy into the ground.  Participants will play
Jenga and gain a hands-on understanding of what went wrong with our
economy.  (with Darrin Howell, MassUniting)

*Theater for Social Change (2-part workshop)*
Join in this participatory workshop. Learn how to use theater to educate,
agitate andorganize. Create a piece of theater that showcases your issues
and inspires others to action!   (with Jorge Diaz, AgitArte, a non-profit
organization dedicated to generating workshops and art projects in
working class communities and communities of color engaged in the struggle
for social justice).
*
*
*Dewey Square: What worked? What didn’t?*
This workshop will look at two key aspects of the Occupy movement: 1) The
tactic of occupation, some history of other occupations (Tent City, Take
Back the Land, factory occupations, etc.), and the specifics of Dewey
Square; and 2) The slogan “We are the 99%.” What works about that call to
action? What gets hidden?   (Nicole Sullivan, Katie Gradowski, potentially
others as well)

*Youth Power and the Fight for Jobs*
Young people in Boston are mobilized and fighting back against a political
and social environment that discriminates against youth, leaves them with
few job options, and regularly silences youth voices. Come learn about how
young people are engaged in the struggle for justice in Boston  (with City
School youth and staff)

*Radical Faith and Justice (2 part workshop)*
Explore with other activists the role of spirituality in our social justice
work.    Mary Wright (CLVU), Annie Fox (Kavod), Stewart Lanier (Bikes Not
Bombs) and rep. from Northside Islamic community

*Student Immigrants Fight Back!*
Come learn how immigrants in Boston are organizing to fight for the Dream
Act and against unfair deportations. See their skit and discuss the
connections between immigration
justice and economic justice  (Student Immigration Movement)

*Freedom Rides*
Watch film clips from this amazing period during the civil rights movement
when African Americans and white allies committed civil disobedience
together by riding buses across state lines, violating segregation laws.
How could lessons from that period inform our organizing today? Jim Brooks
in collaboration with Mike Wolfson (former Freedom Rider)

*African Americans and Immigrants of Color on the Question of Immigration*
Come and discuss how African Americans and immigrants of color can resist
the pressure to pit one group against the other. What do we have in common?
How can we join forces?  (Trina Jackson)

*Intro to Cooperatives*
What are housing cooperatives? What are worker cooperatives? Join us as we
learn about these important aspects of solidarity economics – living
together and working together in a way that puts human needs before profits
  (Maria Christina Blanco, CLVU)



-- 
Due to the present financial situation, the light at the end of the tunnel
will be switched off to save on electrical costs until further notice.
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