2021 Workshops
This past year has put issues of white supremacy, racism, anti-racism and police brutality in high relief. Our workshops will reflect these themes.
IMPORTANT CHANGES!
Please note that workshops will be virtual, using Zoom’s webinar format. Workshops will not take place on MLK Day!
They will take place from Tuesday, January 12 - Saturday, January 16.
A Virtual Pilgrimage
Project Pilgrimage presented a virtual journey to increase awareness of historical events that have defined and perpetuated white supremacy in the United States over generations. The pilgrimage went over locations with historical context, provided opportunities for self-reflection, and explored ideas on how to take action towards the liberation of all people.
White Supremacy Through Violence: Lynching in America, Then and Now
This Workshop was not Recorded
The year 2020 has allowed us all to bear witness to a disturbing and unavoidable reality, lynching is not a relic of a Jim Crow past. It is a modern form of racial terror. She examined how lynching sits squarely on a historical continuum of systemic racism and racial othering. She examined how the recent killings of African Americans force us to confront a sordid past, and work diligently to create a future defined by equity and compassion.
The Truth About Hate Groups and Hate Crimes
How does the rise in hate groups and hate crimes correlate to the most recent spate of civic unrest over the excessive use of force by police? What do peaceful protesters do when extremists get violent? What do we learn from white supremacists convicted of violent hate crimes? These questions are answered through the narratives of former white supremacists and an analysis of America’s historical response to extremism.
White Supremacy and Democracy: Criminal Justice System
In order to understand how White Supremacy and basic tenets of democracy work for Black people in the US, this is a workshop you needed to attend. They looked at this issue from the perspective of Blacks’ dealings with the criminal justice system. Covering how institutional racism intersects with being Black in terms of the police, jails, courts, legal financial obligations, judges’ decisions, sentencing and parole.
They discussed, within the parameters of white supremacy, the difficulty of revolutionizing this country as long as every institution is infused with racism. Finally, we envisioned how a more humane society can be brought about.
Reparations: A Community Conversation
Wednesday, 1/13, 7 - 8:15 p.m
This workshop addressed why reparations are necessary for society to move forward as a whole. It addressees how reparations fit into the process of truth and reconciliation and described models of reparations given in the past and proposed now. It asks: How do we prepare as a society to undergo reparations? How do we become changed by the act of reparations? What is required of those to whom reparations are given for their next generations?
14 Demands for Healing Washington
Workshop Description: 14 Demands for Healing Washington invited participants to help build a set of demands for the Governor by those most impacted racism, poverty, militarism, ecological devastation, and distorted moral narratives.
Intersections of Disability and Racism
Thursday, 1/14, 5 to 6pm
This workshop will be a conversation between two disabled individuals: ChrisTiana ObeySumner, an autistic and multiply disabled Black nonbinary person, will provide perspective of how to move the Black Disabled Lives Matter and disability justice work forward sustainably, effectively, accessibly, and collectively. Elizabeth Ralston, a White accessibility consultant who is deaf and is the Founder of the Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium, will discuss the work that is needed within white spaces for moving towards solidarity with disabled BIPOC and how accessibility is a key part of this conversation. After presenting recommendations and themes, there will be a facilitated Q&A session for further discussion.
Shifting the Narrative: Building an Anti-Racist Media Future
This workshop was not recorded!
Journalists aim to create and serve a more informed public. But many news outlets perpetuate racist narratives by centering whiteness and not addressing structural inequity in their stories. In this interactive media literacy workshop by RadioActive Youth Media, we’ll discuss the myth of “objectivity” in journalism, rewrite a popular fairy tale, and analyze local news coverage. You’ll leave with five questions you can ask to think critically about any story.
Zero Youth Detention
Friday, January 15th 12-1pm
This workshop will walk participants through the 2020 petition for cert to the U.S. Supreme Court from the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. It will explore the possible impacts and outcomes, racial disproportionality in the criminal punishment system, what advocates are already doing, and how, through a diversity of tactics, the community can push King County towards fulfilling its commitment to Zero Youth Detention.
Presenter: Nikkita Oliver
History of Policing in the United States
This Workshop Was Not Recorded
This workshop will focus on the origins, development and evolving nature of policing in the US, beginning with colonial America through the present day. An emphasis on the quasi-military nature of policing and the increased militarization of the police since 9/11 will be examined, particularly as to how it has negatively impacted police/community relations.
Meet the NAACP Youth Council: The Youth Tell the Truth About Racism in Schools!
Launched exactly three years ago at the 2018 MLK Celebration, the NAACP Youth Council (N-YC) has been working to change the reality of racial injustice in districts across the Pacific Northwest. At this workshop, N-YC leaders will unveil their list of demands for 2021, and share their progress on initiatives, including expanding Black Lives Matter at School, youth representation on the Seattle School Boards, and police-free schools. Those attending will learn about these initiatives and how they can support N-YC in making their demands a reality.
Strategies for Community Healing
This Workshop will be up soon!
In this panel discussion, activists will describe their innovative efforts to create new paradigms for BIPOC communities, especially Black communities, to thrive in Seattle. Panelists describe the work of:
The Africatown Community Land Trust, formed to acquire, steward and develop land assets necessary for the Black/African diaspora community to grow in the Central District;
CACE21 - Wa Na Wari, which creates space for Black ownership, Black ownership, possibility, and belonging through art, historic preservation, and connection in the Central District;
Nurturing Roots, focusing on sharing the truth about systematic oppression with an emphasis on food and environmental justice,
Whose Streets, Our Streets!, is dedicated to reviewing and recommending changes to street use design, laws and policies, to better meet the needs and support the lives of all street users, especially the BIPOC community.
Their discussion will be followed by Q and A.
Alternatives to Policing - Cuban Model
This workshop looked at how policing in Cuba looked like before and after the Cuban revolution. We frame the presentation and discussion on what is the connection between the Cuban revolution and policing and the current movement in the US to defund/dismantle policing and what is possible now and in the future given the example of Cuba.
