March News: Bi-Winning
Hello Good People!!
- Propose a Session at this year's Allied Media Conference, June 23-26
- Phoenix Theatre Ensemble presents Iphigenia at Aulis
- Intermedia Arts presents Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman
- Third Root Community Health Clinic presents Yoga 4 Survivors
- Yo Mama Institute at the Solutions Twin Cities
- Street Medic Training in Montpelier, VT
- Starhawk presents at the Rowe Center in Massachusetts
- Sabbaticals for Activists of Color
- Call for Submissions: Walking the Talk
- Ways of Peace II: Traditions of Non-Violence in Islam
- Training for Social Action Trainers April 29-May 1
- smartMeme presents Story-based Strategy Advanced Training June 2-5
Translated by U.S. Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin & George E. Dimock, Jr.
Directed by Amy Wagner
With: Cheryl Cochran, Brian A. Costello*, Amy Fitts*, Kelli Holsopple, John Lenartz*, Joseph J. Menino*, Lawrence Merritt*,
Laura Piquado*, Elise Stone*, & Josh Tyson*
10 Performances Only
Tues-Sat @ 8:00 pm & SUN @ 3:00 PM
At The Wild Project
PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN Tickets, TDF VOUCHERS & WALK-INS WELCOME!
Call 212.352.3101
Or visit www.
WWW.IPHIGENIAATAULIS.COM
Written by May Lee-Yang
Performed by May Lee-Yang, Phasoua Vang, and Souvan Samuel Lee
Directed by Robert Karimi
A lazy Hmong woman is not supposed to exist. A lazy Hmong woman is like a vegan omelet, a virgin Long Island Iced Tea, or a poor Republican person of color. See how one woman didn't do the dishes and defied the odds. Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman charts one woman's journey as she discovers The Rules for Being Good Hmong Girl, how to balance being a feminist and having a relationship with a Hmong man, as well as lessons learned from the not-so-lazy women in her life.
WHEN/WHERE:
Friday-Sunday, March 4-6, 2011
Friday-Sunday, March 11-13, 2011
All performances 8PM at Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Tickets $10 advance, student, seniors |$12 door
For tickets and info, call or email: 612.871.4444 or Info@
Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund project co-commissioned by OutNorth Theater in partnership with Kaotic Good Productions and NPN.
-----
Third Root Community Health Clinic presents Yoga 4 Survivors
Yoga 4 Survivors is a class designed to help survivors of sexual violence tap into the body’s healing energy. The focus of the class will be on poses and pranayama (breathing techniques) that cultivate a deeper sense of connection within, create calm and restorative sacred space, build strength and foster a sense of well-being and community. Participants will learn more about the function of the nervous system, tools for self-soothing, and empowerment. Come and be inspired and awed by your own inner strength and knowledge.
The classes will be in 4-class series, and the first begins on Tuesday, March 15 from 5:30-6:30 p.m at Third Root Community Health Center in Flatbush/Ditmas Park. The cost for the series is $40. They are running the program as a series, and not a drop-in, to develop more familiarity and safety in the class.
The instructor for this programis Carly Sach, the editor of the anthology the why and later, a collection of poems women have written about rape and sexual assault. She is a Kripalu Yoga Teacher with an additional certification in Trauma Informed Yoga. Carly has been teaching healing yoga at Safe Horizon in Brooklyn for over a year and also teaches yoga as a healing practice to veterans and special needs adolescents. She is grateful for her own journey and all the students and teachers who have inspired and graced her practice with their courage, humor, and wisdom.
Past class participants say that they have a healthier outlook on life, sleep better, eat better, feel more in control with decisions they have to make, and feel more secure and empowered. If you have any questions, contact:
Carly Sachs and Third Root Community Health Center
380 Marlborough Rd (Q to Cortelyou)
Brooklyn, NY 11226
www.thirdroot.org
718-940-9343
info@thirdroot.org
Solutions Volume 4
Friday, March 18th
7 PM
@ the Capri Theater
Doors open at 6 PM
Event runs from 7 - 9 PM
Join us for a social hour from 9 - 10 PM
Tickets $8 - $16 sliding scale - pay what you can
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
More info - http://www.solutionstwincities.org/event.htm
Montpelier, VT
This community medical training is for folks interested in providing basic medical care to their friends, family, and their community, with a special focus on being prepared to apply those skills in times of natural disaster and civil unrest. The medical treatment skills covered are based on wilderness medicine protocols with an emphasis on herbal support. Topics include initial assessment, medical emergencies, stabilizing trauma injuries, treating burns and wounds, hypothermia and heat stroke, herbal treatments for common illnesses, treatments for tear gas and pepper spray, organizing clinics for disaster relief, assembling a medical kit, and much more. We will learn these skills in a supportive setting with lots of hands-on practice and role-play scenarios. These are skills that can help us all keep our communities healthy.
The systems approach to herbs will cover a range of common maladies, specifically Colds & Flues, Tummy Trouble, Blisters & Cuts, Rashes, Tooth Aches, Yeast Infections/ Urinary Tract Infections, Aches & Pains, and a basic herbal kit. There will also be an Herbal First Aid Kit workshop later in April led by herbalists Sandra Lory and Dana L Woodruff. For more info on this, please contact Dana.
This 24-hour training will start on Friday evening at 5pm and run through Sunday at 5pm. The instructors will be Megan Coyote, an experienced protest medic and medic trainer, and Mary Murphy, a certified Wilderness EMT. The class is offered at a sliding scale of $25-100, with no one turned away for lack of funds. Participants will be responsible for their own food (a full kitchen is available) and lodging. Spots will be held on a first-come, first-served basis. The class will be held in a private residence near downtown Montpelier.
Please pre-register by emailing Dana at dandelionessherbals@yahoo.com or calling 802-229-6812. This information is also posted at:http://dandelionessherbals.
-----
Presented by Starhawk at the Rowe Center in Rowe, MA
Come join a magical experiment: how do we create true abundance when all around us systems are crumbling? The meltdowns we’ve been experiencing, from Wall Street to Greenland, are a result of faulty thinking, of basing our institutions on false ideas and flawed stories. What are the ideas, the new stories, that can become a basis for real abundance, justice, and ecological balance? We’ll use the tools of magic—story-telling, guided visualization, trance, drumming, chanting, dancing and altar-building to explore eight principles derived from the earth-based spirituality of the Goddess and the practical approach of permaculture to ecological design:
- Abundance Springs from Relationships;
- Take Root;
- Feed What You Want to Grow;
- Build from the Ground Up;
- Waste Is Food;
- Value Diversity;
- Sink In; and
- The Gift Multiplies.
Through exercises, meditations, stories, and ritual, we’ll apply them to our lives, and see what happens. As we tell ourselves new stories, as we take delight in the true gifts of the earth, our lives and our work will flourish like a plant growing in healthy soil.
Starhawk is one of the most respected voices in modern Goddess religion and earth-based spirituality. The author or co-author of ten books, including the classics The Spiral Dance and The Fifth Sacred Thing, and her latest, The Earth Path, Starhawk is deeply committed to bringing the techniques and creative power of spirituality to political activism. She co-teaches Earth Activist Trainings that combine permaculture design, effective activism, and earth-based spirituality. Register Online:
http://www.rowecenter.org/
-----
The Alston Bannerman Fellowship Program, an initiative of the Center for Social Inclusion, is committed to advancing progressive social change by helping to sustain long-time activists of color living and working in the U.S. or its territories. The program honors those who have devoted their lives to helping their communities organize for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice. Fellows receive an award of $25,000 to take sabbaticals of three months or more for reflection and renewal. The sabbaticals may be used to explore new interests, travel, relax, visit with other activists, or do whatever the Fellows think is necessary to prepare for their future work. Applicants must have more than ten years of community organizing experience and be committed to continuing to work for social change. Both paid staff and volunteer leaders are eligible for these fellowships. The application deadline is April 5, 2011. Application guidelines and forms are available on the Center for Social Inclusion website. http://www.centerforsocialinclusion.org/leadership/alston-bannerman-sabbatical-fellows/
www.walkthetalkzine.tumblr.com
Context:
Even in the most grassroots and progressive organizations, working on the most radical issues, we may find a deep dissonance between the world we want to create, and what it is like to be working in the organization day-by-day. We live in a hierarchically oppressive world – and though the organizations we work in may have mission statements that aim to change this, “talking the talk” doesn't necessarily mean “walking the walk” and social justice nonprofits can feel like a mirror of the world we're trying to change. An organization's power structure or ways of doing work can create deeply unhealthy and exploitative dynamics within the organization itself and between the nonprofit and the “clients,” “members” or “community” that it works with.
What does it mean to align our vision with our process, our day-to-day work? Already, many people have been exploring the limitations and contradictions of foundation funding, and the deeper organizational accountability that comes with grassroots funding structures (described well in The Revolution Will Not Be Funded). Separately, from small nonprofit organizations all the way to multinational corporations, there's a growing mentality that healthy workers (e.g. ones with self-care plans, workplace yoga, lunch breaks) are “better workers.” Some nonprofits take this a little deeper and are working to become more transparent, accountable and/or participatory. However, many people continue to experience oppression and exploitation within, and at the hands of, nonprofits.
The contradictions in nonprofits can wear away at us slowly, break our hearts, make us feel too idealistic or too jaded (or both!). Some of us may be grateful that social justice work pays our bills, but if we work in nonprofits, we also struggle in them. If another world is possible, another way of working for social justice must also be possible.
Can we identify and dismantle the ways that structures of power (both social & workplace hierarchies) negatively play out in an organization? Is it possible for nonprofits to “walk the talk?”
Project Goals:
To name and give voice to the ways that oppression (such as racism and classism) and exploitation manifest in nonprofits, particularly in ones that self-identify as “grassroots,” “movement,” “community-based” or “social justice” organizations.
To present critical questions about nonprofit organizations for and from people who have a range of commitment to, and experience with, nonprofits.
To give voice to painful experiences directly linked to the structure and form of nonprofits. (These experiences frequently get tucked away under “personal conflicts” or labeled less important than the “real work.”)
To open a conversation about what appropriate roles are for nonprofits, and if—or how—it is possible to really work for social justice from within them.
To share the difficult questions that are usually talked about discreetly—the ones that, if spoken about more publicly, might change the ways we work to change the world.
Guidelines:
Who: Anyone can submit. We are most interested in pieces that take an anti-oppressive and intersectional approach, and we will prioritize voices of people who experience structural oppression in the world at large.
What: A zine/self-published book that will be available online and on paper.
When: Submission deadline, April 8th, 2011
How: Send all submissions to walkthetalk.zine@gmail.com. Please feel free to email with questions, ideas, proposals, and possibilities!
Submissions: Essays, stories, art, poems, comics and interviews are welcome. Written pieces should be under 2,000 words. Get in touch if you have another idea or would like to submit a longer piece!
Please include your name and contact information with your submission. If you want your piece to remain anonymous, please include the pseudonym that you want used.
-----
Training for Social Action Trainers - returning to the Bay Area in April!
April 29 - May 1, 2011
Oakland, CA
To register, contact Ken at ken@globalexchange.org
Join us for an intensive training designed for experienced facilitators wanting to revitalize their work, new trainers wanting to inspire, teachers, community leaders, activists -- anyone wanting to take their skills to a new level and learn how training can be used more effectively.
AS A PARTICIPANT, YOU WILL...
Gain greater awareness about yourself and your strengths as a facilitator;
Get a chance to take risks, experiment and refine skills in a safe and supportive environment;
Get the stimulation of fresh approaches and increased options;
Receive personal guidance from experienced trainers in a small group setting ;
Learn new tools that are easily adapted, principles of workshop design, skills for working with diversity and a better understanding of how to use experiential education methods effectively.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND THIS WORKSHOP?
Experienced and less-experienced facilitators, consultants and trainers...Activists and organizers wanting to use training more effectively in their work... Teachers, community leaders, pastors, consultants and others who want more experiential tools.
The TSAT is a great way to learn the core approach to Training for Change's elicitive style of activist training, or if you are considering bringing TFC trainers to work more closely with your organization. Anyone who takes the TSAT is then qualified to be a participant at TFC’s Advanced Training of Trainers, an extended 5-day intensive the delves more thoroughly into group dynamics, conflict in groups, and working cross-culturally.
If taken separately, this workshop costs $150 US-$375 US, sliding scale based on income. The fee includes over 23 hours of training, meals during workshop hours, and simple lodging for people who request it. Visit the Training for Change website for a chart that will help you determine your fee: http://www.trainingforchange.org/node/290
-----
smartMeme presents
Advanced Story-based Strategy Training:
Framing and Narrative Strategy for Social Change Strategists, Communicators and Organizers
Dates: Thursday June 2 (4 pm) to Sunday June 5 (4 pm)
Location: Center For Third World Organizing (CTWO), Oakland CA
Cost: $1,500
Tuition cost includes all meals plus handouts and materials. A limited number of partial scholarships may be available. Please see the application.
Accommodation: Stay onsite at CTWO for an additional $33/night - or participants are welcome to arrange their own off-site accommodations.
STORY-BASED STRATEGY
Storytelling has always been a powerful tool for grassroots organizers, but now more than ever, narrative strategies are at the heart of successful social change campaigns. SmartMeme was founded in 2002 to help grassroots organizations harness the power of narrative to effectively frame issues, build stronger alliances and create more compelling messages. Our story-based strategy model links traditional organizing techniques with new strategy, training, and communications methods––like framing and branding-–to give social change advocates the tools to hone their story, challenge prevailing cultural narratives, and ultimately build stronger movements that can bring social change. Now more than ever, as the overlapping economic, social and ecological crises are escalating—while corporate propagandists and right wing ideologues push their narratives justifying further racism, fear and inequity––our movements need tools and strategies to win the Battle of the Story.
WHY ADVANCED TRAINING?
SmartMeme has trained over 3,000 activists since 2002 and collaborated and consulted with over 100 social change organizations to apply the story-based strategy framework to critical campaigns. Our new book Re:Imagining Change -- How to use story-based strategy to win campaigns, build movements, and change the world (PM Press, 2010) has sparked discussion and drawn attention to the methodology. The book is already in its second printing and smartMeme’s inbox has filled up with requests for training and assistance to bring the ideas in the book to real campaigns. Its time to gather a circle of our alumni, partners and allies in a learning community to share the story-based strategy model in depth. This advanced training is designed to build participant’s skills to facilitate social change constituencies through the process of developing and implementing effective narrative strategies. We have a simple goal: to train and develop more story-based strategists who can support progressive movements to change the story for social justice and an ecological future.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Please fill out the application at http://smartmeme.org/advancedtrainingapp by March 23, 2011 (5 pm est).
The Training Team will review all applications and select candidates according to:
1. EXPERIENCE: Applicants’ experience with story-based strategy and related communications and strategy methods
2. IMPACT: Applicant’s ability to spread the model amongst organized constituencies in key social and ecological justice alliances and sectors
3. DIVERSITY: SmartMeme is committed to convening spaces that reflect the diversity of our movements
4. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: SmartMeme's goals for this training include building capacity in specific movement sectors and developing leadership for our story-based strategy practitioners network.
The Training Team requests that applicants have been through a smartMeme training before or worked with smartMeme in a story-based strategy process. We will give folks with this experience priority when reviewing applications, but encourage all to apply and will accommodate as many people as possible.
Applicants will be notified by April 6. If accepted, applicants must make a deposit of $250 by April 22 to hold their place.
Space is limited and we do expect to fill this training and will create a waiting list for spots that may become available.
DEADLINE TO APPLY IS MARCH 23th 2011 (5 pm eastern)
http://smartmeme.org/advancedtrainingapp
TRAINING FOCUS
This training will include:
• Discussion of the theory and practice of framing and the story-based strategy model looking at case studies and examples from smartMeme’s fieldwork
• Opportunities to practice facilitating smartMeme’s story-based strategy curriculum and receive feedback
• Intensive team-based simulations to apply story-based strategy concepts to social change campaigning
This training will NOT include:
• Introductory workshop on story-based strategy. Participants are expected to have some experience with this model already, and at the very least to have read Re:Imagining Change.
• Traditional communications/media training, such as how to speak to the media, write press releases, or pitch news outlets
TRAINING TEAM
SmartMeme principals Doyle Canning & Patrick Reinsborough and other associates TBD
GRATITUDE GOES TO...
This advanced training is made possible by the generous support of smartMeme’s member donors (LIKE YOU - Donate now!) and:
The Frances Fund
The UU Congregation at Shelter Rock
Ben & Jerry’s Foundation
Hello Good People!!
- Propose a Session at this year's Allied Media Conference, June 23-26
- Phoenix Theatre Ensemble presents Iphigenia at Aulis
- Intermedia Arts presents Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman
- Third Root Community Health Clinic presents Yoga 4 Survivors
- Yo Mama Institute at the Solutions Twin Cities
- Street Medic Training in Montpelier, VT
- Starhawk presents at the Rowe Center in Massachusetts
- Sabbaticals for Activists of Color
- Call for Submissions: Walking the Talk
- Ways of Peace II: Traditions of Non-Violence in Islam
- Training for Social Action Trainers April 29-May 1
- smartMeme presents Story-based Strategy Advanced Training June 2-5
Translated by U.S. Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin & George E. Dimock, Jr.
Directed by Amy Wagner
With: Cheryl Cochran, Brian A. Costello*, Amy Fitts*, Kelli Holsopple, John Lenartz*, Joseph J. Menino*, Lawrence Merritt*,
Laura Piquado*, Elise Stone*, & Josh Tyson*
10 Performances Only
Tues-Sat @ 8:00 pm & SUN @ 3:00 PM
At The Wild Project
PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN Tickets, TDF VOUCHERS & WALK-INS WELCOME!
Call 212.352.3101
Or visit www.
WWW.IPHIGENIAATAULIS.COM
Written by May Lee-Yang
Performed by May Lee-Yang, Phasoua Vang, and Souvan Samuel Lee
Directed by Robert Karimi
A lazy Hmong woman is not supposed to exist. A lazy Hmong woman is like a vegan omelet, a virgin Long Island Iced Tea, or a poor Republican person of color. See how one woman didn't do the dishes and defied the odds. Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman charts one woman's journey as she discovers The Rules for Being Good Hmong Girl, how to balance being a feminist and having a relationship with a Hmong man, as well as lessons learned from the not-so-lazy women in her life.
WHEN/WHERE:
Friday-Sunday, March 4-6, 2011
Friday-Sunday, March 11-13, 2011
All performances 8PM at Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Tickets $10 advance, student, seniors |$12 door
For tickets and info, call or email: 612.871.4444 or Info@
Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund project co-commissioned by OutNorth Theater in partnership with Kaotic Good Productions and NPN.
-----
Third Root Community Health Clinic presents Yoga 4 Survivors
Yoga 4 Survivors is a class designed to help survivors of sexual violence tap into the body’s healing energy. The focus of the class will be on poses and pranayama (breathing techniques) that cultivate a deeper sense of connection within, create calm and restorative sacred space, build strength and foster a sense of well-being and community. Participants will learn more about the function of the nervous system, tools for self-soothing, and empowerment. Come and be inspired and awed by your own inner strength and knowledge.
The classes will be in 4-class series, and the first begins on Tuesday, March 15 from 5:30-6:30 p.m at Third Root Community Health Center in Flatbush/Ditmas Park. The cost for the series is $40. They are running the program as a series, and not a drop-in, to develop more familiarity and safety in the class.
The instructor for this programis Carly Sach, the editor of the anthology the why and later, a collection of poems women have written about rape and sexual assault. She is a Kripalu Yoga Teacher with an additional certification in Trauma Informed Yoga. Carly has been teaching healing yoga at Safe Horizon in Brooklyn for over a year and also teaches yoga as a healing practice to veterans and special needs adolescents. She is grateful for her own journey and all the students and teachers who have inspired and graced her practice with their courage, humor, and wisdom.
Past class participants say that they have a healthier outlook on life, sleep better, eat better, feel more in control with decisions they have to make, and feel more secure and empowered. If you have any questions, contact:
Carly Sachs and Third Root Community Health Center
380 Marlborough Rd (Q to Cortelyou)
Brooklyn, NY 11226
www.thirdroot.org
718-940-9343
info@thirdroot.org
Solutions Volume 4
Friday, March 18th
7 PM
@ the Capri Theater
Doors open at 6 PM
Event runs from 7 - 9 PM
Join us for a social hour from 9 - 10 PM
Tickets $8 - $16 sliding scale - pay what you can
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
More info - http://www.solutionstwincities.org/event.htm
Montpelier, VT
This community medical training is for folks interested in providing basic medical care to their friends, family, and their community, with a special focus on being prepared to apply those skills in times of natural disaster and civil unrest. The medical treatment skills covered are based on wilderness medicine protocols with an emphasis on herbal support. Topics include initial assessment, medical emergencies, stabilizing trauma injuries, treating burns and wounds, hypothermia and heat stroke, herbal treatments for common illnesses, treatments for tear gas and pepper spray, organizing clinics for disaster relief, assembling a medical kit, and much more. We will learn these skills in a supportive setting with lots of hands-on practice and role-play scenarios. These are skills that can help us all keep our communities healthy.
The systems approach to herbs will cover a range of common maladies, specifically Colds & Flues, Tummy Trouble, Blisters & Cuts, Rashes, Tooth Aches, Yeast Infections/ Urinary Tract Infections, Aches & Pains, and a basic herbal kit. There will also be an Herbal First Aid Kit workshop later in April led by herbalists Sandra Lory and Dana L Woodruff. For more info on this, please contact Dana.
This 24-hour training will start on Friday evening at 5pm and run through Sunday at 5pm. The instructors will be Megan Coyote, an experienced protest medic and medic trainer, and Mary Murphy, a certified Wilderness EMT. The class is offered at a sliding scale of $25-100, with no one turned away for lack of funds. Participants will be responsible for their own food (a full kitchen is available) and lodging. Spots will be held on a first-come, first-served basis. The class will be held in a private residence near downtown Montpelier.
Please pre-register by emailing Dana at dandelionessherbals@yahoo.com or calling 802-229-6812. This information is also posted at:http://dandelionessherbals.
-----
Presented by Starhawk at the Rowe Center in Rowe, MA
Come join a magical experiment: how do we create true abundance when all around us systems are crumbling? The meltdowns we’ve been experiencing, from Wall Street to Greenland, are a result of faulty thinking, of basing our institutions on false ideas and flawed stories. What are the ideas, the new stories, that can become a basis for real abundance, justice, and ecological balance? We’ll use the tools of magic—story-telling, guided visualization, trance, drumming, chanting, dancing and altar-building to explore eight principles derived from the earth-based spirituality of the Goddess and the practical approach of permaculture to ecological design:
- Abundance Springs from Relationships;
- Take Root;
- Feed What You Want to Grow;
- Build from the Ground Up;
- Waste Is Food;
- Value Diversity;
- Sink In; and
- The Gift Multiplies.
Through exercises, meditations, stories, and ritual, we’ll apply them to our lives, and see what happens. As we tell ourselves new stories, as we take delight in the true gifts of the earth, our lives and our work will flourish like a plant growing in healthy soil.
Starhawk is one of the most respected voices in modern Goddess religion and earth-based spirituality. The author or co-author of ten books, including the classics The Spiral Dance and The Fifth Sacred Thing, and her latest, The Earth Path, Starhawk is deeply committed to bringing the techniques and creative power of spirituality to political activism. She co-teaches Earth Activist Trainings that combine permaculture design, effective activism, and earth-based spirituality. Register Online:
http://www.rowecenter.org/
-----
The Alston Bannerman Fellowship Program, an initiative of the Center for Social Inclusion, is committed to advancing progressive social change by helping to sustain long-time activists of color living and working in the U.S. or its territories. The program honors those who have devoted their lives to helping their communities organize for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice. Fellows receive an award of $25,000 to take sabbaticals of three months or more for reflection and renewal. The sabbaticals may be used to explore new interests, travel, relax, visit with other activists, or do whatever the Fellows think is necessary to prepare for their future work. Applicants must have more than ten years of community organizing experience and be committed to continuing to work for social change. Both paid staff and volunteer leaders are eligible for these fellowships. The application deadline is April 5, 2011. Application guidelines and forms are available on the Center for Social Inclusion website. http://www.centerforsocialinclusion.org/leadership/alston-bannerman-sabbatical-fellows/
www.walkthetalkzine.tumblr.com
Context:
Even in the most grassroots and progressive organizations, working on the most radical issues, we may find a deep dissonance between the world we want to create, and what it is like to be working in the organization day-by-day. We live in a hierarchically oppressive world – and though the organizations we work in may have mission statements that aim to change this, “talking the talk” doesn't necessarily mean “walking the walk” and social justice nonprofits can feel like a mirror of the world we're trying to change. An organization's power structure or ways of doing work can create deeply unhealthy and exploitative dynamics within the organization itself and between the nonprofit and the “clients,” “members” or “community” that it works with.
What does it mean to align our vision with our process, our day-to-day work? Already, many people have been exploring the limitations and contradictions of foundation funding, and the deeper organizational accountability that comes with grassroots funding structures (described well in The Revolution Will Not Be Funded). Separately, from small nonprofit organizations all the way to multinational corporations, there's a growing mentality that healthy workers (e.g. ones with self-care plans, workplace yoga, lunch breaks) are “better workers.” Some nonprofits take this a little deeper and are working to become more transparent, accountable and/or participatory. However, many people continue to experience oppression and exploitation within, and at the hands of, nonprofits.
The contradictions in nonprofits can wear away at us slowly, break our hearts, make us feel too idealistic or too jaded (or both!). Some of us may be grateful that social justice work pays our bills, but if we work in nonprofits, we also struggle in them. If another world is possible, another way of working for social justice must also be possible.
Can we identify and dismantle the ways that structures of power (both social & workplace hierarchies) negatively play out in an organization? Is it possible for nonprofits to “walk the talk?”
Project Goals:
To name and give voice to the ways that oppression (such as racism and classism) and exploitation manifest in nonprofits, particularly in ones that self-identify as “grassroots,” “movement,” “community-based” or “social justice” organizations.
To present critical questions about nonprofit organizations for and from people who have a range of commitment to, and experience with, nonprofits.
To give voice to painful experiences directly linked to the structure and form of nonprofits. (These experiences frequently get tucked away under “personal conflicts” or labeled less important than the “real work.”)
To open a conversation about what appropriate roles are for nonprofits, and if—or how—it is possible to really work for social justice from within them.
To share the difficult questions that are usually talked about discreetly—the ones that, if spoken about more publicly, might change the ways we work to change the world.
Guidelines:
Who: Anyone can submit. We are most interested in pieces that take an anti-oppressive and intersectional approach, and we will prioritize voices of people who experience structural oppression in the world at large.
What: A zine/self-published book that will be available online and on paper.
When: Submission deadline, April 8th, 2011
How: Send all submissions to walkthetalk.zine@gmail.com. Please feel free to email with questions, ideas, proposals, and possibilities!
Submissions: Essays, stories, art, poems, comics and interviews are welcome. Written pieces should be under 2,000 words. Get in touch if you have another idea or would like to submit a longer piece!
Please include your name and contact information with your submission. If you want your piece to remain anonymous, please include the pseudonym that you want used.
-----
Training for Social Action Trainers - returning to the Bay Area in April!
April 29 - May 1, 2011
Oakland, CA
To register, contact Ken at ken@globalexchange.org
Join us for an intensive training designed for experienced facilitators wanting to revitalize their work, new trainers wanting to inspire, teachers, community leaders, activists -- anyone wanting to take their skills to a new level and learn how training can be used more effectively.
AS A PARTICIPANT, YOU WILL...
Gain greater awareness about yourself and your strengths as a facilitator;
Get a chance to take risks, experiment and refine skills in a safe and supportive environment;
Get the stimulation of fresh approaches and increased options;
Receive personal guidance from experienced trainers in a small group setting ;
Learn new tools that are easily adapted, principles of workshop design, skills for working with diversity and a better understanding of how to use experiential education methods effectively.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND THIS WORKSHOP?
Experienced and less-experienced facilitators, consultants and trainers...Activists and organizers wanting to use training more effectively in their work... Teachers, community leaders, pastors, consultants and others who want more experiential tools.
The TSAT is a great way to learn the core approach to Training for Change's elicitive style of activist training, or if you are considering bringing TFC trainers to work more closely with your organization. Anyone who takes the TSAT is then qualified to be a participant at TFC’s Advanced Training of Trainers, an extended 5-day intensive the delves more thoroughly into group dynamics, conflict in groups, and working cross-culturally.
If taken separately, this workshop costs $150 US-$375 US, sliding scale based on income. The fee includes over 23 hours of training, meals during workshop hours, and simple lodging for people who request it. Visit the Training for Change website for a chart that will help you determine your fee: http://www.trainingforchange.org/node/290
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smartMeme presents
Advanced Story-based Strategy Training:
Framing and Narrative Strategy for Social Change Strategists, Communicators and Organizers
Dates: Thursday June 2 (4 pm) to Sunday June 5 (4 pm)
Location: Center For Third World Organizing (CTWO), Oakland CA
Cost: $1,500
Tuition cost includes all meals plus handouts and materials. A limited number of partial scholarships may be available. Please see the application.
Accommodation: Stay onsite at CTWO for an additional $33/night - or participants are welcome to arrange their own off-site accommodations.
STORY-BASED STRATEGY
Storytelling has always been a powerful tool for grassroots organizers, but now more than ever, narrative strategies are at the heart of successful social change campaigns. SmartMeme was founded in 2002 to help grassroots organizations harness the power of narrative to effectively frame issues, build stronger alliances and create more compelling messages. Our story-based strategy model links traditional organizing techniques with new strategy, training, and communications methods––like framing and branding-–to give social change advocates the tools to hone their story, challenge prevailing cultural narratives, and ultimately build stronger movements that can bring social change. Now more than ever, as the overlapping economic, social and ecological crises are escalating—while corporate propagandists and right wing ideologues push their narratives justifying further racism, fear and inequity––our movements need tools and strategies to win the Battle of the Story.
WHY ADVANCED TRAINING?
SmartMeme has trained over 3,000 activists since 2002 and collaborated and consulted with over 100 social change organizations to apply the story-based strategy framework to critical campaigns. Our new book Re:Imagining Change -- How to use story-based strategy to win campaigns, build movements, and change the world (PM Press, 2010) has sparked discussion and drawn attention to the methodology. The book is already in its second printing and smartMeme’s inbox has filled up with requests for training and assistance to bring the ideas in the book to real campaigns. Its time to gather a circle of our alumni, partners and allies in a learning community to share the story-based strategy model in depth. This advanced training is designed to build participant’s skills to facilitate social change constituencies through the process of developing and implementing effective narrative strategies. We have a simple goal: to train and develop more story-based strategists who can support progressive movements to change the story for social justice and an ecological future.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Please fill out the application at http://smartmeme.org/advancedtrainingapp by March 23, 2011 (5 pm est).
The Training Team will review all applications and select candidates according to:
1. EXPERIENCE: Applicants’ experience with story-based strategy and related communications and strategy methods
2. IMPACT: Applicant’s ability to spread the model amongst organized constituencies in key social and ecological justice alliances and sectors
3. DIVERSITY: SmartMeme is committed to convening spaces that reflect the diversity of our movements
4. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: SmartMeme's goals for this training include building capacity in specific movement sectors and developing leadership for our story-based strategy practitioners network.
The Training Team requests that applicants have been through a smartMeme training before or worked with smartMeme in a story-based strategy process. We will give folks with this experience priority when reviewing applications, but encourage all to apply and will accommodate as many people as possible.
Applicants will be notified by April 6. If accepted, applicants must make a deposit of $250 by April 22 to hold their place.
Space is limited and we do expect to fill this training and will create a waiting list for spots that may become available.
DEADLINE TO APPLY IS MARCH 23th 2011 (5 pm eastern)
http://smartmeme.org/advancedtrainingapp
TRAINING FOCUS
This training will include:
• Discussion of the theory and practice of framing and the story-based strategy model looking at case studies and examples from smartMeme’s fieldwork
• Opportunities to practice facilitating smartMeme’s story-based strategy curriculum and receive feedback
• Intensive team-based simulations to apply story-based strategy concepts to social change campaigning
This training will NOT include:
• Introductory workshop on story-based strategy. Participants are expected to have some experience with this model already, and at the very least to have read Re:Imagining Change.
• Traditional communications/media training, such as how to speak to the media, write press releases, or pitch news outlets
TRAINING TEAM
SmartMeme principals Doyle Canning & Patrick Reinsborough and other associates TBD
GRATITUDE GOES TO...
This advanced training is made possible by the generous support of smartMeme’s member donors (LIKE YOU - Donate now!) and:
The Frances Fund
The UU Congregation at Shelter Rock
Ben & Jerry’s Foundation