Thread by @vpillar

Back at it for day 2 of 3 at #FacingRace ! I'm wearing my Gayogo̱hó:nǫʔ Nation t-shirt, reminding me of the Indigenous folks whose land I live in while I sit here in Akimel O'odham and Piipash land. There are so many people here!!

Jiivik Siiki of Warriors Code, and enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community, kicked it off with song, dance, and reminder that his people have been here since time immemorial. Dozens got up to join the dance--it's a joyous space! #FacingRace

Now we're on to the opening plenary discussion about restorative justice for our movement. Everette Thompson began by asking panelists to comment on how healing is no trifling matter. #FacingRace

Sendolo Diaminah talks about how electoral work is not 40 hr/wk, but rather ebbs and flows. "When it drops down, we want you to really rest, and when it ramps up, we want you to really work!" He notes that the labor should be exhilarating rather than extractive. #FacingRace

Oof now Sendolo's talking about building power within orgs. You might have less power than others "because when it was time to listen, you was talking. And when it was time to do what the group wanted to do, you went and did your own thing." #FacingRace

Ashley Thompson of Retreat + Reimagine firmly emphasizes the importance of rest, and calls on org leaders to demonstrate rest. Asks the audience what being rested feels like deeply in our bodies. "And if you don't have an answer to that, go take a nap! I'm serious." #FacingRace

Per Audre Lorde ("the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house"), she points out that urgency is one of the master's tools. [I see this all time in gov't, somehow simultaneous w/ gov't moving notoriously slowly.] #FacingRace

Toni-Michelle Williams of SNAPCO, answering the question of what gets sacrificed in the movement, says: "it's us!" Meaning Black trans women. She calls on everyone: "We need you to show up, we need you to interrupt, and we need you to be present and listen deeply." #FacingRace

Regarding leadership often being inconvenient, Sendolo says: your values will carry you through discomfort. White nationalism and Christian supremacy come from fear; "that's what it looks like when you don't live your values!" Impromptu standing ovation for this. 🙌#FacingRace

Everette asks each panelist to give the audience one invitation, and Ashley invites us all: "Literally go lay down." Good time to mention I visited the no-talking Wellness Room yesterday and it was so relaxing! Had blend-your-own herbal tea in a beanbag chair. #FacingRace

On to the first breakout session! I'm at "From a Seat at the Table to Democratic Control: Powerbuilding through Co-governance." We'll learn about formalizing structures (beyond just voting) for communities to really work with gov't to implement policy. #FacingRace

In response to "what is building power?", Rukia Lumumba of People's Advocacy Institute describes community deciding what their lives & decision-making look like. "We are making being a part of governing like brushing your teeth." #FacingRace

Shaw San Liu of Chinese Progressive Association: we have to organize within ppl's actual life conditions. Example: a woman getting $3/hr at her restaurant job was unsure if she could take the risk of fighting the wage theft. Organizers' job is to enable that fight. #FacingRace

Rukia: even as organizers, "you have to be humble and not always think that you have the right answer." Like any other campaign, go door to door and have conversations and give folks the needed information, but also check in on people's wellness. #FacingRace

Linda Reed of Paterson Education Fund describes organizing with parents to dramatically reduce the list of reasons for suspensions in the school district. Lots of conversations with admin, one-on-one lunches, and reaffirming that parents know their kids. #FacingRace

Linda: "Sometimes, if you want a seat at the table, you gotta pull up your own chair." #FacingRace

Rukia on the water crisis in Jackson, MS: currently, EPA mandates the city to distribute bottled water every day there's a boil water notice. Bc of the low tax base, this involves employees working 7days/week long hours. Community stepped in to volunteer to help. #FacingRace

This, she says, is also an example of cogovernance. "When you live in and love a place, you have a right and a responsibility" to affect that place for the better. #FacingRace

Shaw San describes the necessary nitty-gritty of learning the ins and outs of city government. (CPA is in San Francisco.) So an org needs at least one person spending the time to do that. [From inside government: it's my job to communicate that!] #FacingRace

Rukia notes that electeds also don't necessarily know how government works 😂 She also notes the importance of "building systems that allow us to share information in CONSISTENT ways with our communities." #FacingRace

Linda describes getting follow-through from the school district by having informal conversations every single time she ran into the principal--in the grocery store or wherever. Persistence pays off! #FacingRace

Rukia describes assembly in Jackson as not an organization, but a space. There's no membership; all are welcome and it's important to maintain the space that way. Her father, as mayor, would walk into that space and ask the community what he should be doing. #FacingRace

In closing comments, the speakers collectively emphasize the importance of consistency, persistence, and maintaining your north star when doing cogovernance. #FacingRace

Someone asked about how "evidence-based practices", often required for funding, are really restrictive. Rukia notes that that phrase often means "white". Shaw San notes the value of partnering with community-based researchers. #FacingRace

I found the Tompkins County contingent! L-R me, Ruby Pulliam (HR director), Travis Brooks (legislator & GIAC deputy director), Leslyn McBean-Clairborne (GIAC director and former legislature chair), J.R. Clairborne (Veterans' Services director). #FacingRace

My only complaint about this conference so far is that despite serving some meals, they served no coffee after breakfast! The tiny Starbucks (union busting is disgusting) is no match for a 2000+ person conference.

Now in the Spirituality and Land Sovereignty convo. Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr., Chair of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, on colonization: "You're wearing the same chain I'm wearing. The only difference is that I feel mine and I'm trying to make you see that you have it too." #FacingRace

Reverend John Mendez, founding member of the Poor People's Campaign, says ppl think spirituality has no power, but no: Western civilization has forced its spirituality on others. Real spirituality is powerful and "resists oppression and the oppressor." #FacingRace

Hard to live tweet such a deep conversation tbh. Dr. Wendsler spoke on how the enemy is not people but rather colonialism and capitalism, how Apaches learn to wait & now is the time to speak, & that he loves to be home in his sacred land but is here at #FacingRace to save us.

Reverend John told a parable of a lion who acts like a sheep until shown his reflection by another lion, and how we all need to show each other how to roar "until justice rolls down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream." (He knew MLK!) #FacingRace

Dr. Wendsler and the San Carlos Apache Tribe have been fighting a proposed copper mine in the sacred Oak Flat site. Local media wouldn't cover the fight, but when he accompanied Rev. John to an event in NC, NC media reported on it! Only then did AZ media pick it up. #FacingRace

Among AZ media, the Mexican channel was the first to report on the story. [I'm thinking about @HalftownMustGo 's struggles for media coverage as I hear this.]

Good news: yesterday an appeals court ruled against the copper mine! #FacingRace

Now in another breakout: "Inside/Outside Strategy: Building the Long Game for the Future We Seek." Introducing the concept of civic trauma, which recognizes that government failure is not a one-time act, nor does it need to be intentional to be harmful. #FacingRace

The goal of the inside/outside strategy is to solve the problem of civic trauma. One driver of the trauma is that people both inside and outside feel powerless, because power is divided. So how do we organize across power? #FacingRace

Candace Moore, Chicago's first Chief Equity Officer, says that from the get-go she committed to speaking explicitly, though not exclusively, about race. (OERJ is the Office of Equity and Racial Justice.) #FacingRace

Not long after she started, COVID hit. Her challenge: "how do you build community trust in a moment of crisis?" The answer was to start connecting a lot more closely to people who were already close to the problem. #FacingRace

They created the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team (RERRT). They invited community to the table as partners, put the problem and the data on the table, and asked for input... and community members were indignant that they weren't coming with solutions. #FacingRace

In the space, lots of people came with anger and frustration. It was hard to hold that and listen, but Candace did, knowing it wasn't personal ire toward her, but rather at the institution that she had recently joined. And making space for that ire was important. #FacingRace

In the context of rapid response to a pandemic, RERRT kept it rapid by meeting every single day. Even on Easter! #FacingRace

One thing that came up was that despite the dominance of the virus, staying safe from the virus wasn't people's most immediate need--it was accessing food. So they set up a solution to meet that need first. #FacingRace

Through the whole process, civic trauma held things up, but the process of coming back to the table again and again helped break that barrier down.

Also: conflict helped break down civic trauma. Unlike a town hall, these meeting had space for conflict. #FacingRace

Candace and her team had to listen and face the conflict, and they had to accept that the angry community members were right. They came up with a creative solution and implemented it, demonstrating that they didn't dismiss people just for not being polite. #FacingRace

The success led people to lionize RERRT--but Candace emphasizes that it wasn't magic! They had to think about how to make that collaboration a flexible, ongoing practice rather than a singular glowing story. (So will we, if we want to break down civic trauma!) #FacingRace

Many people outside of RERRT even heard the success story as just yet another harm--like, look at everyone celebrating another thing that isn't for me or my community. So what then? #FacingRace

Niketa Brar of Chicago United for Equity now has the mic to talk about driving the inside/outside strategy from the community side. She's sharing the People's Budget Chicago project, where they surveyed communities on budgetary priorities. #FacingRace

She's distinguishing between a participatory budget (which can be achieved with a mere survey) and a community-led budget, which includes a survey but, more importantly, storytelling and listening and relationship-building. #FacingRace

They led group discussions, and at the end, each group nominated two people to meet with their alderperson and share the results of the discussion + push for the community needs. 100% of people followed through! #FacingRace

Here's the People's Budget project btw (video included, which we watched): peoplesbudgetchicago.com/our-voices

I had to go find food but I'm back at todays last session! It's about public education for multiracial democracy. Alex Ames of Georgia Youth Justice Coalition incisively names what some want from schools: a closed path to opportunity for certain straight white kids. #FacingRace

Bridgit Antoinette of Pop Culture Collaborative shared that for most parents, their kids' school provides their first taste of activism. That's an exciting opportunity for antiracist organizing, but it's also being weaponized in attacks on CRT, trans kids, etc. #FacingRace

James Ford: "in many ways, school is a colonial outpost." He says the US is demographically very different than what it was built for, and those of us used to cultural dominance find ways to reproduce that, largely in the school. #FacingRace

Becky Pringle of NEA: "It is our shared responsibility that when we say every student, we actually mean every student." Calls on us all to continue "to demand that this country lives up to the poetry in the Constitution" by being for ALL people. #FacingRace

Camille Sledge closed out day 2!! Brief video clip is of her energetically performing on stage with a backing band and a Race Forward emcee. Crowd is cheering, screaming, and singing along. #FacingRace