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2017 Overcoming Racism Conference: Awakening, Woke, Taking Command
November 3-4, 2017
Registration is OPEN - see conference page for details & registration link
Early Bird rates through 9/22 ONLY!
Coming to the conference from Greater Minnesota? Join us for a special gathering Friday. Details on conference page.
2017 Equity-Oriented Leadership Institute participants: Click here to view/download/print resources from the resource table
2016 Overcoming Racism conference: Disrupt Racism As Usual
Check out the keynote/plenary sessions - Links to video of many plenary sessions!!
Workshop descriptions & schedule - We've added resources from many workshops shared by presenters
We need you! Be part of FREC - Join us as we plan our activities:
Every second Thursday of the month, 9-11 am at Common Cause MN
550 Rice St., St. Paul, MN 55103
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Healing Minnesota Stories blog: https://healingmnstories.wordpress.com/
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For over ten years, Discussions that Encounter has facilitated open discussions about race, racism and white privilege. These events are open to all and sponsored free of charge in Minneapolis on the second and fourth Thursday evening of each month. Our vision is to provide an environment where people of all walks-of-life and backgrounds can openly discuss any aspects of racism. We use video or prepared materials to pursue a specific topic with ample time for facilitated conversation. The objectives of these forums are to raise awareness, build relationships, assist all along the journey of overcoming racism, provide education on historical and current topics, and facilitate open conversations that can't usually be approached across the "races."
Notices are sent prior to each Discussion Forum with details on topic, location and directions. Contact Bill Keatts at wkeatts@austin.rr.com to receive information or to be added to the regular distribution. Discussions Forums are every 2nd Thursday at Phillips Community Center (2323 - 11th Avenue, South, Minneapolis) and 4th Thursday at St. Olaf Church (215 South 8th Street, Minneapolis) with free supper at 6:30PM and program from 7-8:30PM. All are invited at no charge – no need to register.
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Suggested reading: "White Fragility" by Robin DiAngelo, co-author of Is Everyone Really Equal (Sensoy and DiAngelo 2012). This short piece does an excellent job of identifying many of the participant behaviors that we antiracism facilitators see in our dialogue circles or workshops. The reading is a naming of the various displays, performances and emotional responses some participants engage in when they find themselves in race conversations. This reading offers an explanation of the contexts and mindsets motivating the behavior. Scroll down for more suggested reading.
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Free online resources: Bridging Activist Class Cultures
There are many reasons progressive groups run into trouble, but class culture differences don't have to be one of them. In fact, understanding diverse class backgrounds makes us more likely to succeed. A few years back, our own Betsy Leondar-Wright studied 25 varied social justice organizations to find class patterns in culture traits and problem solving approaches. Her findings, published in her book Missing Class and taught in Class Action's Bridging Activist Class Cultures workshops, are now available free online in the Activist Class Cultures Kit.
This kit is a comprehensive guide to understanding your own class experience, seeing class culture traits around you, collaborating better with others from class backgrounds different than your own, and implementing the strengths of each class to help your social justice organization succeed. It's full of videos, quizzes, tips and stories about real progressive activist groups facing class culture challenges. It even features a discussion guide for groups reading Missing Class. For all these resources and more, visit www.activistclasscultures.org online.
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Brotherhood, Inc. offers a wide variety of coffee, tea and cocoa products for sale or delivery. These products are available at all Discussions that Encounter Forums and directly through the website www.brotherhoodmn.org. Sales assist in achieving their mission to enable African-American youth and young men to envision and achieve successful futures. Brotherhood, Inc. aspires to create a pathway out of poverty, gangs and incarceration by offering comprehensive and culturally-sensitive educational opportunities, social services, legal services and in-house employment all under one roof.
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Bdote Sacred Sites Tour
Bdote is the Dakota word for "meeting place of rivers" and specifically the confluence of the Mississippi River and Minnesota River which is located near Fort Snelling and the Mendota Bridge. Join Jim Bear and/or other Dakota elders who will be graciously guiding a tour of several sites within the Bdote area.
Target audience: Faith community leaders, interfaith leaders, "Healing Minnesota Stories" planning group, community members interested in learning more. Anyone may participate in a tour of the Bdote Sacred Sites. We desire for the whole group to ride together and to keep the group relatively small, so please RSVP early to allow us to plan appropriately for our outings.
For more information and to sign up, go to <http://visitbdote.eventbrite.com>.
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Gustavus Speaker Series on U.S. Dakota War of 1862 Archived Online
- Dr. John Peacock, “War of Words: Writings by Dakota People in Their Own Language and Later in English During and After the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862”
- Glenn Wasicuna, “A Dakota Way of Life”
- Dr. Gary Clayton Anderson, “The Dakota War Trials: Travesty of Justice or Reasonable Retribution?”
- Thomas Maltman, “Based on a True Story: Researching a Controversial History to Create Fiction”
- Corinne Monjeau-Marz, "Aftermath of the 1862 War: Reviewing the Years from 1862-1866"
- Dr. Gwen Westerman, "We Are Still Here"
This U.S.-Dakota War lecture series was made possible with funds from Gustavus Adolphus College, Minnesota Humanities Council, and the State of Minnesota through the Minnesota Historical Society from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
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Here is a recap of the 10 reparation strategies offered by Waziyatawin at the 2012 Overcoming Racism conference, as tweeted by @Two_Cranes #10DakotaReparations (thanks, Liz!)
1. Return state/federal lands to Dakota. Can start w/ non-revenue-producing state parks
2. Contribute* to re-purchase of lands for land return, a form of paying "back rent" (see below for how)
3. Lobby for return of Dakota sacred sites & for access to them, such as Coldwater Spring in Mpls
4. Take down Fort Snelling, which "celebrates the righteousness of pioneer settlement"
5. Lobby for the return of sacred objects from places like museums & Minnesota Historical Society
6. Remove icons, colonial symbols incl street names, names of sports teams, schools, etc.
7. Form action groups to fight/protect the Dakota land we all love; work to stop development industry
8. Support Dakota language programs, including fundraise for them
9. Support Dakota protests, right to have ceremony; provide legal support; support anti-colonial struggle
10. Support direct-action training camps
*Donations to the Dakota nonprofit Oyate Nipi Kte (The People Shall Live) will support Makoce Ikikcu (Recovering Land)
Online: http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Oyate-Nipi-Kte
By mail: Oyate Nipi Kte, 4052 Hwy 212 SE, Granite Falls, MN 56241
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What Does Justice Look Like? by Waziyatawin Read more about it
The Color of Wealth by Rose Brewer and others Read more about it
Download a reflection on Joe Feagin's book, The White Racial Frame
No-Man's-Land by Eulah Biss found in the February 2008 issue of The Believer, Believermag.com. Subtitle: Fear, Racism, and the Historically Troubling Attitude of American Pioneers.
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Join our list (upper left) so you don't miss the next edition!
Read the January 2016 e-news
Read the September 2015 e-news
Read the May 2015 e-news
THANKS to all who made the 2015 conference a success!
Video of the conference opening, panelists and keynotes linked from the 2015 conference page
2014 Overcoming Racism: Cultivating Transformation
MayKao Hang's Friday keynote
Sam Grant's Saturday keynote
Transformation Talk videos by Leon Rodrigues, Elder Atum Azzahir, Dr. Ed Ehlinger, Maria Isa and Pastor Tim Johnson
Photos from the conference Thanks to Allyn Uniacke for the photography
Read/download MayKao's dissertation Whites and the Active Representation of Racial Minority Interests
Read/download resources from some of the 2014 workshops.
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Check out these videos from the 2013 Overcoming Racism conference plenaries, produced by SPNN:
Brotherhood Inc. panel discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhSG7Vfn0-M&feature=youtu.be
Diane Wilson keynote address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXoruEJQq2s&feature=youtu.be
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Listen to TruthToTell's 11/19 episode, originally broadcast on KFAI radio
Overcoming Racism conference keynote speakers Dr. Rose M. Brewer & Waziyatawin and conference co-host Herbert Perkins explore decolonization and other conference themes with TTT's Andy Driscoll & Michelle Alimoradi
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Listen to a conversation with the two 2011 conference keynoters and conference co-host Antonia Apolinario Wilcoxon about racial framing and the conference on Truth To Tell, KFAI Radio. Or watch the in-studio video (keynoters both participated by phone)
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Lots of great photos from the 2010 Overcoming Racism: Recognizing and Challenging the Legacies That Oppress Us conference can be found at overcomingracism.shutterfly.com/ Thanks to Miss Marie Photography for taking and sharing the photos!