CALLING ALL WHITE SOCIAL JUSTICE ALLIES!

At this point in our history, we are deeply concerned that global warming, peak oil, and economic instability are already coming to a head -- impacting low-income people and communities of color first and worst. Through dialogue and collaboration with local resilience and social justice organizations, we’ve begun sharing diverse strategies to prepare our communities for the deepening challenges ahead.

And while there has been incredible progress toward inclusion and justice within the largely white-led environmental and localization/Transition movements, we still have a great distance to travel. We feel that to be fully effective advocates, white allies involved in social change work must explore their socially identified privilege and support one another in embracing the responsibilities that come with it.

If you are a white activist working for social justice and community resilience, we would be honored to have you join us for an October 17 workshop entitled, "Anti-Oppression/Local Resilience for All" (see below for full description and registration information).

We've only got 40 spots available, so please register today!

Toward a just, vibrant, and resilient Bay Area,

- Aaron, Claudia, Dave, Graham, Kirsten, Leah, Nile and the Bay Localize Team

Join Us on October 17 for an...

Anti-Oppression/Local Resilience for All Workshop
Building an Inclusive, Justice-Centered Movement for Regional Self-Reliance

This six-hour workshop, designed by the Catalyst Project (see below), is based on the belief that anti-racism can be a catalyst for building powerful, effective multiracial movements that can create real justice in this country. It is designed to support white social justice activists in building an analysis of white supremacy and white privilege and developing anti-racist/pro-justice organizing skills.

Looking at historical and current institutional racism and how white privilege impacts social justice activist work, the workshop will introduce us to anti-racist organizing principles that we can bring into all of our efforts to build a healthy, sustainable, and just society. We will connect these topics to the challenges and prospects of building a truly inclusive movement for regional self-reliance that's centered in social justice.

WHEN: Saturday, October 17th, 10 am - 4 pm

WHERE: Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street, Oakland (between Telegraph and Broadway)

COST: $50 - $100 (sliding scale) + $10 local/organic/veggie lunch (optional, but restaurants are sparse near the Hall)

REGISTER TODAY!

REGISTER ONLINE by making a donation for the amount you can afford ($50-100 plus $10 for optional lunch) AND e-mail us at rsvp@baylocalize.org to let us know you want the donation to cover your workshop tuition.

THE CATALYST PROJECT:

The Catalyst Project is a center for political education and movement building based in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are committed to anti-racist work in majority white sections of left social movements with the goal of deepening anti-racist commitment in white communities and building multiracial left movements for liberation. We are committed to creating spaces for activists and organizers to collectively develop relevant theory, vision and strategy to build our movements. Catalyst programs prioritize leadership development, supporting grassroots fighting organizations and multiracial alliance building. For more about them, please visit: http://www.collectiveliberation.org

TRAINER BIOS:

MOLLY McCLURE first became politicized through queer, feminist, and global justice organizing in the 90s. While living in Philadelphia for 5 years, Molly supported immigrant rights and gender justice organizing, taught sex education in public high schools, and facilitated self-defense and anti-racism workshops. Since Hurricane Katrina, Molly has been doing Gulf Coast solidarity work in and out of New Orleans, and organizing around the struggle for a just reconstruction. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Molly moved back home in 2006 to be closer to family. In addition to Catalyst project, Molly works with Just Cause Oakland whose work is organizing to prevent displacement and to build power in working class communities in Oakland.

CHRIS CRASS is a coordinator and organizer with the Catalyst Project. He has been engaged in left/anarchist politics for the past 20 years. He participated in anti-war organizing during the Gulf War in 1991 and was heavily involved in struggles for Ethnic Studies and immigrant rights In Orange County, CA. For six years he played a leadership role in San Francisco Food Not Bombs. He was a co-coordinator of the Challenging White Supremacy Workshops from which the Catalyst Project emerged in 2000. He was a co-founder of Colours of Resistance with Helen Luu and Pauline Hwang. His essays on collective liberation politics, anti-authoritarian leadership, organizing strategy and movement building have been published widely in Left Turn, Clamor and on ZNet and Infoshop.org.