9th Annual North Puget Sound Conference on Race
Date: October 16th & 17th, 2021
Time: 10:00a.m.—1:30p.m. Both Days
Location: Virtual
Theme: Just Wellness: Re-Emergence as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)
Keynote Speakers: Dr. Edwin Lindo with UW School of Medicine & Emmy Nominated Spoken Word Poet Christian Paige
Register at: https://bit.ly/3tmtxao
Zoom Information: Launch Meeting - Zoom
October 16th, 2021 Program
Welcome
10:00a.m.—10:20a.m.
Conference Welcome, Land Acknowledgement, & House Keeping
Keynote Address
10:20a.m.—11:00a.m.
Interrogating Racism: Where It Began and Where It’s Been with Dr. Edwin Lindo with UW's School of Medicine
Description: Associate Professor Lindo will take us down an exploration of the working of racism in society, and how the teeth of racism has distorted humanity and recklessly shortened lives.
Intermission
11:00a.m.—11:10a.m.
Intermission
Breakout Session 1
11:10a.m.—12:10p.m.
Workshop A: Imagining Just Black and Indigenous Futures: Abolition Ecology Landscapes with Ashia Ajani
Description: This workshop will use abolition ecology to illuminate paths towards wellness for BIPOC outside of a capitalist, productivist model that is harming both the planet and its inhabitants. We will explore the relationship between grief and wellness, imagine bold, Afro-Indigenous futures that center the needs of those most vulnerable to climate change, and work together to envision a world that prioritizes genuine wellness over coping mechanisms defined by the State.
Workshop B: De-Criminalization of Survival with Kristina Jorgensen & Ashley Albert
Description: Survivors’ involvement with the criminal legal system is overwhelmingly the result of their trauma, acts of self-defense, lacking funds for legal representation, and not fitting the racist stereotype of the “perfect victim”. This teach-in will discuss; the criminalization of survival, the impacts on individuals, families and communities and how to take action through potential legislation and defense campaigns.
Workshop C: White-Identifying Caucus with Caitlin Hoover & Courtney Clementson
Description: As white social justice and anti-racist practitioners, Caitlin & Courtney understand the anxiety and fear that can surround movement building work. Understanding the harmful impacts we can create without even knowing can make us afraid to say or do the wrong thing. This breakout is intended for white-identifying participants to join together to unpack some of our fears and gain some tools and resources for how to move through them. This transformative experience will support white participants in creating healthier and more secure relationships with our co-conspirators.
Intermission
12:10p.m.—12:20p.m.
Intermission
Breakout Session 2
12:20p.m.—1:20p.m.
Panel 1: Leveraging Grassroots Organizing & Civic Engagement to Create Systemic Change with Brandy Donaghy, John Lovick, Troy Osaki & Luisana Hernandez
Description: The summer of 2020 ignited a movement which advanced the ongoing struggle for justice and accountability from harmful and oppressive systems. The State of Washington is not immune from these systems of injustice and we invite you to join our special guests panelists as they outline how we can continue leveraging the power of voice and collective impact in civic engagement and grassroots organizing to create impactful systemic change.
Panel 2: Community Museums: Wellness and Healing across Generations with Cassie Chinn, Dr. Jerry Garcia, Scott Mexcal, & Erin Shigaki
Description: Meet with two community-based museums rooted in communities of color. Learn how they use their museums to bring wellness and healing within their communities and across the generations, fostering places of belonging in the face of historic practices of exclusion. Then be inspired by a new collaboration between artists Erin Shigaki and Scott Mexcal who are creating a new mural that explores the shared heritage of our local Japanese American and Chicano/a/Latino/a communities. Featured museums include the Sea Mar Museum of Chicano/a/Latino/a Culture in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood and the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. Participants will learn ways that they can get involved. Participants are also encouraged to explore these museums on your own as part of the conference.
Workshop 3: Critical Race Theory with Dr. Edwin Lindo
Description: During this workshop, Associate Professor Lindo will guide us through a discussion about Critical Race Theory, its history, present, and future. The goal of the workshop is to answer the question: Why are people so upset about CRT?
Closing Remarks
1:20p.m.—1:30p.m.
Thank You to Participants & Sponsors and Invitation for Second Day
Keynote Address
10:20a.m.—11:00a.m.
Imagination as a means to Wellness with Christian Paige, Jamaar Smiley, Dalisha Phillips, Courtney Wooten, & Luisana Hernandez
Intermission
11:00a.m.—11:10a.m.
Intermission
Breakout Session
11:10a.m.—12:10p.m.
Workshop A: Imagination as a Means to Wellness with Christian Paige & Jamaar Smiley
Description: In this workshop, Christian & Jamaar will continue the conversation and causality debate between wellness and imagination. Join them as they explore the multiple and numerous ways to enter into this conversation and the plethora of ways one might begin holding the need for both to sustain and nourish momentous work.
Workshop B: A Country to Come Home to: A Poetry Workshop with Troy Osaki
Description: Whether here or overseas, we all deserve a country free of exploitation and oppression that uplifts the health and well-being of our communities. Through writing exercises and poems, reimagine our homelands as truly liberated and the world free for all people. In reflection of history and resistance, this workshop aims to expose and oppose the brutal systems that harm people the world over while simultaneously calling for social change to serve the interest of the people and protect their health and welfare.
Workshop C: Restorative Justice 101 with Cassandra Butler, Devon Adams, & Chloe Huber from Collective Justice
Description: Meet Collective Justice, a collective based in Renton, WA who build political power, and facilitate community based healing programs and dialogue and accountability processes for community members inside and outside of prisons. Join us for a “Restorative Justice 101” session where we will discuss the principles of restorative justice (RJ) and alternatives to punitive and carceral forms of justice and how those principles look in practice in our community.
In our workshop, we will be sharing our understanding of how restorative justice practices and community based responses to harm create the conditions for intergenerational healing. We also share why we believe RJ creates alternatives to our current systems through which healing is often denied to all parties experiencing severe harm and long periods of isolation which impact the economic health of both individuals who are removed and their communities who lose workers and loved ones to the practice of imprisonment.
Closing Remarks
12:10p.m.—12:30p.m.
Thank You to Participants & Sponsors and Invitation for Community to Take Action in Re-Imagining & Re-Creating Health & Wellness for BIPOC
October 17th, 2021 Program
Welcome
10:00a.m.—10:20a.m.
Conference Welcome, Land Acknowledgement, Explanation of Theme, & Keynote Introduction