Power Building for Racial Equity

This workshop focuses on the role of power when addressing systemic racism and advancing racial justice. Systemic racism is a system of power–hierarchical, coercive, and oppressive power–based on race. Racial justice, to be achieved and sustained, also requires power–inclusive, collective, and liberatory power. As we do the work of racial justice, power plays a critical role and needs to be explicitly examined and deliberately transformed. When power is ignored, unjust patterns of power can be unintentionally replicated. This workshop provides an opportunity for reflection, sharing tips and tools, and exploring ways to transform power in your racial justice work, whether internal-facing (within your organization) and/or external-facing (with your community or the broader society).

Audience

• People, and teams of people, working in the non-profit and public sectors who are committed to addressing racial equity.
• Racial and social justice activists, organizers and educators seeking more frameworks and tools for deepening their work.
• Individuals committed to racial justice are willing to explore the challenging work of addressing power dynamics when addressing issues of race.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the training, participants will:

• Learn a framework for identifying and understanding different kinds of power, including oppressive and liberatory power.
• Practice identifying different types of power that operate in the internal- and external-facing work of organizations and institutions.
• Learn some tips and tools for identifying ways to apply power-transforming practices in your racial justice work