How things look after 25 years of anti-racism work

By Erika Thorne, with input from Naomi Long

As a white TfC trainer who has concentrated on racial justice work for 25 years, where I started is not where I am today. As I’ve grown, learning what it means to do effective social change work, I’ve shifted my focus from doing anti-racism work with other white activists to supporting mutually-developed goals in active cross-race and cross-class coalitions. 

Behind this shift is a changing answer to the question, What is the point of doing anti-racism and racial justice training?

As a trainer and organizational development consultant to various social justice and environmental groups, I take my responsibility to play very seriously.   Unfortunately, when I use my role as a trainer to invite groups to play-- through ice-breakers, games, skits or other kinesthetic activities—the opportunity is often met with groans and eye-rolling.  “What does acting like a chicken have to do with learning to be a trainer?” people grumble.  “Role plays aren’t the same as real life!” they cry.  “Can’t we just sit down and talk about it?”  “We don’t have time for this.  We need to get back to work.”...

Picture this: a group of activists who’ve been planning a direct action come together for a regular meeting. Tensions are high, because two members posted something on their e-mail list that offended a potentially key ally. At this meeting, the group has to decide, by consensus, what to do about the incident, and reactions to the incident are split in several directions. It’s not an easy meeting. Accusations fly, defenses are up. Some people are silent because they don’t know what to make of the situation or hate getting involved in conflict.

It was obvious the facilitator wasn't catching everything. He looked back and forth from Melinda to Elvira, smiling slightly but wondering where all the laughter was coming from. He asked, in the language he didn't grow up speaking, "¿No entiendo la risa, de qué trata?" Melinda stepped in to explain, and in doing so shifted discussion away from the expected route toward a topic more in tune with the group's process. The facilitator's question, born of a self-conscious awareness of having more limited Spanish abilities than the participants, allowed the group to identify where it wanted to go and a new voice to come forward in leadership.

[permanent link to original article at Visions of Spring blog]

THIS IS THE THIRD IN A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS WITH TRAINING ASSOCIATES/TRAINING ELDERS: Nico Amador interviews Judith Jones, a Training Elder with Training for Change.

Using examples from Yugoslavia and other experiences of succesful movements, George Lakey challenges the notion that "diversity of tactics" can be used in a pro-democracy movement.

When a civil disobedience campaign in Philadelphia needed a fresh way to prepare its members, a new tactic was born: the practice site occupation. At that event, training took on a whole new meaning and became an action unto itself.

Read about the direct education approach's contrast to anti-oppression style trainings that exploit margins' experience for the mainstream or that create a laundry list of do's and don'ts for each experience. Two participants share their experiences from the06 Super-T to encourage increased awareness and greater inclusion of people with disabilities and transgender people in all types of workshops and trainings.We, Jana Schroeder and Nico Amador, met at the "Super T" training for social action trainers held May-June06 in Ontario, Canada.

The light bulb theory of development is that we need to know what we want to invent and how that is different from other (equally worthy) applications of nonviolent action. This paper by George Lakey describes the light bulb, and shows how it is different from a candle and from an oil lamp.

What are dilemma demonstrations? They are actions that move beyond telling people what we want and instead act it out now. Activist/trainer Philippe Duhamel writes about how Operation SalAMI used dilemma demosntrations to place the Canadian government in a real dilemma regarding their position and actions in the negotiation process of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). It tells the little-known story of how the texts of the FTAA were made publicly, which eventually led to that free trade vs. fair trade round's defeat. A strategic feast!

The controversial movie "Crash" is being touted for offering complexity about race. But often missing are the complex class implications in the movie. Read George Lakey's comments on this movie.

In the most recent newsletter from On Earth Peace, editor and TFC training associate Matt Guynn writes to radical Christians about the current situation in the US. Contributing writer Daniel Hunter, also a TFC associate, writes about the current political situation in the US empire and what activists need to consider in the face of the decline of the US empire.

Daniel Hunter offers a challenge to anti-oppression trainers on accepting 2-hour and 1-hour workshops. He argues it often structures the idea that diversity work can done quickly and keeps people away from the deep emotional commitment that is needed. Along with comments from TFC training associates Judith Jones and Erika Thorne.

From the author of "Class Matters," an article about building a mass movement in an era where activists are bombarbed by images that suggest we're a minority. But if peace activists take a class and economic analysis, we can become more effective as we re-align ourselves and gain new alliances.

[Por George Lakey - Después de estar detenido en una campaña de los derechos civil, George Lakey era coautor de un publicación básico para el movimiento de los derechos civil, A Manual for Direct Action, y entonces cinco otros libros sobre la tema de cambio social. Él trabaja actualmente con Entrenar Para el Cambio en Filadelfia (www.TrainingforChange.org).

Tradução: Edda Isernhagen - 2005
George Lakey

(Em desafio a Ward Churchill, que escreveu “0 Pacifismo como Patologia.”)

Quando a violência se depara com a não-violência, qual delas vence?

A ESPADA QUE CURA

(Em desafio a Ward Churchill, que escreveu: “O Pacifismo como Patologia”)
Por George Lakey
Treinamento para Mudança
Filadélfia – USA

(NT: agora começa o texto propriamente dito)

Ward Churchill, Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America

(Winnipeg, Canada: Arbeiter Ring, 1998), 176 pp.

An American activist speaks to Europeans, answering five key questions about the U.S. Peace Movement. (Read the Italian version: Siate Pazienti Con Noi)

George Lakey lays out his 5 stages of social movements, using case studies and examples. A strategy article for activists on how to create social change that is republished from Globalize Liberation.

George Lakey Training for Change (6/02)

US electoral politics are heating up in what some are hailing as one of the most important elections in US history. TFC's Strategy Project re-prints an article by Ricardo Levins Morales' on a strategic approach to the elections. Its unusual point of view includes transparency about strategic goals and objectives on a sophisticated level.

The Activist Dialogue facilitated intergenerational dialogue across gaps in the activist community. Read this manual to learn what works when leading dialogue across huge gaps.
Education through dialogue continues to be an effective and empowering technique, judging from this project. It was needed because the bruises sustained by the Philadelphia area during the Republican National Convention hadn't healed; instead, the gap between the generations threatened to become permanent. There was a further gap between campus-based activists and non-college activist youths.

How can we organize against the multiple wars of the U.S. and at the same time plant the seeds for the future mass radical movement that's required to end the war system itself? Here's a training tool called the mattress game that helps to understand those relationships.

Here's an approach to add immediately to your strategy tool kit, using a tool called spectrum of allies.

When state-sponsored violence meets nonviolent people power, which one wins? As George Lakey shows in this passionate and well researched piece, it's nonviolence that tends to win hands down. Originally written as a rebuttal to the Ward Churchill screed "Pacifism as Pathology," this booklet is filled with recent real-world examples of nonviolent victories.

The young man was steamed as he confronted a protest leader during the Republican National Convention in August: "I needed to go downtown that day and I didn't because of all the disruption in the streets! If you were trying to get me on your side, you sure didn't do it!"

Using words in a special way can be either confusing or helpful. We try to keep jargon to a minimum. The reason to use it at all is to be able to be able to make a precise point more quickly than giving a long explanation every time. Here are some of the common TFC terms!Using words in a special way can be either confusing or helpful. We try to keep jargon to a minimum. The reason to use it at all is to be able to be able to make a precise point more quickly than giving a long explanation every time.