NOTE: Parts of this schedule are still evolving. The days and times will not change, but please continue to check back as we continue to confirm details.

Friday, January 22, 2021

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm EST    Opening Session
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm EST    Keynote Address – see speakers
7:00 pm – 7:15 pm EST    Break
7:15 pm – 8:30 pm EST    Panel 1 – Youth Activism Panel

Saturday, January 23, 2021

9:00 am – 10:30 am EST    Session Block 1
10:30 am – 10:45 am EST    Break
10:45 am – 12:15 pm EST    Session Block 2
12:15 pm – 12:45 pm EST    Lunch break
12:45 pm – 1:15 pm EST    Wellness Block
1:15 pm – 1:30 pm EST    Break
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm EST    Session Block 3
3:00 pm – 3:15 pm EST    Break
3:15 pm – 4:30 pm EST    Panel 2 – Radical Artivist Panel
4:30 pm – 5:00 pm EST    Closing Session

2021 Summit Workshop Descriptions

This is an evolving list of workshops that have been confirmed for The 2021 Summit. As we near the date of The Summit more workshops may be added to this list and they will be grouped into three different session blocks (see above).

Click on a workshop’s title to read its description and facilitator backgrounds.

Session Block 1

[expand title=”Another Childhood IS Possible” tag=”h5″ ] Lecture-style presentation with Q&A In this talk, we will explore how we can develop an alternative future for Childhood. We will critique the education system. Answer the questions; what is learning, what is play, and what is Childhood. We will compare and contrast how Childhood differs when looking race and socioeconomic class. And finally, we will discuss the importance of Children’s literature and media in shaping the purview of young children. Another Childhood is Possible! An anti-capitalist childhood is possible. FACILITATOR Lark Sontag – | | Child Development Theorist Lark is an independent scholar and theorist focusing on the topics of Childhood, economics, race, and family in North America. For over ten years, she has worked with school districts, colleges, and universities to support them on their paths to develop a liberating curriculum for classrooms and beginning teacher programs. Her independent research focus is young Black Childhood within the African Diaspora in the Global North and South. BA Philosophy, MA Sociology, MA Early Childhood Education. California teacher credential. Lark is African American raised in an African American community in Los Angeles, currently living in NY. [/expand]

[expand title=”Anti-racism and Allyship in Academia” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop In this workshop, attendees will be invited to engage in practical and experiential learning on racism within higher education. After defining key terms, facilitators will lead attendees through a series of activities in which multiple solutions can be explored for hypothetical or personal experiences. Attendees will gain an understanding of the ways that structural racism affects institutional spaces, and hopefully be better equipped to enter dialogues within structurally racist spaces. This workshop allows for a potential network of allyship to be created across attendees and higher education institutions (HEIs). This can provide a sense of accountability that can continue beyond the summit. Although the research for this workshop is framed within the academic setting, the tools and strategies can be applied to any space in which structural racism occurs. Anyone interested in exploring emotional labor, structural racism, and intersectionality are welcome to attend the workshop. FACILITATORS Anna Claire Walker (She/her/hers) – | | Independent Scholar and Politically Provoking Puppeteer Mary C. Parker (She/her/hers) – | | Just Collaboration, LLC Mary C. Parker and Anna Claire Walker began researching race and representation in the arts in 2019 as a part of their Master’s courses at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD). Mary C. Parker is an African-American dialogue facilitator and comedic actor with a BA in Sociology from Emory University, and an MA in Applied Theatre from RCSSD, where she researched how stand-up comedy can increase visibility of Black women. She is a Certified Professional Coach through Duquesne University. Currently, she works with individuals and institutions, dismantling oppression through her business, Just Collaboration. Anna Claire Walker is a white American performer who holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Auburn University and an MA in Applied Theatre from RCSSD where she researched capitalism in children’s theatre. She currently works with a community arts center in Washington, DC, providing virtual workshops. Together, they’ve facilitated workshops as a part of their research in racism in higher education. Their research was recently published in the Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Equality and Diversity journal. [/expand]

[expand title=”breathe, move, listen” tag=”h5″] yoga-inspired, visualization, and meditation practice in this centering/grounding practice we will explore our bodies, our breath, and our imaginations to deepen our listening. our time together will include breath exercise, yoga-inspired movement, visualization, and walking meditation. making space for ourselves creates space for others. please have water to drink and access to a chair, pen and paper. facilitators yvette shipman and Linda Meacci are friends and spirit sisters who met 20+ years ago in the aisles of the East End Food Coop. they’ve been practicing yoga for longer than they’ve known each other. Linda loves sharing yoga that is therapeutic for the body, mind, and spirit. yvette enjoys facilitating processes that probe us to explore what gets in the way of what no longer serves us. [/expand]

[expand title=”Everyday Antiracism and the Overlooked Relationships Between Play, Creative Liberation, and Media Literacy” tag=”h5″ ] Roundtable Conversation How do play, creative liberation, and media literacy relate to sustainable anti-racism practices? How can we use them everyday to disrupt and combat oppression? And why are these tools critical now more than ever? This roundtable discussion is centered around the often unrealized missing pieces of most of our anti-oppression practices. We’ll discuss how these three things support a necessary paradigm shift in how we have historically practiced anti-racism and anti-oppression in the U.S and how these missing pieces are extremely powerful and critical parts of creating more humane, sustainable, and authentic ways of being anti-racist. FACILITATORS Ariel Barlow (She/her/hers, They/them/theirs) – The Joyful Squatter LLC Khadija-Awa Diop (She/her/hers) Ariana Brazier (She/her/hers) – ATL Parent lab Ariel Barlow is a teacher, community organizer, an anti-oppression and humanism consultant, & strategist, and the founder of The Joyful Squatter LLC, a humanity conservation organization. Her practices stem from her experience as: -an anti-racist organizer as a part of Y.U.I.R Pittsburgh. -a receiver of formal education in American Economics and Capitalism. -a teacher who centers self-empowerment, creative liberation, liberated learning, and community care above all else. Khadija-Awa Diop is a Senegalese-American who did her undergraduate studies at The University of Pittsburgh in Film Studies and Africana studies. She has a Masters of Science in Journalism from West Virginia University and is a PhD student in the Media Studies discipline in the School of Communications and Information at Rutgers University. Throughout her education she has studied film and documentaries, media’s effects on the way we understand our historical reality, media as a political tool, documentaries as a tool to disseminate misinformation and disinformation, and media in relation to Africa and the diaspora. Ariana Brazier is a play-driven community-organizer and educator. She is an Critical & Cultural Studies, Doctoral Candidate at the University of Pittsburgh. Ari conducts community-based ethnographic research with Black students and families living in poverty in the southeast United States in order to document how Black child play functions as a grassroots praxis. [/expand]

[expand title=”Imagining Racially-Just Futures: Design methods for creating long-term visions” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop Visions of better futures are powerful in motivating people. They can ease fears about change, highlighting benefits rather than losses. However, it can be tough to imagine achieving racial justice, because racism is so deeply embedded in society. This workshop explores strategic futuring tools, such as backcasting, to reveal new paths forward. We will first brainstorm artifacts from possible futures.Then work individually on our own ideal maps. Participants will leave with two activities to try with their teams, or personally, to define the world they are working toward and how to get there. FACILITATORS Hillary Carey – PhD Research, School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University hac@andrew.cmu.edu Rachel Arredondo – Master’s Student, Human Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University rarredon@andrew.cmu.edu Hillary Carey is a Designer and Ph.D. researcher. She studies how the wisdom of anti-oppression work can inform new approaches in design, and how designing can support the work of anti-racism. Recent publications include two conference papers: Anti-Oppression Mindsets for Collaborative Design (2020) and Fictional, Interactive Narrative as a Foundation to Talk about Racism (2020). With 15 years of experience teaching both in business and college classrooms, Hillary loves to work alongside people who are engaging with creative challenges. As a white, cis-gendered woman working in topics around racism, Hillary is always practicing ways to de-center whiteness, learn from different standpoints, and create spaces for all participants to share their perspectives. Rachel Arredondo is currently a Masters student at Carnegie Mellon University. As a first-generation Mexican-American, she is creating equitable and inclusive design futures. She participates in the Anti-Bias Learning Committee and has worked with the Actional Futures Toolkit in her previous work. Rachel completed a degree in Digital Arts and Professional Writing from the University of North Carolina. After graduating, she lived in rural Japan for three years, teaching English. As one of the founding members of the design team at Calendly, she led talks and workshops on creating inclusive design and team culture. In her professional and academic work, she blends these experiences into actionable methods and practices. [/expand]

[expand title=”Intersectionality on the Mend” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop Participants will come up with words typically accompanying ten intersections of the black community and critically investigate them. The different intersections that we will work on are: black and incarcerated, black and mentally ill, black and mother, black and father, black and deaf and non-hearing, black and disabled, black and homeless, black and trans, black and biracial, black and adopted.Throughout our discussion, we will tie in black feminist thought from multiple women who could be said to have practiced the discipline of and and spoken through an intersectional lens even before Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term. We will end with a listing of organizations that participants can donate to, volunteer for, or get involved with. After this workshop, participants will be more prepared to challenge negative or unjust language about the various intersections of black identity, and to spread awareness about the positive associations with each intersection in the black community. FACILITATORS Daeja Baker (She/her/hers) – | | Pittsburgh Feminists for Intersectionality, black organizers collective, sunflower collective Other than studying African American studies in college, along with creative writing, Daeja run an intersectional feminist group that provides an intersectional platform to our most vulnerable population: black women and femmes. [/expand]

[expand title=”Oppressive Systems Workshop” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop The Oppressive Systems Workshop is designed to help participants understand how systems affect both society and the individual. The workshop will introduce participants to the ways in which oppression has been designed and institutionalized historically, and how these systems continue to be perpetuated today. Participants will then be guided through an exercise in Systems Mapping, which moves this understanding of systems from theory into practice by identifying how these systems actually operate, how marginalization occurs, and empowered to dismantle these Oppressive Systems. FACILITATORS | Amber Thompson (She/her/hers) – Founder and Principal Consultant at Leaders of Change Kim Kaplan (She/her/hers) – Program Manager CMMI Institute Amber and Kim are both underrepresented and marginalized women in their fields of change management and process improvement and working towards increasing equity in the industry. Amber has over 10 years working with and for marginalized communities in non-profits, for-profits, and the public Sector. She founded Leaders of Change, company that provides organization development through a race, gender, and lens that focuses on equitable service design, for institutions, to address systemic discrimination. Amber and Kim have presented this workshop at University of Pitt’s Diversity Forum. You can watch it here: https://leadersofchangellc.com/services. They will be presenting it at the Nonprofit Partnership’s – Nonprofit Reinvention Summit on October 28th. [/expand]

[expand title=”Police Free Schools: Ending the criminalization of Black and Brown youth ” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop The consequences of excessive discipline extend far beyond the classroom, perpetuating cycles of poverty, low-education attainment, and structural inequalities that span generations. We will look at how School policies and practices as well as a system of white supremacy has led to high and disproportionate rates of suspensions, arrests, and referrals of Black and Brown youth. We will discuss the trauma caused to children as a result of exclusionary school discipline, overpolicing, and criminalization of typical youth behavior; and what we can do to end the criminalization of youth. FACILITATORS Ghadah Makoshi (She/Her/Hers) – Community Advocate, ACLU of PA Dr. Claire Cohen (She/Her/Hers) – Psychiatrist Angel Gober (She/Her/Hers) – Western Pennsylvania Director, One Pennsylvania Dr. Cohen is a Black child and adolescent psychiatrist who has been a community activist in Pittsburgh for over thirty years. Currently, her two areas of focus are educational justice and Medicare for All. Ghadah Makoshi is a community advocate with the ACLU working on School Policing issues within Allegheny County. She has over 5 years of experience advocating for inclusive, quality education for all students; as well as an end to overly punitive discipline practices that push students out of school and into the juvenile justice system. Angel Gober started 15 years ago building a tenants’ union in public housing where she lived with her daughter. Since then she has been a fearless Community Organizer, working on Housing, and Education Justice. She has been a winning Campaign Manager for local School Board campaigns and co-authored policy to stop the school-to-prison-pipeline. Angel envisions and strategically works towards a world resourced and beautiful for Black children. She is dedicated to state-wide and national coalitions to make change. [/expand]

[expand title=”The Importance of Youth Voices in Human Rights Work” tag=”h5″ ] Mini-Panel Discussion The main topic will be about the importance of listening to and understanding the voices, ideas, and opinions of youth in human rights work, viewed through the lens of artistic expression. We will also discuss the importance of creating a safe space for people, particularly BIPOC youth, to freely express and share their ideas about human rights, equity, and how to work for positive, meaningful, and actual change to or dismantling of the systems that embody, replicate, and reinforce discrimination and injustice. FACILITATORS Wesley S. Speary (He/him/his) – Deputy Director, Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations Will Tolliver – Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations Maisha Baton-Stawson – one of our volunteer judges; Morgan Overton – one of our volunteer judges and the artist for our contest poster Moderator: Tracy Baton – the chair of the Committee behind the arts, originator of the contest, and second vice chair of the Commission. The panelists have experience working and engaging with youth in various capacities, as well as conducting community outreach and education. In addition, the facilitators both have masters degrees in public administration and work in local government, both of which give them an inside view and understanding of how government works and how to engage with local government. Additionally, their government work is in civil rights enforcement and outreach. [/expand]

[expand title=”Enough is Enough: The Jonny Gammage Movie and 2021 Response Panel” tag=”h5″] Mini-panel   In this panel, we will be responding to the Billy Jackson documentary. This past October 12, 2020 was the TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY of the death of Jonny E. Gammage, so this summit is an appropriate time to commemorate Jonny’s death with a powerful discussion on the issues around police brutality, police misconduct, and police reform, as well as the ongoing disparities around how Black people and people of color are treated by the police. The documentary will be available for you to review approximately two days before the 23rd Annual Black & White Reunion Summit, formerly called the Summit Against Racism, now called The Racial Justice Summit.  We wish to bridge the time of activism with regard to these important issues from 1995 through today. One of our panelists will be Kyna James of the Alliance For Police Accountability (APA) who was involved in some of the protests this past year. Khalid Raheem led protests in Brentwood, while Tim Stevens led the protests in Pittsburgh back in 1995. The  (CPRB) Citizen Police Review Board’s existence was created in response to the death of Jonny E. Gammage. The CRPB, with a yes vote on the referendum on the November 3rd ballot, was strengthened.  Dr. Cyril Wecht was the Allegheny County  Coroner at the time of the death of Jonny Gammage and spoke out powerfully on his death and the deaths of other Black men at the hands of police.  Dr. Wecht introduced most of us locally, to the term positional asphyxiation or asphyxia, which killed Jonny E. Gammage, and twenty-five years later, killed George Floyd. Billy Jackson produced “Enough is Enough: The Jonny Gammage Movie”. Long time media host Lynne Hayes Freeland of KDKA Radio and TV, will facilitate this powerful conversation. The death of Jonny E. Gammage led to the creation of the Black & White Reunion during Tim Steven’s first year as President of the NAACP Pittsburgh Branch, the CPRB, the Jonny E. Gammage Scholarship Fund, and the first consent decree in the nation (which provided oversight to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police).   FACILITATORS   Tim Stevens founded the Black & White Reunion during his first term as President of the NAACP Pittsburgh Branch in 1996. Tim launched the Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) on May 21, 1986, and Co-chairs B-PEP’s Greater Pittsburgh Coalition Against Violence (CAV) and facilitates B-PEP’s Corporate Equity & Inclusion Roundtable (CEIR).  He brokered the meeting with then Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy in 1996 which led to the commitment of the City of Pittsburgh to provide research funding which led to what is now a $40 million dollar August Wilson African American Cultural Center.   Billy Jackson is a broadcast media producer, developer, and educator for NOMMO Productions since 1971. www.NOMMOproductions.com. Khalid Raheem is a community activist and organizer living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the founder and chairman of the New Afrikan Independence Party (www.newafrikan.org) and a former member of the Black Panther Party. He is also the author of ‘Toward a New Afrikan Revolution: Volume I’ and ‘Dare to Struggle! Dare to Win! (1981-2010): A Personal Memoir’. Check out www.urban-activist.com  for additional information.   Kyna James is the Coalition Organizer for The Alliance for Police Accountability (A.P.A.). A.P.A. is a grassroots organization dedicated to criminal justice reconstruction. Bringing the community, institution stakeholders, and government officials to a working relationship. Putting an end to racial profiling, police brutality, and injustice within the criminal legal system through advocacy, education, and policy.   Dr. Cyril H. Wecht is a medical-legal consultant and forensic pathologist, author and lecturer who served the people of Allegheny County as their elected coroner for 20 years. He has performed approximately 21,000 autopsies and reviewed or been consulted on approximately 40,000 additional postmortem examinations, including cases in several foreign countries. Dr. Wecht holds various faculty positions at the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University and Carlow University, and serves as chairman of the Advisory Board of The Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law. He is the author or co-author of more than 625 professional publications and editor or co-editor of 46 books, as well as co-author of the popular non-fiction books Cause of Death, Grave Secrets, Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?, Mortal Evidence and Tales from the Morgue. Dr. Wecht frequently appears as a guest on national TV and radio shows to discuss various medical-legal and scientific subjects. He has served as president of the American College of Legal Medicine and the American Academy of Forensic Science, as well as chairman of the boards of trustees of both the American Board of Legal Medicine and the American College of Legal Medicine Foundation.   Elizabeth C. Pittinger since January 1999, has served as the Executive Director of Pittsburgh’s Independent Citizen Police Review Board. She is an inaugural member of the PA State Law Enforcement Citizen Advisory Commission and a former Chair of the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations. Pittinger is a graduate of Marywood College and the School of Urban and Public Affairs, Carnegie-Mellon University. Lynne Hayes-Freeland has been a talk show host and news reporter for more than 40 years on both KDKA-TV and KDKA-Radio.  She covered many angles of the Johnny Gammage story when it occurred. [/expand]

Session Block 2

[expand title=”“Where are you from?; No, where are you really from?”: Recentering Anti-Racism Work in South Asian American Identity Formation” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop South Asians Building Bridges was founded to facilitate a “network of organizations” promoting collaboration, dialogue, and accountability within and beyond South Asian American (SAA) communities around racial justice and equity. In this session, we will use popular media references as discussion starters to understand how South Asian community dynamics influence anti-Blackness and other forms of marginalization in our identity formation and how we can combat these harmful processes. We hope to empower the community with tools and resources to think critically and confront our part in perpetuating biases and racism. FACILITATORS South Asians Building Bridges – | Madhumita Mahesh (She/her/hers, They/them/theirs) – Familylinks, Undergraduate Bachelors of Philosophy in GSWS/Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, Raashmi Krishnasamy (She/her/hers) – Carnegie Mellon University Milken School of Public Health, APAJ Esha Khurana (She/her/hers) – Undergraduate: Northwestern University Medical School/Master’s in Public Health: University of Pennsylvania Current institution: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Prachi Patel (She/her/hers) – Undergraduate: University of Pittsburgh, Institutional affiliations: Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education (ARYSE), International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Varsha Ramasubramanian (They/them/theirs) – Undergraduate: University of Pittsburgh Institutional affiliations: ARYSE, All for All Our facilitators, the founders of South Asians Building Bridges, come to the summit with a range of interdisciplinary degrees and work in racial and social justice. Among facilitators, we have backgrounds in diversity and inclusion work and education in schools, refugee/ immigrant populations, public health, and medicine. This work is deeply personal to us as South Asian Americans taking a stand against systemic complacency in the facet of racial injustice. We are built by and for our community and value the role of community building to enhance the reach of sustained movements. Given our South Asian backgrounds and the fact that this work is personal to us, we recognize the importance of being self-reflexive and acknowledge the potential biases and benefits that may accompany our standpoint epistemology. We are grateful for the efforts of our predecessors and by initiating these conversations, we hope to continue learning and building our knowledge base while empowering our community members to do the same. Madhumita Mahesh works at a Pittsburgh based non-profit and has experience leading social emotional learning sessions and dialogue around identity formation with elementary and middle school students in the Pittsburgh Public School District. They have worked with the City of Pittsburgh’s Gender Equity Commision to facilitate Youth Listening Tour conversations around gender, race, ability and equity. They have a background in psychology, education, disability studies, gender sexuality and women’s studies, and specific research background in popular media representation of marginalized youth and its impact on youth identity formation. Prachi Patel is a communications consultant for the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education (ARYSE). She has led participatory photography workshops with middle and high school students of immigrant and refugee background in Pittsburgh, facilitating dialogue around ideas of community, identity and belonging in the city. She has a background in cultural anthropology, science and nonprofit communications, community-based research and youth engagement. Raashmi Krishnasamy has experience leading health education sessions in communities made vulnerable by systemic injustices within Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. She has undergone community based research training to aid in conducting ethical social and behavioral research to address health care disparities. Raashmi also has experience working with facilitating community-building sessions and activities with youth both domestically and abroad. With a background in psychology and as a current MPH candidate, her interests primarily lie at the intersections of cultural sensitivity, mental health, social justice, public health, community engagement, and health policy and advocacy. Esha Khurana MD, MPH is a PGY3 Family Medicine/Psychiatry resident at UPMC Mckeesport. A child of first generation immigrants and the granddaughter of refugees, she grew up hearing narratives about SA issues and embedded in diverse SA communities. She has a background in community-based participatory public health interventions as well as culturally sensitive and trauma-informed care of marginalized populations throughout PIttsburgh and internationally (India, Botswana, Guatemala). As a result of her time spent between cultures and people witnessing disparities, she is particularly interested in issues of economic, environmental and health justice. She is currently designing a racial justice curriculum for integration into residency medical education at UPMC Mckeesport. Varsha Ramasubramanian has a Bachelor’s degree in social work and has worked with refugee and immigrant communities for the past three years. They have a degree in social work and through the program, conducted community-based research focusing on youth well-being.They are also passionate about labor organizing, having been involved in economic justice initiatives in college, and have facilitated club meetings about organizing and community care. [/expand]

[expand title=”Black Neighborhoods Matter” tag=”h5″ ] Lecture-style presentation with Q&A Grounded Strategies is a Pittsburgh-based environmental justice organization working with communities to return vacant and abandoned land to productive use. This workshop will describe the current state of vacant land in Pittsburgh, particularly in Black and low-income communities, and share how structural inequities have perpetuated Black land loss and environmental racism. To counter these injustices, Grounded will share how to adopt an approach to land restoration projects that are initiated, led, and stewarded by community members in order to achieve equitable outcomes. In particular, Grounded will describe advocacy tools that attendees can utilize to promote vacant land justice in Pittsburgh and put out a call to action to sign onto a land justice policy platform. FACILITATORS Grounded Strategies – | | jah watson (She/her/hers, They/them/theirs) – Policy Coordinator, Grounded Strategies Anna Archer (She/her/hers) – Director of Policy and Land Stewardship, Grounded Strategies Khadijah Bey (She/her/hers) – CommunityCare Steward jah (she/they) serves as the Policy Coordinator for Grounded Strategies. Originally from Cleveland, OH, jah graduated from The College of Wooster with a B.A. in Africana Studies. Their interests include poetry, art, Black queer and trans spiritualities, and the artist Noname. Anna (she/her) has an MPA from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs and a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies and Public Policy. Anna’s research has focused on civic engagement, community development, and program evaluation. Her background in environmental conservation and community organizing fosters her passion for addressing environmental justice issues at a grassroots level. Khadijah (she/her) is proud to call the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh her home. Since she has been living in Homewood, Khadijah has reclaimed several vacant lots near her home to extend a beautiful green space that is a treasurer to her and her community. Khadijah is a member of Grounded’s CommunityCare program and has invested hundreds of hours in stabilizing and beautifying vacant properties. She was featured on WESA’s The Confluence describing her experience with this work. [/expand]

[expand title=”Building movements for health, human rights & racial justice” tag=”h5″] Mini-Panel This panel brings together diverse groups who were part of the webinar series, Learning from COVID-19: Shaping a Health and Human Rights Agenda for our Region to explore how human rights can offer a framework for intersectional coalition building that promotes racial equity, justice and human rights. We center the need to re-orient policymaking and culture to prioritize human rights, dignity and well-being for all—including future generations. Recognizing that this work requires long-term movement-building, breakout sessions will consider strategies for advancing racial equity and prioritizing health, housing, and restorative justice. Ideas developed in this Racial Justice Summit session will shape a follow-up (online) meeting on Feb. 5-6 that will continue a process of building connections, planning joint actions, and deepening our analyses of the intersections of various human rights and racial equity/justice.  FACILITATORS Monica Ruiz, Executive Director, Casa San Jose Benjamin Gutschow, Casa San Jose, Future Latinx Youth (FLY) Randall Taylor, Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition Marcia Bandes, Pittsburgh for CEDAW Coalition;  Jackie Smith, Co-coordinator, Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance Student Human Rights Task Force [/expand]

[expand title=”Critical Race Theory & Technology” tag=”h5″ ] Lecture-style presentation with Q&A The human-computer interaction and technology communities have made some efforts toward racial diversity, but the outcomes remain meager. In this talk I present a paper that introduces critical race theory and adapts it for technologists to lay a theoretical basis for race-conscious efforts, in research, development, and within our broader professional community. Afterwards we will engage in a discussion that guides towards adapting CRT tenets to your own work. This session is aimed at those in the tech sector, but will be broadly applicable to anyone. FACILITATOR Alexandra To (She/her/hers) – Northeastern University Alexandra has been an organizer of the PRJS for the past two years. She is a faculty in the Art + Design department and the Khoury College of Computer Science at Northeastern University whose work focuses on human-computer interaction, games, and racial justice. She has won multiple Best Paper Awards for her research on HCI, race, and racial justice. She has a PhD in HCI from Carnegie Mellon and a B.S. and M.S. in Symbolic Systems with a minor in Asian American Studies from Stanford University. You can download a recent copy of her CV at her personal website here: www.alexandrato.com [/expand]

[expand title=”Dismantling Our Weapons of White Supremacy” tag=”h5″ ] BIPOC Affinity Workshop This workshop is designed specifically for BIPOC folx interested in exploring how we too utilize the weapons of white supremacy to harm ourselves and each other. We will identify white supremacy tenants as we see them within ourselves: how we judge based on skin color, hair texture, education levels, and economics, etc. We’ll use a series of embodied images and role play to support awareness of how these messages are stored in our bodies. We will hold space while witnessing each other’s stories, allowing us to identify what we need to transform within ourselves in order to lay down our own weapons of whiteness. Our personal healing and liberation is crucial in the movement towards racial and social justice. Important: This space is reserved solely for attendees who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). Because this is a highly participatory session, the presenters also request that attendees who join this space enable their camera. FACILITATORS Ashnie Butler (She/Her/Hers) – Inner Work Outer Play LLC Cheryl Harrison (She/Her/Hers) – Non-affiliated Cheryl and Ashnie have over 30 combined years of experience in workshop facilitation and organizing, and have been co-facilitating workshops using Theater of the Oppressed for Black, Indigenous and People of Color for over 4 years. Together we bring that wealth of experience, knowledge and insight into holding space for looking at and dismantling internalized racial oppression and anti-Blackness. Together we help folxs navigate where they are in the moment to support the inner changes that leads to outer transformation. [/expand]

[expand title=”From Restoration to Transformation: Dismantling White Supremacy Within School Discipline Reform” tag=”h5″ ] Lecture-style presentation with Q&A Current popular school discipline efforts often promote systemic racism because they focus on individuals instead of the policies that reinforce racial disparities. As such, this session examines prominent school interventions, provides suggestions on how to meaningfully integrate anti-racism within school discipline reform, and discusses where and how to get involved. First, we address restorative justice, a form of discipline that focuses on rehabilitation and reconciling relationships after someone is harmed. Second, we address trauma-informed care, a program focused on providing services at an organizational level that support individuals who have experienced traumatic events. We critique these programs, not to eliminate them entirely, but to reimagine how we integrate intersectional and anti-racist policies into schools for meaningful change in our communities, both locally and nationally. Through lecture and discussion, we intend to collaborate within our session on paths forward to fight for equity, justice, and healing within our schools. FACILITATORS Christopher Thyberg (He/him/his) – University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work Dashawna Fussell-Ware (She/her/hers) – University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work Cecily Dyan Davis (She/her/hers) – University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work Christopher, Dashawna, and Cecily are all doctoral students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. Each holds a master’s degree in social work though each has their own area of expertise that they bring to the table. Christopher has years of experience as a therapist working with adolescents that informs his research interests on trauma services and intersectional collective empowerment interventions that address structural oppression for adolescents–including his work on a trauma-intervention designed for a school using restorative justice in Pittsburgh. Dashawna has taught high school students in addition to her years of experience as a therapist and community support worker. Dashawna’s research expertise includes mental health disparities among and treatment of racial/ethnic minority youth in addition to community empowerment and service provision for racial/ethnic minorities living in urban, underserved neighborhoods. Finally, with over 10 years of practice experience in the Pittsburgh/Pennsylvania region, the hallmark of Cecily’s experience is collaborative partnership with for-profit organizations, schools/government agencies, nonprofit organizations and nationally funded research projects. She currently works on the Just Discipline Project and her practice focus on children, youth and families has resulted in her engaging the educational system on the behalf of those she served for her entire career. [/expand]

[expand title=”Happy Birthday Avis Lee” tag=”h5″ ] Roundtable Discussion with Audience Participation Avis Lee has survived over 40 years in prison and January 23 – the day of the summit is her 59th birthday! Co-founder of Let’s Get Free: The Women and Trans Prisoner Defense Committee, Avis has been community organizing from the inside for years. Help us welcome her home to Pittsburgh into her new role on the outside as reentry coordinator and learn about the struggles faced when one attempts to extract themself from a life sentence in PA. Avis will share some of her story and there will be plenty of time for questions and conversation. Avis will be joined by Paulette Carrington, Mageline Stewart, Debbie Africa and Naomi Blount who were all incarcerated in PA’s women prisons over the last 3 decades. Many members of Let’s Get Free will also be in attendance. [/expand]

[expand title=”Sustaining Movements for Change through Government” tag=”h5″] Workshop Civil rights movements require both community organizing and structural change. Despite a perception of local government as an unmoving entity, the government works together with citizens to bring about legislative and policy change. In this workshop, members of Pittsburgh City government outline ways that Pittsburghers can use the government to achieve the change they would like to see. After reviewing case studies of the Crown Act and Citizenship Status and Preferred Language protections (i.e., recent legislations that added new protected classes regarding natural hair type, citizenship status, and preferred language to the City’s anti-discrimination code), participants will identify a problem and work through it using government as a tool toward change.   FACILITATORS Jam Hammond He/him/his Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations Erika Strassburger She/her/hers Pittsburgh City Council Jordan Fields She/her/hers Mayor’s Office of Equity Alaa Mohamed She/her/hers Welcoming PGH Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations is the civil rights enforcement agency for the City of Pittsburgh.  In addition to enforcing civil rights, the Commission has the power to write and recommend legislation to Pittsburgh City Council. Welcoming PGH is an immigrant and refugee inclusion initiative in the Office of the Mayor.  Welcoming PGH supports community led initiatives that empower community leaders to work across organizations, sectors, and cultures to promote equal opportunities in our City.  The Mayor’s Office of Equity supports the administration’s priorities to make Pittsburgh a livable city for all. The Office of Equity conducts continuous in-depth analysis of outcomes, services and best practices of city departments to examine how they are contributing to inequity around the City of Pittsburgh. They provide recommendations on policies and national best practices to address systemic inequities in government and cities.​   Erika Strassburger has proposed and passed trailblazing legislation to guard against employment discrimination for pregnant workers and their partners throughout Pittsburgh; led the charge to overhaul and modernize Pittsburgh’s municipal waste and recycling code; and passed policies to prevent against discrimination based on gender identity and expression, citizenship status, and preferred language citywide.  [/expand]

[expand title=”It Takes More Than a Day: Creating Sustainable Change Within Organizations ” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop This workshop is for orgs and individuals who want to be more actively anti-oppressive but are stuck. Maybe you hired a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant for a few trainings but the work ended there. Or, you’ve attended a few workshops but don’t know what to do now. We’ve developed a holistic process to address systemic oppression for orgs and individuals. We’ll share case studies from our experiences as DE&I consultants and you’ll have a chance to reflect on which phase(s) you are currently in, walking away with ideas to enact transformational change that lasts beyond a day. FACILITATORS Liz Foster-Shaner (She/her/hers) – Theatre of the Oppressed Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Inclusant Mary C. Parker (She/her/hers) – Just Collaboration LLC Mary C. Parker identifies as an African-American cis-gender woman and is an international applied theatre practitioner, dialogue facilitator, and comedic actor. She holds a MA in Applied Theatre from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, a BA in Sociology from Emory University, and is a Certified Professional Coach through Duquesne University’s Palumbo Donahue School of Business. Mary has worked with community based organizations to create diversity, equity, and inclusion statements, address inclusion with boards of directors for nonprofits, and led several workshops on implicit bias. She also has seven years experience virtually facilitating dialogue sessions so folx can learn how to approach differences constructively and lead with empathy, to thrive in an interconnected world. Liz Foster-Shaner is a White, cis-gendered woman, educator and civic artist. She holds a PhD in Theatre Research from UW-Madison where she studied applied theatre for social change. With funding from Heinz Endowments, the Three Rivers Community Foundation, and Remake Learning, Liz is developing programs that reimagine our opportunities for change as active citizens of our communities and places of practice. Liz is a DE&I consultant for Inclusant, a Teaching Artist with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and founding member of Theatre of the Oppressed Pittsburgh. Recently, Liz facilitated workshops for the URA, Carlow University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. [/expand]

Wellness Block

[expand title=”Transforming Stress into Strength for Social Justice Advocates” tag=”h5″] As warriors for Racial Justice, self-care is essential to maintain our health as we struggle against all forms of injustice & create a world that is equitable & sustainable.  Utilizing techniques from ancient Doaist QiGong, this workshop provides accessible self-care techniques that assist the body in transforming stress into strength. Both sitting & standing practices will be explored including learning an acupressure point you can use on yourself. Synchronizing our movements with our breath assists us in synchronizing our actions with our intentions, as we embody social justice in our personal lives.  Small acts of kindness towards ourselves create profound shifts in our personal well being & empowerment! This workshop is suitable for all physical abilities. Participants are welcome to wear any type of clothing & no equipment is required FACILITATOR Moshe Sherman (he/him/his) Moshe Sherman is a Qigong Instructor & Medical Qigong Healer with over a decade of experience.  QiGong (Chee Gong) originates from Classical Chinese Medicine, dating back thousands of years. By using intentional movements synchronized with our breathing, Qigong impacts our life force energy (Qi). As we release unneeded energy & bring in fresh energy, our innate healing abilities are boosted. The impacts of practice include: finding greater balance, flexibility & strength while improving the quantity & quality of energy within us. Bringing us a mind set that is open & aware. Moshe’s practice is grounded in his background in education, art, political activism & love of nature. He works with individuals, couples & groups (online during Covid) In addition to teaching classes & providing healing sessions, he also leads meditative walks in city parks, called Forest Bathing. You can contact Moshe to discuss how Qigong & energy work can benefit you & your network at 412-327-5719 or Cloudgatepgh@gmail.com Follow him on Facebook @Cloudgatepgh for Live classes & updates. [/expand]

[expand title=”What makes a liberated childhood?” tag=”h5″] To make this book, I put a child at the intersection of queerness, Blackness and whiteness, then surrounded them with loving and accountable, caring people—just to envision what that could be like. When I sat down to write, I asked the child: What do you want me to know? The story that came is about a child who knows his own worth and divinity. His people circle round him, beholding and affirming him in a culture that they all know is f****d up. The book challenges stereotypes about race, gender, age and the shape of a family, and goes directly to the heart of God’s love for gay kids and everybody else, for that matter. We’ll talk about what makes a liberated childhood and our own efforts to get as close as possible to providing that for the children we are blessed to know. PRESENTER Anastasia Higginbotham is a queer, white author and artist whose books about childhood subvert systems of domination, such as patriarchy and white supremacy. She works in collage on grocery bag paper, using only recycled materials. Each book centers a child in the unfolding of their own lives and her titles include, Divorce Is the Worst, Death Is Stupid, Tell Me About Sex, Grandma and Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness. [/expand]

[expand title=”Yin Yoga for the Love of You” tag=”h5″] In this 30-minute yin yoga class we will slow down, connect mind, body, and spirit to rejuvenate our passion for life and a purpose and wrap ourselves in love. Be prepared to embrace self-love and self-care.  Bring water and comfort supplies such as a yoga mat or towel, pillows, blankets. PRESENTER Lovie Jackson-Foster, PhD, MSW (she/her/hers) is a wellness practitioner coordinating staff wellness for Allegheny County Children, Youth, and Families. She has worked as a community based social worker and researcher for more than 25 years and has a passion for teaching yoga, wellness workshops and mindfulness to address generational trauma. She’s a loving wife, and a mother of twin six-year old boys. Lovie’s primary purpose in life is to love, inspire, empower, and to see to it that all the children everywhere are well. [/expand]

[expand title=”tonglen: sharpening liberatory praxis and what to do with the poison” tag=”h5″] ‘love and justice are not two. without inner change, there can be no outer change. without collective change, no change matters.’ –Rev. angel Kyodo williams true justice requires shedding the violent tools and frameworks we’ve inherited. it requires ‘disarming’ the white supremacy and coloniocapitalism within ourselves so our effort does not replicate any structural piece where othering, violence, and oppression can continue/grow anew. understanding the mechanisms of oppression is not enough; we must also embody a praxis of non-othering, of restorative justice, by moving *from* the interconnectedness that has been denied and violated but nevertheless remains as fundamental truth. at the limits of our open-mindedness- when feeling lost, terrified, violent, self-loathing, hateful- tonglen offers a doorway to immediate connection with our shared humanity and fundamental truth. here, we find access to innate wisdom to more skillfully engage ourselves and the challenges of our world and to embody healing change.  PRESENTER willi is committed to various studies and practices of liberation. currently, he is paid for his work in the fitness industry and for his work as a somatic psychotherapist. he is living on unceded ramaytush ohlone land- sf, ca. [/expand]

[expand title=”Community Self-Defense” tag=”h5″] Join us for this 30-minute community self-defense class. Our goal is to create an exploratory learning environment where we can all begin healing from violence. What is self-defense in the world we are living in today? What does it mean to assert ourselves, set clear boundaries, and protect ourselves in current conditions? We will begin with a brief meditation; Identifying the links between personal safety and community wellness. We will then learn and practice together a few simple moves and phrases we can use to empower and defend ourselves.  Please come wearing comfortable clothing you can move in. INSTRUCTOR Aminta Steinbach is co-director of the self defense program at Hand to Hand Kajukenbo Self Defense Center and facilitates workshops on Antiracism with Be The Change Consulting in Oakland, CA.  Aminta has a third degree black belt in Kajukenbo, and when not working  you can usually find her kicking and punching her way to a more peaceful world. [/expand]

Session Block 3

[expand title=”Absolute Justice, Kindness, and Kinship: A New Approach to Criminal Justice Reform” tag=”h5″ ] Criminal justice reform requires purposeful addition and focus of “kindness” and “kinship” (alongside justice) as determinative factors in gauging efficacy and success. Absolute justice requires the dismantling of structural racism, after which kindness and kinship begin to arise. Based on a deeply pernicious notion of racial superiority, a system of racial advantage for whites has been long established in America. But we stress that only adl (justice) (not color) is supreme and is a minimum safeguard. Ihsan (kindness) and ita’i dhil-qurba (kinship) are the ideals which lead to the highest stages of human relations. Though these three concepts are Islamic precepts derived from the Qur’an, they are values accepted universally by all religions. Using this framework, we seek to discuss the roots of oppression and systemic racism by exploring the construction of racial categories, their global adoption, their influence in supporting racial violence, and the need for their deconstruction and elimination. Here, we will discuss the crucial historical context of how the European colonial expansion and its exploitation of the African continent led to the dehumanization of black bodies, and how slave codes and slave patrols enforced racially fueled violence. From a practical standpoint, we also seek to address police violence and judicial system inequities as perpetuating racism and the oppression of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color and articulate reasonable solutions based on proven models of social justice advocacy at local and federal government. Finally, we will share an experience of working with an organization using the public health model for violence prevention in an urban setting. FACILITATORS Imam Azhar Haneef – Chairman, Alliance for Absolute Justice (AAJ), National Vice President Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, USA, Washington, D.C. Dr. Basiyr Desmond Rodney – PhD, Professor of Education, Webster University, President of the Pan-African Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, St. Louis, Missouri Dr. Rasheeda Ahmad – EdD, Assistant Professor of Education, Cabrini University; author, speaker; academic interest: oppressive barriers to academic achievement; 20 years of social justice work, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Saif H. Rahman, Esq. – Criminal Defense Lawyer (former Public Defender); 15 years of experience, Los Angeles, California Abdul Lateef Balanta – Esq, Civil Rights Legal Advisor, Author, Speaker, Consultant, Baltimore, Maryland [/expand]

[expand title=”Black Equity Coalition – moving from crisis response to proactivity” tag=”h5″ ] Mini-Panel Discussion The Black Equity Coalition (BEC) is a group of physicians, researchers, epidemiologists, public health and health care practitioners, social scientists, community funders, and government officials. The BEC supports the creation of equitable systems through collaborations, networks, and policymaking. The BEC panel discussion will discuss its formation in response to the pandemic, how issue areas were identified, and responding to the pandemic’s varied needs. The panel will also discuss its focus on addressing needs beyond the pandemic and transitioning from crisis mode to a sustained movement for justice. FACILITATORS Dr. Tiffany Gary-Webb is currently Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion and a tenured Associate Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health. She is an accomplished researcher and her current research agenda is working to understand the social/environmental determinants of chronic disease and implementing interventions to improve prevention and control. She is now expanding her national and international reach to work on larger structural issues that will affect the nation’s progress toward understanding and eliminating health disparities. Dr. Tracey Conti is an Assistant Professor and Executive Vice Chair in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She also serves as the Program Director of the UPMC McKeesport Family Medicine Residency and Co- director of the University of Pittsburgh Family Medicine and Psychiatry Residency. Her clinical and advocacy interests include health disparities and healthcare delivery to underserved communities, medical education and women’s health. Fred Brown is President & CEO of The Forbes Funds, a philanthropic organization focused on strengthening the management capacity and impact of community nonprofits in the Pittsburgh area. Prior to that time Mr. Brown served as the President & CEO of the Homewood Children’s Village, a non-profit that takes a multi-generational approach to improving quality of life in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood; previously he worked for the Kingsley Association developing green/sustainable communities through holistic visioning, resident capacity building, community empowerment, micro/macro planning and sustainable redevelopment implementation. Mr. Brown has been a climate justice trainer, environmental justice leader, policy analyst, adjunct professor, dean of students, teacher, coach, mentor, certified Juvenile Justice Judge’s trainer (TOT), certified conflict mediation and resolution trainer (TOT), master consultant, supervisor, director, and executive director of non-profit organizations since 1987. Kellie Ware-Seabron, Esq An East Liberty native, Kellie Ware-Seabron is a product of Pittsburgh Public Schools and a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. After starting her family, working in community development, and as a tipstaff, she attended Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, earning concentrations in Poverty Law and Economic Justice as well as in Law and Development. Upon returning to Pittsburgh, Kellie worked as a staff attorney focusing on tenant’s rights at Neighborhood Legal Services, as the inaugural Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy Analyst for the City of Pittsburgh and served as Executive Director of the NAACP’s Pittsburgh Branch before joining The Forbes Funds as its Director of Community Partnerships and Sustainability. [/expand]

[expand title=”Combating New Forms of Oppression Lessons Learned from Passing Pittsburgh’s Anti-Policing Tech Bill” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop Our session tackles how surveillance tech affects the current movement for Black Lives, drawing from the history of tech deployment since the slave revolt, and the strength of intersectional movements against protest surveillance. We share different paths taken to end predictive policing & facial recognition in Pittsburgh, drawing lessons from movements against police tech in other cities, along with the crucial role of supporting Black-lead activism. We end by sharing lessons from pursuing denizen power over police tech and inviting participants to join the work against oppressive surveillance. FACILITATORS Bonnie Fan (She/her/hers, They/them/theirs) – Coalition Against Predictive Policing (CAPP-PGH), Coveillance Emily Black (She/her/hers) – Coalition Against Predictive Policing Joshua Williams (He/him/his) – Coalition Against Predictive Policing Katherine Ye (They/them/theirs) – Coveillance Brandi Fischer (She/her/hers) – Alliance for Police Accountability (APA) The Coalition Against Predictive Policing (CAPP-PGH) has campaigned against predictive policing in Pittsburgh, first halting such work at CMU and pushing for a ban on predictive policing and other harmful surveillance tech. The coveillance collective has collaborated on many community resources against pervasive surveillance, including a “Spotting Surveillance” field guide, surveillance walking tour, and more. Emily and Josh from CAPP-PGH are both PhD students specializing in how machine learning algorithms impact different populations and communities, focusing on the impacts of data-driven decision making systems. Katherine is a co-creator of the coveillance collective and has facilitated multiple coveillance workshops with the Tech Fairness Collective for the ACLU-WA. They also lead the Affecting Technologies group at the Center for Arts, Design + Social Research (CAD+SR). They are also a PhD student in CS. Bonnie works on grassroots centered community proposals against high-tech gentrification & displacement. They are currently a PhD student at CMU and Heinz College grad .They helped create coveillance and co-organizes a #NoTechForICE campaign. Finally, Brandi needs no introduction. She represents the Alliance for Police Accountability (APA), which has been working towards racial justice against police brutality since the brutalization of Jordan Miles. APA will be present to speak to their role in the campaign, facilitate discussion, and Q&A. [/expand]

[expand title=”Demilitarize PGH: Ending the Exchange of Violent Police Practices from Pittsburgh to Palestine” tag=”h5″ ] Lecture-style presentation with Q&A This is a teach-in about police militarization and the training exchanges between U.S. police departments and the Israeli military. The Pittsburgh Coalition to End the Deadly Exchange will share research on these exchanges of “worst practices” including mass surveillance, brutal suppression of dissent, and racial profiling. Coalition members will explain the extent of local, regional and national law enforcement participation in Israeli-run training exchanges, parallels in police brutality, and the campaign to end these exchanges. We will share examples of how the US-Israel relationship reinforces racist surveillance and policing, which permeates different facets of civic life in both countries like criminal justice and education. We will share our strategies and efforts aimed at dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline in Allegheny County by removing police officers from local schools. Our Demilitarize PGH campaign was created to end local participation in these law enforcement training exchanges. More information on the Pittsburgh Coalition to End the Deadly Exchange visit deadlyexchange.org or – FACILITATORS Darnika Reed (She/her/hers) – Education Rights Advocate and Organizer with the Pittsburgh Coalition to End the Deadly Exchange Krystle MG Knight – Community Organizer for the Thomas Merton Center, a peace and social justice center of Pittsburgh. Krystle is also the secretary of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement of Pittsburgh and serves on the coordinating committee of the PA Poor People’s Campaign. Daniel Klein (He/him/his) – Organizer with Pittsburgh Coalition to End the Deadly Exchange and Co-founder of Jewish Voice for Peace Pittsburgh Daniel Galvin (He/him/his) – Organizer with Pittsburgh Coalition to End the Deadly Exchange and Vets for Peace Darnika Reed is a member of the Pittsburgh Coalition to End the Deadly Exchange, community organizer and an education rights advocate. Darnika works with children with special needs in the schools, and she led a successful campaign with the Coalition to remove abusive school staff and cancel police contracts in the Woodland Hills School District. Daniel Klein is a member of the Pittsburgh Coalition to End the Deadly Exchange, and long-time member and co-founder of the Jewish Voice for Peace Pittsburgh Chapter. Daniel works as a designer and is EcoDistricts Accredited. Daniel Galvin is a member of the Pittsburgh Coalition to End the Deadly Exchange, and organizer with Vets for Peace. Daniel is a veteran who discusses his personal experience seeing the impact of militarization on the human psyche. Krystle MG Knight works as the Community Organizer for the Thomas Merton Center, a peace and social justice center of Pittsburgh. The Thomas Merton Center is a member organization of the Pittsburgh Coalition to End the Deadly Exchange. Krystle works with coalition partners to advance the goals of ending the deadly exchange. Krystle holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology, minor in social work from Texas A&M- Corpus Christi. Krystle is also the secretary of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement of Pittsburgh and serves on the coordinating committee of the PA Poor People’s Campaign. The PA Poor People’s Campaign’s demands includes the ending of these deadly exchanges across the state. [/expand]

[expand title=”Imagining Post-abolition Food Futures: An Emergent and Immersive Collective Visioning Experience” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop The “Imagining Post-abolition Food Futures” (“Food Futures” for short) workshop will be a space for exploring beyond our current frames of reference to future(s) where food is a basis of freedom, rather than a basis of oppression.“Food futures” is an emergent and immersive collective visioning experience. More than anything, we hope that it will be fun. Together, the participants we’ll build a shared future based on the things that they bring back from it.In our game, we’ll be bringing back food-things from the future(s) where food systems are just and equitable. FACILITATORS Tacumba Turner (He/him/his) – Educator, Farmer, Creative Fitzhugh Shaw (He/him/his) – Farmer, Yoga Instructor, Creative Tacumba has a diploma in Horticulture with several other credentials related to agriculture and ecological landscaping For the last 6 years Tacumba has worked as an Environmental Educator with multiple Environmental non profits and farmers. Fitzhugh has years of experience of farming in community and bartering with a formal background a M.A in food studies From Chatham. Visit Fitzhugh Shaw’s blog, Food-Power A “lens” for experiencing, learning, and talking about food and its histories, as well as the ways in which food forms the bases of many cosmologies, spiritualities, and the material of reality itself. [/expand]

[expand title=”Rise, Revolt, Rest, Refresh: Reclaiming Sustainable Self-care for Activists” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop This workshop is designed for activists to reclaim self-care’s collective and radical roots. This session will deconstruct how modern self-care is appropriated by white supremacy culture, and attend to ways one can re-engage in it as a liberatory practice. Participants will identify ways to align reclaimed self-care practices that are consistent with their values and participate in the practice of rise, revolt, rest, and refresh to reclaim self-care as part of sustainable activism towards social justice. FACILITATORS Mengchun Chiang (She/her/hers) – Counseling and Psychological Services, Carnegie Mellon University Dareen Basma (She/her/hers) – Counseling and Psychological Services, Carnegie Mellon University Sara E Mark She/her/hers Counseling and Psychological Services, Carnegie Mellon University  Shubhara Bhattacharjee He/him/his Counseling and Psychological Services, Carnegie Mellon University  Kym Jordan Simmons She/her/hers Counseling and Psychological Services, Carnegie Mellon University Counseling and Psychological Services at CMU – This presentation does not represent CaPS In addition to the more than 45 years of combined experiences in the field of mental health services and extensive postgraduate education and training, the presenters are a collective with shared passion for social justice, community mental health and well-being, community organizing and activism. Dareen Basma, is an Arab clinician and educator who specializes in multicultural pedagogy, psychotherapy and research, with a specific interest in immigrant identity; Sara Mark is an avid advocate and supporter for racial justice in the greater Pittsburgh region, and has more than 12 years of experience in the community of mental health that integrates physical and mental well-being; Shubhara Bhattacharjee identifies as a Pittsburgh based British Indian mental health clinician who has extensive training background and clinical attunement to factors related to spirituality, psychological well-being and cultural identity; Kym Jordan-Simmons identifies as a Black therapist who has extensive clinical and training experience in the field of mental health with dedication to supporting Black and/or underserved students, survivors of sexual violence and/or trauma; and Mengchun Chiang is an active Taiwanese American community member/organizer at transnational communities serving Asian/Asian American Pacific Islanders, in addition to a life-long learner about the intersection between mental health training, research, and racial justice. [/expand]

[expand title=”Solitary Confinement: Oppression and Racial Disparities in the Prison Within a Prison” tag=”h5″ ] Mini-Panel Discussion Solitary Confinement, is a prison within a prison that mirrors society. There are racial disparities. There is rampant state sanctioned violence and murder by guards with impunity. It is filled with political and politicized prisoners. The Mandela rules and the United Nations call it illegal. Hear from solitary survivors about their experiences and how they overcame it Pennsylvania prisoners, activists and legislators created a bill to end long term solitary. Hear about our fight and how you can help end solitary in county jails, state and federal prisons and immigrant detention centers. PANELISTS Shandre Delaney (She/her/hers) – Director, Human Rights Coalition Fed-Up! Carrington Keys (He/him/his) – Human Rights Coalition Fed-Up!, Paralegal, Author Dana Lomax-Williams (She/her/hers) – Human Rights Coalition Philly, Coalition Against Death By Incarceration Delaware county, Community Legal Services Chris Kimmenez (He/him/his) – USMC Retired, Recovery Christian Center Urban CDC, Supply Pastor, Lombard Central Presbyterian Church, Healing Communities USA, Chaplain, Philadelphia Stand Down Human Rights Coalition Fed-Up! – The moderator, Shandre Delaney, is a 15 year advocate for the human and civil rights of prisoners. She is the Director of Human Rights Coalition Fed-Up! and co-founder of a project that supports jailhouse lawyers and prisoner whistleblowers. She is also a writer for Law at the Margins. Carrington Keys is a formerly incarcerated activist and jailhouse lawyer who now works as a paralegal. They say the pen is mightier than the sword. He used the pen and the law to free himself and others. He was released from prison after 19 years, 11 of which were in solitary confinement. He is a published author on his experiences in prison and solitary. Dana Lomax is a Wife, Mother, Advocate, Organizer, Motivational Speaker, Educator and a formerly impacted woman. She’ believes in and advocates for second chances and speaks about the injustices in the judicial, penal and PRISON systems. She is a woman who survived solitary confinement. Rev. Dr. Chris Kimmenez is an ordained Baptist minister, pastor, chaplain, psychologist, trainer, public speaker, consultant and a medically retired marine combat veteran. He is also a solitary survivor. He founded the Pastor’s & Preacher’s Support Network and is a chair or fellow on a countless number of faith based and criminal justice organizations. [/expand]

[expand title=”The Breathing Room Affinity Group” tag=”h5″] Affinity Group (Dialogue/discussion for attendees of a specific identity group) The Breathing Room Affinity Group is a space created by black womxn for black womxn to breathe, heal, create, & affirm. Using Theater of the Oppressed & Playback Theater skills we will counter the harm that the session facilitators have experienced in white-led spaces, & together we will affirm one another’s experiences, perspectives, concerns and observations. This space will foster community & heal during the summit & beyond, as members return to the exhausting work of dismantling, resisting, & activating in their own communities.  Important: This space is reserved solely for attendees who identify as Black womxn. FACILITATORS Mary Parker She/her/hers – | | | Just Collaboration, LLC Sisi Reid (she/her) – | | | Actor, Playwright, Director, & Teaching Artist Dr. Lalenja Harrington – | Sisi Reid (she/her) is a vibrant Black and Queer theater artist from Wheaton, Maryland who practices theatre as a tool for joy, healing, youth empowerment, and collective liberation. She embodies creation through many roles; as an actor, writer, playwright, director, spoken word poet, facilitator, teaching artist, arts administrator, and applied theater practitioner. She currently serves as a Producing Playwright with The Welders and was recently awarded a 2020 Maryland State’s Arts Council Independent Artist Award.  Dr. Lalenja Harrington has been involved in the movement for access to higher education through inclusive academic program development and advocacy since 2007, & has been actively using arts-based approaches (including applied theatre) to community engaged/participatory research for the past 5 years.. She is a performer with 20 years experience in spoken word, collective poetry facilitation, & devised works, & she is a teaching artist who incorporates TO/Playback practice into her work with youth.  Mary C. Parker combines dialogue facilitation with applied improvisation to facilitate workshops addressing everyday oppression through comedy. Mary collaborates with individuals, educational institutions, and corporations who are ready to deepen their self-awareness, interrupt bias, and actively engage in dismantling oppression through services of playshops and coaching sessions informed by Theatre of the Oppressed and Playback Theatre. [/expand]

[expand title=”Understanding and Dismantling White Supremacy Culture” tag=”h5″ ] Workshop In “Understanding and Dismantling White Supremacy Culture,” we will discuss the tenets of white supremacy culture: what it is and how it shows up in our world and what steps we can take to dismantle it. Conversations will focus on three characteristics: Paternalism, Power Hoarding, and Sense of Urgency. Before we can implement strategies to dismantle white supremacy culture, we first need to be able to recognize it within our organizations and ourselves and find the language to talk about it. We will break down each of the characteristics by examining the harm that it causes through contextualized examples and then look at small steps we can take to start shifting and dismantling them. This workshop will include small group discussions in breakout rooms, where attendees will have the opportunity to apply workshop content to their individual context, and end with a group discussion on how to move this knowledge into action. FACILITATORS Meena Malik (She/Her/Hers) – Musician, arts consultant, and cultural organizer. Currently the Program Manager of Theater at the New England Foundation for the Arts. Deidra Montgomery (she/they) – New England-based musician, arts and culture consultant, anti-oppression educator, and movement facilitator Meena Malik is a highly experienced arts administrator, musician, consultant, and cultural organizer, deeply committed to anti-racism and anti-oppression as the core value and guiding principle of all work both personal and professional. Last year, she was selected to be part of the 2019 cohort of the artEquity National Facilitator Training, and since then she have been presenting and facilitating workshops and trainings for arts leaders throughout the country, both in-person and virtually. In January, Meena facilitated the Women of Color in the Arts Womxn’s Leadership Forum: Positioning Power, which was offered as a pre-conference workshop during the Association of Performing Arts Professionals National Conference. Since the pandemic, she has virtually facilitated a workshop on understanding and dismantling white supremacy culture for Latinx dance leaders and presented a three-part workshop on activism for Asian classical musicians. As part of the Cultural Equity Learning Community facilitation team, she has developed and presented an eight-week curriculum on building anti-racist arts and culture organizations, which has been shared with approximately 1,000 national arts and culture leaders. At her current position at the New England Foundation for the Arts, Meena acts as a key thought leader in organizational equity initiatives and is the Co-Chair of the Equity, Diversity, Intersectionality, and Accessibility (EDI&A) Working Group. Deidra Montgomery (she/they) is a New England-based musician, arts and culture consultant, anti-oppression educator, and movement facilitator. With a professional and educational background in the arts and a personal investment in intersectional racial justice, Deidra’s approach to art, consulting, and facilitation is collaborative and iterative and promotes creativity, integrity, compassion, and joy. More info: www.deidramontgomery.com [/expand]