Cultural Organizing for Community Change (Brooklyn, NY) provided a space where artists, media makers, organizers and policy makers could learn effective ways to deepen their work and strengthen their capacity to use the tools of creativity, imagination and organizing for community change. The workshop included cultural organizing framework, skill building workshops, networking opportunities, and an intergenerational conversation with cultural organizers. 

CULTURAL ORGANIZING FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE WORKSHOP

Arts & Democracy Project, in collaboration with NOCD-NY and Urban Bush Women
Saturday, August 18th, 10:00-5:00
South Oxford Space, 138 S. Oxford, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY

Agenda

10:00-10:45            Arrive/Welcome/Introductions

10:45-11:15            Socio-metrics/Getting to Know Who’s in the Room

11:15-11:45            Decolonizing Approach to Organizing

11:45-12:55            Cultural Organizing: an intergenerational conversation

        ~a light lunch will be served at this time~

Mitty Owens, FUREE, moderator

Frances Lucerna, El Puente
Alexandra Garcia, NY Communities for Change
Yul-san Liem, Peoples’ Justice for Community Control and Police Accountability
Sharon Lee De La Cruz, The Point

12:55-1:05            Break/Select Skill Building Workshop

1:05-2:35              Skill Building Workshops - Session 1

Urban Bush Women’s (UBW) Collaboration Lab with Maria Bauman
Mural Making with Joe Matunis, El Puente
Multicultural Dimensions of Participatory Action Research with Myrna Martinez Nateras, Tamejavi/ AFSC Central Valley Programs

 

 2:35-2:45            Break/Selection Skill Building Workshop

 2:45-4:15            Skill Building Workshops - Session 2

Singing Down the Darkness: Song and the Movement with Thenmozhi Soundararajan
Undoing Racism with Kimberly Richards, Peoples Institute for Survival and Beyond
Popular Education & Media Policy with Carlos Pareja, Peoples Production House
Peer Consulting with Jana La Sorte, UBW and Marlon Williams

4:15-5:00            Closing Circle


Description of Skill Building Workshops 

Session 1 – 1:05-2:35

Urban Bush Women’s Collaboration Lab, Maria Bauman

This artistic creation-based workshop draws on themes that emerge from the group. With an emphasis on dance and song, we use various artistic genres to process, synthesize, and communicate. Participants will create an artistic product reflecting both their learning and their vision for community.

Mural Making, Joe Matunis

Participants will learn how to work with multiple community stakeholders and artists of various ages by doing their own drawing on an identified theme.

Multicultural Dimensions of Participatory Research, Myrna Martinez Nateras

An interactive opportunity for sharing practices of participatory research. Participants will also hear specific examples of participatory research practices in a multi-ethnic context like California Central Valley.
Session 2 –2:45-4:15

Popular Education & Policymaking, Carlos Pareja

This session will illustrate how to use popular education to engage in policy debates and envision a more equitable public system for communication, artistic expression and connecting with one another.

Singing Down the Darkness: Song and the Movement, Thenmozhi Soundararajan

The process and product of singing is a valuable opportunity to engage hearts, bodies, and minds in the fight for freedom. In this workshop Thenmozhi will work with participants to think about how to incorporate songs into their ongoing cultural organizing strategies. The workshop will cover best practices, tools, and have a workshop component where people can practice what they learned.

Undoing Racism, Kimberley Richards

This session will challenge participants to analyze the structures of power and privilege that hinder social equity and consider what is needed to be effective organizers for justice.

Peer Consulting, Jana LaSorte & Marlon Williams

An opportunity for workshop participants to discuss a challenge in their work and experience this peer consulting methodology used by Coro Leadership NY.