The Racial Justice Tipping Point Kickoff is a chance for organizations and individuals to come together to learn about one another’s work, get trained on how to bring more people into the struggle for racial justice, and get support for next steps that you or your organization can take to work for racial justice.
“This will be a day of training for the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice and partner organizations to kick off the Racial Justice Tipping Point project,” says Claire Tran, a Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice board member, a trainer with School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL), and Asians for Black Lives. “We have the idea of getting 3.5 percent of the people in Wisconsin to show up for racial justice. That’s 200,000 people.”
In grassroots movements throughout history and all over the world, 3.5 percent has been a magic number: a critical threshold for the number of people needed to make great shifts in policy and culture. Organizers are hoping to build closer to that number by hosting the Racial Justice Tipping Point Kickoff Saturday, May 21, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 2146 E. Johnson St.
“This event is a great opportunity for us to internally build for this project,” Tran tells Madison365. “At the training, we will be talking about how we confront white supremacy, how to do racial justice work, and we’ll be looking on how we can bring more people into the racial justice work.”
While many organizations within their networks have an explicit focus on racial justice issues such as immigrant rights, Black Lives Matter, American Indian sovereignty and human rights, and Hmong self-determination, the Racial Justice Tipping Point will also be partnering with organizations outside their networks to build the power they need to win real life improvements in people’s lives. A main component of the program is to engage and deepen white people’s commitment to this work.
“We will have direct action training that will prepare people to be involved in different actions and campaigns that are taking place across the state on racial justice,” Tran says. “We’ll also have a breakout group on organizational transformation and what does it mean to shift the lens of your organizing work to include a racial justice lens.”
The training team for the Racial Justice Tipping Point Kickoff, along with Tran, will include:
◆ Cynthia Lin: WNPJ Board Member, former Western States Center trainer and current organizer with National Network of Abortion Funds
◆ Barb Munson: WNPJ Co-Chair, Chair of Wisconsin Indian Education Association “Indian” Mascot and Logo Taskforce
◆ Brandi Grayson: Young Gifted and Black co-founder
◆ Dana Schultz: Executive Director of Wisconsin Voices
◆ Z! Haukeness: WNPJ Organizer, Groundwork, various social justice organizations
“We encourage people who are doing social justice work to come to the event,” Tran says. “We will definitely have a broad range of people who will be attending from people who are very new to racial justice work as well as people of color who have been doing racial justice work for a very long time. It’s a good place for folks to get a primer on white privilege and white supremacy 101 and also talk about positive ways that people can show up for racial justice work. The idea is to create an entry point for more folks to get involved with racial justice work across the state.”
There will be three main breakout sessions offered at the event: Organizational change for racial justice, base building and engagement, and direct action. There will be food and refreshments at the event throughout the day. The suggested donation is $25.
“We’re hoping that people come out of this event with the ability to talk about the Racial Justice Tipping Point project and are able to develop some new skills around doing racial justice work in their own communities and own organizations and engaging others to show up and take action,” Tran says. “We’re trying to create sort of the baseline conditions for people to be able to show up in a positive way and to feel prepared to take action on these issues.”
The Racial Justice Tipping Point Kickoff will take place Saturday, May 21, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 2146 E. Johnson St. For more information, click here.
