Invitation to Participate
The PV Grows Racial Equity & Food System Working Group is calling together workers and professionals within the local food system to form a committed learning and practice community to illuminate and eradicate racism and shift white cultural dominance to build more effective anti-racist multicultural organizations and institutions.
We seek a dedicated group of individuals to form the core community necessary to grow our collective capacity for engaging in meaningful conversation and local and regional strategizing. On-going gatherings will provide space for delving deeper into the roots of injustice to build a more robust framework for addressing racism in our local food system. This will include scaffolding concepts, frames, and practical skills for advancing racial justice within ourselves, our organizations, our community, and the movement at large. The group will offer a supportive environment for co-learning and relationship building across organizations and sectors of the food system and beyond. We recognize that racism is an injustice that has become embedded into structural systems and that we are all implicated in the work to reverse and amend it. This is an open invitation to understand and "do the work" we all need to do individually to grow our consciousness and dismantle racism, whether we identify as White or as a Person of Color. We welcome anyone ready to take the next step to infuse their food work and activism with a racial equity lens.
As a Learning Community we will:
- Share ideas, articles and stories to stimulate discussion and create a safe and courageous learning community
- Investigate and identify internalized racial and cultural norms and characteristics of our work that reinforce white cultural dominance
- Develop strategies to create more inclusive norms that shift organizational thinking around work flows, leadership structures, planning, decision making, accountability, and conflict
- Learn strategies to integrate internal racial equity work into everyday tasks, meetings, and conversations
- Understand the difference between call-out and call-in culture in naming and addressing instances or patterns of oppressive language or behavior
- Build relationships with other people and organizations working to become more effective allies for racial justice
Please join us if you are interested in:
- Addressing racial inequity in the food system such as food access, land access, jobs, wages, and policy
- Giving input into the group's focal areas, caucus work and strategic organizing
- Want to learn more, even if you're unsure of whether you can commit to future meetings
At the initial gathering, we will assess where we are as a group and what capacity-building is needed to support our engagement in and advancement of racial equity work. For those unable to attend our first gathering, we still welcome your participation and will include you in scheduling future gatherings.
Location: United Church of Christ, Holyoke (300 Appleton Street)
Free parking available in adjacent lot.
Potluck vegetarian dinner and childcare will be provided
Supported with funding from PV Grows
Register Here (even if you are unable to attend the first gathering)