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Alternatives to Violence Project (Los Angeles) Workshops
Details: The Alternatives to Violence Project (Los Angeles) is hosting three free basic workshops in the months of December and January.
The 'Basic' is a unique experiential workshop designed to enhance participants' awareness and self-esteem, strengthen skills in conflict resolution and nonviolent communication, and build community. This is the first step towards becoming a trained AVP facilitator.
Each online workshop takes place over one month in a series of 8 mini-sessions (2.5 hours each). These workshops also include anonymous participation in a research study on the effectiveness of AVP. AVP asks that you complete two questionnaires at the beginning and end of the workshop series, with the option of participating in a focus group interview after completing the workshop.
Details for each workshop can be found here:
December workshop: https://bit.ly/avpdecember
January Tues/Thurs workshop: https://bit.ly/avpjantues
January Sat/Sun workshop: https://bit.ly/avpjansat
ABOUT AVP: The Alternatives to Violence Project (Los Angeles) is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization offering experiential workshops in prisons, jails, and communities in and around Greater Los Angeles. AVP was founded in 1975, in a coalition between individuals incarcerated at Green Haven Prison and a local Quaker group, who together sought to develop a program to convey the consequences of and alternatives to violence. Our mission is to build a movement of creative conflict resolution by empowering communities through individual and collective transformation. They are affiliated with AVP California, AVP USA and AVP International. Learn more about AVP Los Angeles at their website: https://www.avpla.org/
Contact: This is a recommended workshop, not sponsored by WP4BL or our solidarity partners. Contact AVP Los Angeles directly with questions.
New Report: Using Terrorism Laws Against The Proud Boys Isn't The Answer
Date & Time: Now and ongoing
Location: Check out this website and guide
Details: From our friends at Vigilant Love: Recently, Vigilant Love had the honor of partnering with Dr. Nicole Nguyen of the University of Illinois-Chicago to produce a report on the dangers behind governmental initiatives that claim to target white supremacy. The report highlights the ways the Countering Violent Extremism program (CVE) focuses on individualized white supremacy while ignoring the reality that white supremacist violence is a result of long-standing, institutional racism foundational to the United States. The report also argues that policing white supremacists can't be done without increasing state tools of white supremacy like surveillance and policing, which disproportionately harm Black communities, indigenous communities, and communities of color en masse.
Ultimately, this report hopes to shed light on the legal impact domestic terrorism legislation claiming to target white supremacy will ultimately have on social justice movements. The report was written by Dr. Nicole Nguyen, who has written extensively about national security, war, and their impact on youth and communities of color, and Yazan Zahzah, our Community Organizer for Vigilant Love. Read the report here.
Hold The Line-A Guide to Defending Democracy
Date & Time: Now and ongoing
Location: Check out this website and guide
Details: The list of potential and real challenges we face is long. Whether it’s cuts to the US Postal Service; malfunctioning voting equipment; voter suppression; misinformation; intimidation at the polls; violence among political supporters; or the President improperly using the powers of the executive branch and possibly refusing to accept defeat; we are witnessing ongoing actions that destroy our democracy bit by bit.
We the People need to prepare ourselves to take on these threats swiftly, strategically, and in ways that protect the Constitution and restore accountability. This guide is designed to help people from all walks of life take action to ensure that the election is free and fair, and that the results are respected. There is a role for everyone in this effort, and your help is needed. Check out this website and guide: https://holdthelineguide.com/
NEW! WP4BL Podcast Episode on Elections--BOLD Conversations About Race
NEW EPISODE! Bold: Conversations About Race. In this episode, co-hosts Ivette Ale (@dignityandpowernow, @justicelanow) and Dahlia Ferlito (@wp4bl) talk about elections, voting, and review some ballot proposition campaigns we’re focusing on. In this clip, a little bit from our discussion on prop 25 and pretrial incarceration. You can find the episode at Small Beans Podcast or all podcast platforms. This is a collaboration with @small_beans_comedy and @showingupforracialjustice and produced by WP4BL. Podcast theme music by Rachael Cantu (WP4BL)Special musical performance produced by Richie Reseda and Indigo Mateo
Link to the episode is available here.
Essie Justice Group's Report - Prisons, Patriarchy and a Pandemic: Our Lives on the Line Report and the Impact of COVID-19 on Women and their Incarcerated Loved Ones
Please read the Essie Justice Group report "Lives on the Line: Women With Incarcerated Loved Ones and the Impact of COVID-19 Behind Bars. As soon as COVID-19 hit, we knew our incarcerated loved ones’ lives were on the line. Because carceral facilities are designed to obscure their own violence, we put out a public call to people with incarcerated loved ones to shed light on what was happening behind bars during COVID-19 and its impact on incarcerated people and women with incarcerated loved ones. Based on data collected from over 700 women with incarcerated loved ones nationwide, our report makes clear that what is happening with COVID-19 behind bars is a humanitarian and public health disaster with tremendous impacts on the mental and physical health of incarcerated people and women with incarcerated loved ones.
Published to this page before Sunday, August 30, 2020
SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE: NEW TV SHOW: THE GET TOGETHER, EPISODE 1
Date & Time: Recorded Monday, August 24, 2020
Location: Online video recording
Details: New from SURJ: "The Get Together"! A TV show where we'll discuss race and racism today and what it has to do with white people’s struggle to keep food on the table and pay their bills. Co-hosted by two red-headed femmes, Evelyn and Chanelle, who both come from families that know what it’s like not to have enough. First episode is Monday-- spread the word!
Contact: whitepeople4blacklives@gmail.com with questions
WP4BL Co-Founder Dahlia Ferlito Interview on the Torch Podcast
From Torch Podcast host Tiana Kai, in this episode: We get into a meaningful and honest conversation about:
their path to activism
what they learned about their own whiteness
how you can take a step forward to learn more about solidarity
White Supremacy Culture‘s negative impact on work life and everyday living - we share a list of characteristics
my experience with WP4BL workshops
helpful resources to support BLM
Click here to find the podcast on Apple, and click here to find it on SPOTIFY.
Ending Extreme Sentencing: The Road towards Abolition
Recent demands to defund the police and shift resources away from law enforcement to community-led alternatives have gained steam across the country. We are witnessing a contemporary civil rights movement that will fundamentally alter the role and landscape of policing in the United States. What we are not seeing, however, is similar momentum to defund and abolish prisons. Police are the first point of contact for almost everyone who is impacted by...continue reading here.
Published to this page before Sunday, August 1, 2020
How to Get Started with White Anti-Racist Action
We’re glad you’re here! Recent events see us welcoming an unprecedented number of new members, including the largest orientation groups we’ve ever had. Check out our latest statement, which also serves as a mini-orientation.
White Fragility Flow Chart
Based on the must-read book and article "White Fragility" by Robin Di' Angelo, here is a flow chart that breaks down the concepts of white fragility
#DefundPolice Toolkit
Check out this toolkit from the Movement 4 Black Lives that lays out all the steps you need to wage an effective campaign, offers resources on community alternatives, and discusses potential pitfalls.
Update: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Victory in US Court
From Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project: Our collective efforts are working! On June 5, the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., blocked the federal government from revoking the Massachusetts tribe’s reservation status, ordering the Department of the Interior (DOI) to reexamine a decision that sought to take the tribe’s 300+ acres out of trust. The judge hearing the case called the efforts against the Tribe as "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law."
While this decision is an important step toward righting centuries of wrong against the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, our collective work is not finished. Many who stand in solidarity with the Tribe await a final positive determination on Mashpee’s homelands once and for all. We must stay vigilant to ensure that the Department of the Interior recommits itself to the restoration of homelands, the trust obligation, and Tribal sovereignty.
We will of course keep you posted on next steps but, for now, wanted to extend our deepest appreciation and thanks!
Published to this page before Sunday, July 28, 2020
Common Question about Police and Prison Abolition and Responses
Check out this resource from Dean Spade to help you respond to common push back or inquiry about what to do if we didn't have jails, prisons or police. Common questions include: What about murderers, sociopaths or dangerous people? What about public safety? and more.
Recording of Patriarchy, Police and Prisons WP4BL IG live event
Check out the recording of this important #femme4femme conversation on the impact of prisons and policing on women and femmes with Ivette Alé (Dignity and Power Now and Justice LA) and Laura Coholan (WP4BL) and here are the resources mentioned in the event.
“When They See Us" Movie Discussion Guide
By telling the story of the now Exonerated 5, the series provides a provocative and emotional look into our justice system and the need to address the biases and corruption plaguing police departments and courts across the US if we want to protect Black and Latino children. The four-part series delves into key aspects of our justice system: police interaction and interrogation; the court system and trial process; juvenile incarceration; and life after release.
This movie is impactful for many reasons, and has Beyond the impact it has had, it has also hit a nerve in the conscience of white people in the US, who are waking up to the horrors of the injustice in our criminal “justice” system. While some white people have a direct relationship to the injustice of the prison industrial complex, primarily due to economic oppression, the majority of white people have not experienced the tragedy that is highlighted by the series. These young kids were brutalized and betrayed by the police, the courts, the jails, the prosecutors, the prisons, and the media, and it only points to this type of state violence that happens every day in a myriad of ways.
Check out this toolkit from Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) and organize your own discussion group.