Our work together to build a new world where all people have power and agency over their lives requires that each of us can access hope with a generational lens. But amidst the continued erosion of our democracy, normalization of political violence against elected officials and our communities, and unrelenting attacks on our most basic civil and human rights, it can be challenging to keep the future that we are working towards in focus. In this fireside chat, the SiX Co-Executive Directors will discuss their own journeys of moving from impossible to inevitable by centering love and healing, transforming our relationships with one another, and building a new world by living it with those around us.
Sarah Johnson leads the State Power Division at the Working Families Party, focusing on building and strengthening WFP state operations. She previously served for nine years as the Executive Director for Local Progress - the nation's largest network of municipal officials dedicated... Read More →
We invite white legislators, advocates, and partners to participate in a reflective space to ground their intentions as allies and co-conspirators with Black legislators and legislators of color in our movement for a multi-racial democracy. This session will be offered twice, on the first and last day of the National Conference. Healing Justice facilitators will hold space for self-introspection and empathy building, foundational skills to combat white fragility and improve the capacity of participants to engage in meaningful anti-racist work in their roles as policymakers, colleagues, and collaborators.
How do we move past electoral cycles to ensure that real change is felt by the communities who need it most? More so than any particular civic engagement or electoral strategy, a burgeoning practice of collaborative governance holds the greatest promise of giving people the power to truly drive meaningful change. Across the country, policymakers, advocates and grassroots leaders are employing collaborative governance to build lasting power and to win justice for their communities. This is the second of a two-part, repeating series in which speakers will share inspiring stories of this new practice at work, giving the audience glimpses of a future political reality they will find irresistible–one in which intersectional problems are met with intersectional responses, and in which the people most impacted by policy have true power in shaping it.
Leading while protecting religious equality means being able to communicate deep values, respecting the ways religion shapes constituents’ lives, and countering efforts to institutionalize a narrow religious ideology that threatens democracy. This session will be an interactive, skills-building workshop facilitated by religious leaders. Legislators will discuss how religion is manipulated to justify ideologies that exclude, harm, and limit freedom and equality. Then, legislators will discuss how religion can be a source of connection, meaning, and purpose. Next, legislators will highlight their core beliefs and values. Finally, legislators will be provided talking points, trained to “Say This, Not That,” and develop a step-by-step sequence for statements.
State legislators and advocates are on the frontlines of defending our democracy. But successfully defeating authoritarianism also requires worldbuilding strategies as much as it requires defensive tactics; we must actively build broad, multi-issue coalitions and build out an affirmative vision for a people-centered democracy. It’s our imperative, in this pivotal moment in our nation’s history, to show that states can deliver a clear path to a better future—one that will become irresistible to others when they see their own hopes and dreams in the future that we unfold. In this session, we’ll discuss what it will take for each of us to bring our vision into view and to collectively move towards a vibrant, multi-racial democracy.
Loretta J. Ross is an Associate Professor at Smith College. Her career began as an activist in the 1970s. Her recent co-written books are Reproductive Justice: An Introduction and Radical Reproductive Justice both published in 2017. Her next book is Calling In: How to Make Change... Read More →
