The
Peace & Justice Center and Saint Michael's College are pairing
up this fall to bring the People's Institue for Survival
and Beyond back to Vermont. The two and a half day Undoing
Racism Workshop will host 40 attendees and take place from
October 12th - 14th at St. Mikes. The workshop will address
the following:
- A historical and institutional analysis of
racism
- Understanding the structure of oppression
- Defining and sharing culture
- Leadership and development
Given the changing face of Vermont, the workshop
and topics are timely. We are committed to ensuring that Vermont
remain a place that welcomes and supports diversity and equity.
One
of the goals of the PJC as a whole is to become an Undoing
Racism
organization. To
begin that process, the Center has committed resources
to train
the
entire staff
in anti-racism.
The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond has trained
all six staff members in Undoing Racism. It is our goal to
embrace and incorporate our training to monitor the roles we play
as
gatekeepers in our work, to become allies to people of color, and
develop leaders within marginalized populations.
For ten years the Peace &
Justice Center housed the Racial Justice & Equity Project. The
history of the Project's work is below. Currently, we are
reexamining our work and planning our future work as an anti-racism
organization. In June 2005 we helped to organize an anti-racism
training by the People's Institute for Cultural Survival and Beyond
from New Orleans. Over 60 Vermonters attended an intensive two and a
half day training. We are committed to continuing our educational
work in this area in the future and are seeking funding to enable us
to offer similar trainings in VT on an annual basis.
For more information on our current work for racial justice, please
contact 863-2345.
History
The Racial Justice and Equity Project was created in 1993 as a
special project of the Peace and Justice Center in response to an
increasing number of racially-motivated incidents against people of
color. With the support of the RJEP, people of color empowered
themselves to fight for the justice they deserve, and organizations
become more diverse and better able to respond to the needs and
interests of people of color.
The Project continues to work against individual and
institutional racism by promoting equity and justice through
services for people of color and projects that support institutional
and organizational change. Through advocacy, referral, and
educational services the Project supports people of color as they
fight against discrimination and harassment. The Project's research
and policy-related work, along with anti-racism action projects,
informs Vermonters of all races about the effects of racism and
teach them ways to dismantle it in their own lives and in their
communities.
In the past, the Racial Justice and Equity Project developed an
anti-racism training program designed to help organizations increase
internal diversity and improve their efforts to service the needs of
people of color. The anti-racism training program teaches employees,
administrators and boards of directors how to identify and dismantle
institutional racism within their organizations by helping them
improve practices of hiring and retention and implement policies
that support equal opportunity and workplace diversity.
Since it was created, the Racial Justice and Equity Project has
stood by and advocated with people of color as they have battled
discrimination and harassment in their children's schools, in the
legal system, and in the areas of employment, housing and health and
human services. In addition, the project provides referrals for
local human services, assistance in filing complaints of
discrimination and harassment, help in finding employment and
housing, and mediation in situations where race is a factor.
In 2004 John Tucker left the PJC and the Racial
Justice and Equity Project and started the Vermont Chapter of the Rainbow
PUSH Coalition. John Tucker can be contacted at
863-4145. National
Links:
NAACP
Study Circles
Resource Center :
American Civil Liberties Union: Racial Justice Dept
The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond |
