Rooting to Rise-Cultivating Racial Justice in our Land- Based Projects

Hosted by Shelburne Farms and the Farm-Based Education Network, this anti-racism training is based on shared learning and is grounded in the principles of reparations, healing, imagination, and movement. The goal is for people to leave the training not only having conceptually understood, but emotionally, kinesthetically, and tactically engaged with our framework for racial justice.

The series takes place on April 11, 12, 17 and 19 from 1 - 4:00PM. We ask you to commit to attending all four days, while we also understand that emergencies may arise that will prevent your participation. Please note that if you cannot attend day one, you should not participate in the workshop series (a waitlist is set up, and we hope to offer this program in the fall!)

Workshop outcomes include:

- Participants will have shared language and analysis of race, racism, and systems of oppression in the field.

- Participants will have shared experiences that promote honest communication, mutual understanding, compassion, and relationship building—all a part of a longer process of healing and growth as change makers.

- Participants will develop community organizing practices to effectively implement change in their unique setting.

- Participants will have tools for advancing racial justice in their sector and becoming long-term agents of change.

Organizers are seeking a balance between Shelburne Farms Staff and FBEN representation.

This series uses a number of arts modalities (poetry, visual art, music, embodied play, and so on) to create a more holistic, whole-bodied workshop experience. That doesn’t mean that you have to be an artist to participate! We welcome folks with all kinds of learning styles to join, and we will welcome you to engage in each activity in ways that work for you.

**** This space is intended to create dialogue and action for a more racially just future. Participants may experience moments of discomfort and will be expected to persevere through those moments respectfully. Anyone who may compromise this goal will be asked to leave the program.

NOTE: The trainers are a collective of social service providers, advocates, community members, artists, organizers, and justice-oriented institutions who recognize that the social service industry often perpetuates the current arrangement of power that maintains systemic poverty and structural racism. Learn more about them: https://www.service2justice.com/

This will be a multi-racial, multi-identity cohort. As facilitators, we are attuned to dynamics of identity and power within the workshop space. It is very important to us to make this space generative for Black and Indigenous participants, and all participants of color, who want to cultivate racial justice in their workspaces. To do so, we use facilitation techniques such as opt-in caucusing, holding clear space for BIPOC voices who are interested in offering leadership, and encouraging all participants to consent in and out of activities as needed for their learning and care.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Yasamin Gordon at ygordon@shelburnefarms.org.