United 2017: Community Activism & Organizing in an Age of AltReason

Jersey Pride, Inc. is joining with Garden State Equality to produce a unique conference on community activism and organizing to be held on Sunday, April 30, at the Asbury Hotel in Asbury Park, NJ. Intended to inspire and inform, the conference will offer workshops, resources, speakers, networking, access to elected officials and experienced community organizers - in short, the tools for powerful, collective action.

Why this event? Why now? The current administration, with its overt ties to hate groups and a Congress that seeks to roll back advances in equity and justice on all fronts generate a climate in which violent and discriminatory actions are condoned. This, in turn, has emboldened behavior of homophobic, misogynist, racist, and xenophobic factions across the country. It has also reminded us that we can never rest on the freedoms some gain at the expense of those still disenfranchised. Actions taken against LGBTQ individuals, women, immigrants, people of color, truth and reality, the environment, health care, free speech - in fact all aspects of our society - affect each of us and the people we love. The impact of these actions does not happen in a vacuum, and our responses to them cannot be isolated either.

Together, we can fight back. United 2017: Community Activism & Organizing in an Age of AltReason will be a one-day conference held in Asbury Park at the Asbury Hotel on Sunday, April 30, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is intended to help engage, direct, and enable each of us to take our next activism step knowledgeably, responsibly and with confidence and community.

Conference Schedule. The conference will kick off with a plenary address by nationally recognized media and communications expert and LGBT leader Cathy Renna. Reverend Gil Caldwell, a retired United Methodist minister and lifelong activist in the Civil Rights Movement, will close the conference with a presentation about his documentary From Selma to Stonewall. Other presenters include Kathy O’Brien & Axel Torres Marrero (Hyacinth AIDS Foundation), Aaron Potenza & Ben Fisher (Garden State Equality), trainer Lori Tarke, Michelle Julet (The Business of Doing Good), Carol Watchler (GLSEN), author Seth Rainess, Sue Doster (Co-chair, National Equality March for Unity and Pride), Gordon Sauer (SAGE), Michael Billy (Jersey City Stands) and Frank Van Dalen (Interpride).

During the Political Carousel, attendees will be able to ask questions of politicians, elected officials and those who have run for office representing different levels of government. Our goal is to allow attendees to gain some familiarity and comfort with the political process that they might otherwise not have had the opportunity to develop. Congressman Frank Pallone, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, Asbury Park Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn and former candidate for elected office Sue Fulton are participating. Attendees will break into small groups or roundtables and the speakers will rotate among the groups so that each person will get 10 minutes or so at a table to engage in a question and answer session with each speaker.

The conference schedule includes morning and afternoon sessions as follows:

8:00-8:45 – Doors Open, registration and coffee with light refreshment

8:50-9:00 – GSE and JPI welcome

9:00-9:40 – Opening Plenary speaker: Cathy Renna

Changing the World One Story at a Time

9:50-10:35 – Political Carousel: Q&A with Elected Officials

Congressman Pallone

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora

Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn

Sue Fulton

10:35-10:45 - Break

10:45-12:15 – Session 1: Our Health. Our Birthright

Aaron Potenza: LGBT Healthcare Policy

Kathy O’Brien and Axel Torres Marrero: HIV Activism and Advocacy

Lori Tarke: Harnessing the Power of Emotions

12:15-1:15 – Lunch with guest speaker: Frank Van Dalen

LGBTI Human Rights Strategies

1:15-2:45 - Session 2: The Next Generation

Michelle Julet: Young Social Entrepreneurs

Carol Watchler: From Within the Schools

Seth Rainess: Trans 101

2:50-4:20 – Session 3: Community Advocacy, Activism and Organizing

Sue Doster: And We’re Marching

Gordon Sauer: Addressing the Needs of LGBT Seniors

Michael Billy: Jersey City Stands: a Case Study

4:20-4:30 - Break

4:30-5:00 – Closing Plenary: Reverend Gil Caldwell

From Selma to Stonewall

5:00-6:00 Roundup Cocktail hour sponsored by Tito’s