OUR HEARTS BEAT STRONGERresources tips tools

version 1

AORTA!

WELCOME!AORTA is a collective of educators devoted to strengthening movements for social justice and a solidarity economy. We work as consul-tants and facilitators to expand the capacity of cooperative, collective, and community- based projects through education, training, and planning. We base our trainings on an intersectional approach to liberation because we believe that true change requires uprooting all systems of oppression.

We hope that this first version of our resource zine is useful to you, and welcome your comments and feedback for version 2!

With ,Esteban KellyJenna Peters-Goldenkiran nigamLydia Pelot-HobbsTyrone Boucher

info@aortacollective.org

Community Agreements

Systems of Oppression: FundamentalsThe Iceberg of OppressionLevels and Types of Oppression

Conflict ResolutionSteps to ResolutionToward Resolutions, Not RuinConflict Resolution Map

ResourcesBook-length PublicationsArticlesAuthorsDocumentariesMoviesOrganizations, Websites, & Collectives

CONTENTS

1

p2

p4p5

p7p8p10

p11p12p12p13p15p15

COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS

Community agreements help define your role as facilitator. One of your responsibilities to the groups is to make sure these agreements are upheld. We choose to use the term “community agreements” instead of “guidelines” or “ground rules.” This isn’t about creating rules-- it’s about creating agreements and expectations that allow everyone in the group to pariticipate. In order for these to be meaningful, they need to come from the group itself. As a facilitator, please bring agree-ments you need to this list, too. In shorter workshops, we often bring community agreements to start the group off, for the sake of time. Here’s some community agreements that we often bring to workshops:

ONE DIVA, ONE MICPlease, one person speak at a time. (It can also be useful to ask people to leave space in between speakers, for those who need more time to process words, or are less comfortable fighting for airtime in a conversation.)

WHAT’S SAID HERE STAYS HERE; WHAT’S LEARNED HERE LEAVES HEREPlease keep the personal stories and experiences shared here confidential. We want people to be comfortable participating and challenging themselves. Please also share the gems of information, clear action steps, and deeper understandings you develop with the world, so that we can magnify the number of people affected by this experience.

NO ONE KNOWS EVERYTING;TOGETHER WE KNOW A LOTThis means we all get to practice being humble, because we have something to learn from everyone in the room. It also means we all have a responsibility for sharing what we know, so that others may learn from us.

2

MOVE UP, MOVE UPIf you’re someone who tends to not speak a lot, please move up into a role of speaking more. If you tend to speak a lot, please move up into a role of listening more. This is a twist on the on the more commonly heard “step up, step back.” The “up/up” confirms that in both experiences, growth is happening. (You don’t go back by learning to be a better listener.) Saying “move” instead of “step” recognizes that not everyone can step.

GREEN, YELLOW, RED: TAKE RISKS, BE SAFEIf you’re in your green zone, you’re not challenging yourself. You may be thinking, “This is fine, I know all this stuff.” Not a lot of growing or learning is happening. However, if you’re in your red zone, you’ve gone too far. Your palms may be sweating, you may feel shaky, you may find it hard to stay listening and pres-ent in the workshop. In that case, you’ve gone too far, and aren’t able to remain present with us. We encourage everyone to keep themselves in the yellow zone, where you’re challenging your-self, growing and learning, AND you’re present and here with us.

WE CAN’T BE ARTICULATE ALL THE TIMEAs much as we’d like, we just can’t. Often people feel hesitant to participate in a workshop or conversation for fear of “mess-ing up” or stumbling over their words. We want everyone to feel comfortable participating, even if you can’t be as articulate as you’d like.

BE AWARE OF TIMEThis is helpful for your facilitator, and helps to respect everyone’s time and comittment. Please come back on time from breaks, and refrain from speaking in long monologues...

BE CURIOUSEnough said.

3

4

THE ICEBERG:LEVELS & TYPES OF OPPRESSION

INDIVIDUAL CONSCIOUS Telling a racist or anti-semitic joke Beating someone up because they are Muslim or queer Letting the air out of someone’s bike or car tires because they are a person of color or are disabled

INDIVIDUAL UNCONSCIOUS Laughing at a racist or anti-semitic joke Assuming someone doesn’t know how to do something because they are poor or working class Pointing out how oversensitive a person of color is for “always” bringing up racism

SYSTEMIC/INSITUTIONAL CONSCIOUS Forced sterilization of women of color by the U.S. government Forcibly sending millions of Native children in the U.S. and Canada to Christian boarding schools Denying basic civil and human rights to LGBTQ people (right to marry, right to visit partners in hospitals, etc.) Laws and sanctioned practices to terrify and force immigrants and undocumented peoples out of the U.S.

SYSTEMIC/INSTITUTIONAL UNCONSCIOUS Racism in the prison industrial complex: Black boys/men are 7 times more likely to be incarcerated in the U.S. than White boys/men The institutional education system: Schools serving mostly poor and/or students of color have a lower rate of success and a significantly high rate of violence by peers and by police, and often create what is called a “school to prison pipeline” – where these inequities set up poor and youth and youth of color on a path towards detention centers and prisons). European and Christian perspectives and experiences are normalized in the design of school curriculum, text books

5

and standardized tests.

CULTURAL CONSCIOUS “Normal” bandages, hair care and make-up products are colored for and catered to white and light skinned people. The banning of Chican@ history books and the shutting down of Mexican-American Studies programs in Arizona public schools Columbus Day and Thanksgiving are celebrated in the U.S. as national holidays, rather than days of mourning.

CULTURAL UNCONSCIOUS School, work and public municipal calendars only acknowledge and revolve around Christian holidays – non-Christians must miss school or work to observe holidays and may not be able to observe or celebrate their religious or cultural holidays if they cannot miss school or work. In English, “white” is assiciated with “clean,” “pure,” and “good” while “black” is associated with “dirty,” “disgraced,” and “evil.” There is not a cultural expectation to offer paternity leave to fathers or parents not giving birth to a child, reinforcing gender roles and making it financially challenging for co-parents to share the work and responsibilities of early childhood care.

6

5. What are you going to do about it?

STEPS TO RESOLUTION

FACILITATORS!

Know your boundaries, non-negotiables, strengths and weaknesses. Don’t agree to something you’re not ready to take on.

Set up goals along the way. Time line out action steps.

1. Set yourselves up for success: enough time, neutral and private space, food, pre-meeting check-ins, supplies

2. Check-ins, community agreements, intentions setting

3. What’s happening? How are you feeling?

4. What are your needs and wants?

7

TOWARD RESOLUTIONS, NOT RUIN

STEP 1: SET YOURSELVES UP FOR SUCCESSBe sure to set up in a space that is private, safe, and ideally neutral. If possible, provide food and water. Make sure you have enough time to realisitcally move forward towards resolu-tion. Also be sure that you are ending with enough time for each participant to get to any following comittments. Provid-ing small things that people can do with their hands (markers, toys, play doh) can help calm anxiety and make it easier for participants to focus.

STEP 2: CREATE COMMUNITY AGREEMENTSIt is important to create these as a group, so that everyone feels ownership of the agreements. However, you may choose to bring in some non-negotiables of your own, as facilitator (for example: Try the process in good faith and respect it). Ensur-ing the community agreements are upheld is your job descrip-tion, as facilitator. Community agreements can be amended and added to throughout the process, as needed.

STEP 3: HOW DO PEOPLE FEEL? WHAT IS HAPPENING?If you go throught this too quickly, or if people don’t feel heard, it can lead to conflict later on. If that happens, go back to this phase. You can go around twice on this item, if you feel that its needed. Direct people to talk about how they are feeling; steer them away from how others made them feel, assumptions or accusations, name calling etc. (I’m feeling disrespected vs. I feel like you don’t care).

Most of the time this go-around will surface that everyone has a different idea of what happened/what is happening. This can be enlightening, build empathy, and can really be the root of the conflict. It can be useful to point this out as the facilitator during or at the end of this go-around. Discourage folks from entering into long, protracted narratives of what happened.

8

Questions you can use to help people direct their responses: What do you perceive the conflict to be? How were you affected? How are you still being affected? STEP 4: WHAT ARE THE NEEDS AND WANTS?As facilitator, help identify needs vs wants. It is not essential to know whether something is a want vs a need. Be sure to list them all visually (on flipchart paper, white board, etc). This helps a lot!

STEP 5: WHAT IS EACH PERSON GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?This is not about what we want others to do about it, but what we are willing to do to help move towards resolution. Even in in-stances where people have lost power and been harmed, giving them time to identify what they can do to move towards resolu-tion can be empowering.

TIPS FOR FACILITATORS AND PARTICIPANTS Develop goals along the way, especially as people identify needs. List these goals up visually, for all to see and refer to. It’s important that the person facilitating the process not be deeply involved in the process. As facilitator, take care of your own needs. You can choose to facilitate a process as part of a team, choose a back up faciltator, or even just stop and take a break as needed. This process can be done with any size group: the whole group, the specific individuals involved, or individuals with support people. Support people can help to keep tone, body language, and language in check. They provide emotional support, help with re-wording and communicating, and can help identify power dynamics, commonalities, etc. Including more people can be helpful-- people less triggered by the conflict can help to lend a more calm perspective and de-escalate tensions. As a facilitator, it can be helpful to paraphrase, synthesize, restate, and reflect back what people are saying. It can also be helpful to point out when you’re hearing agreement.

9

We like to draw up conflict resoluton treasure maps for agendas. This is an example ofa pretty typical treasure map/agenda.

10

RESOURCESBOOKS, PUBLICATIONS, FILMS, AND COLLECTIVES

AORTA is up to our ears in amazing books, articles, maga-zines, websites, films, and organizations that we recommend you xplore. While we have more detailed and specific re-source lists tailored to certain topics, this list includes some of our favorite all-purpose resources, which address race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, facilitation, neoliberalism and capital-ism, prisons/incarceration, and organizing. Due to the reali-ties of intersectionality, we can’t put these amazing resources into thematic lists, because each of them covers so many topics! Our hope, then, is that you will explore some of these resources and engage with them to continue to answer your questions and challenge your work.

Bridging the Class Divide, by Linda Stout Classified: How To Stop Hiding Your Privilege and Use It For Social Change, by Karen Pittelman Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology, by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence Collective Visioning, by Linda Stout Colorlines Magazine: <www.colorlines.com> Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide, by Andrea Lee Smith De Colores Means All of Us, by Betita Martinez Dismantling Racism Curriculum Resource Book, by Western States Center Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire, by Sonia Shah Freedom Dreams: the Black Radical Imagination, by Robin D.G. Kelly GenderQueer: Voices From Beyond the Sexual Binary, by Joan Nestle, Riki Wilchins, and Clare Howell Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology, edited by Barbara Smith Living for Change: A Memoir, by Grace Lee Boggs Playbook for Progressives, by Eric Mann Refusing to Be a Man: Essays on Sex and Justice, by John Stoltenberg

BOOK-LENGTH PUBLICATIONS

11

Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice, by Marianne Adams, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin The Revolution Will Not be Funded, edited by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence This Bridge Called my Back: Writings By Radical Women Of Color, by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, by Paul Kivel Where We Stand: Class Matters, by bell hooks Women, Race and Class, by Angela Davis Yours in Struggle: Three Feminist Perspectives on Anti- Semitism and Racism, by Minnie Bruce Pratt Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, by Audre Lorde

ARTICLES “3 Pillars of White Supremacy and Heteropatriarchy,” by Andrea Smith. You can find this article in Color of Violence the INCITE! Anthology (see above). “Cripping Queer Politics,” by Robert McRuer. This article is published in A New Queer Agenda online magazine: <sfonline.barnard.edu/a-new-queer-agenda/> “Dismantling Hierarchy, Queering Society,” by Andrea Smith “Diversity is Inefficient,” by Ashindi Maxton, in the Journal of New Organizing: <neworganizing.com/content/blog/diversity-is-inefficient> “Statement: For All The Ways They Say We Are, No One Is Illegal,” by The Audre Lorde Project: <alp.org/whatwedo/statements/nooneisillegal> “Tools for White Guys who are Working For Social Change... and other people socialized in a society based on domination,” by Chris Crass: <www.xyonline.net> “The Tyrany of Structurelessness,” by Jo Freeman: <www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm>

AUTHORS (WHO ARE SO PROLIFIC & MEANINGFUL, WE CAN’T SUGGEST JUST ONE TITLE!)

Gloria AnzalduaElla BakerKate BornsteinPiya Chattergee

12

Cesar ChavezAngela DavisLeslie FeinbergThich Nhat Hahnbell hooksMartin Luther King, Jr.Paul KivelAmina MamaMichael NaglerRoxanne Dunbar OrtizVijay PrashadArundhati RoyVandana ShivaHoward ThurmanAlice Walker

DOCUMENTARIESCruel and Unusual (2006), by Janet Baus, Dan Hunt, and Reid WilliamsA frank documentary that portrays the challenges and realities that trans women face in prison. This film is available for rental at Public Screenings. Send your inquiry to <info@outcast-films.com>.

Flag Wars (2003), by Linda Goode Bryant and Laura PoitrasShot over four years, this 54 minute long documentary explores the complexities of a community in Columbus, Ohio, undergo-ing gentrification. What happens when gay white homebuyers move into a working-class black neighborhood? For ordering information go to <www.zulapearlfilms.com>.

The Garden (2008), by Scott Hamilton Kennedy.Follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Featuring mostly immigrants from Latin American countries where they would need to fear for their lives if they spoke out, we watch them or-ganize, fight back, and demand answers. Learn more at <www.thegardenmovie.com/>.

AUTHORS, CONTINUED

13

DOCUMENTARIES, CONTINUEDLife and Debt (2001), by Stephanie BlackThis feature-length documentary utilizes text by Jamaica Kincaid and sequences that focus on the stories of individual Jamaicans whose strategies for survival and parameters of day-to-day existence are determined by the U.S. and other foreign economic agendas.

Sling Shot Hip Hop (2008)This 83 minute film is in Arabic, English and Hebrew with many subtitle options. Slingshot Hip Hop braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank, and in-side Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them. Order the DVD at <www.slingshothiphop.com/dvd/>.

The Take (2004), by Avi Lewis and Naomi KleinThis feature-length documentary tells the story of a worker’s takeover of an Argentinian Factory. Check out more informa-tion at <http://www.thetake.org>.

Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, by Katrina BrowneIn this feature-length documentary, filmmaker Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors were the larg-est slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade and gain powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide. Go to <www.tracesofthetrade.org/> to learn more.

Understanding our Struggles and Changing our Condi-tions: A Poverty Tour Documentary, by the Media Mobilizing ProjectIn the summer of 2011, members of Philadelphia’s Media Mo-bilizing Project traveled the U.S. with broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornell West. This five-part documentary reveals the conditions of poverty facing the majority of Americans across the country and shares the story of people who are fighting

14

DOCUMENTARIES, CONTINUEDback, organizing, and empowering their communities to come up with solutions. Access this documentary at <mediamobiliz-ing.org/airing-week-pbs-poverty-tour-documentary>.

United in Anger: A History of ACT UP (2012)A unique feature-length documentary that combines startling archival footage that puts the audience on the ground with the activists, with interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project to explore ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from a grassroots perspective. As of October, 2012, this film is still touring the film festival circuit. Stay tuned for opportunities to view this documentary at <www.unitedinanger.com>.

MOVIES (FICTIONAL)American History X (1998), directed by Tony KayeMi Familia (1995), directed by Gregory NavaMississippi Masala (1991), directed by Mira NairSlam! (1992), directed by Bruce La Bruce

ORGANIZATIONS, WEBSITES, & COLLECTIVESAudre Lorde ProjectThrough mobilization, education and capacity-building, ALP works for community wellness and progressive social and eco-nomic justice with LGBTQ communities of color.<www.alp.org>

Build the Wheel An online database with curricula and educational tools.<www.buildthewheel.org>

The Catalyst ProjectCatalyst Project works in majority white communities with the goal of deepening anti-racist commitment and building multira-cial movements for liberation. <collectiveliberation.org/>

Causa Justa :: Just CauseCausa Justa :: Just Cause (CJJC) is a multi-racial, grassroots organization building community leadership to achieve justice for low-income San Francisco and Oakland residents. <www.cjjc.org/> 15

ORGANIZATIONS, WEBSITES, & COLLECTIVES, CONT.Challenging White Supremacy Workshop<http://www.cwsworkshop.org>

Class ActionClass Action inspires action to end classism. They raise awareness, facilitate cross-class dialogue, support cross-class alliances, and work with others to promote economic justice. <www.classism.org>

Colours of Resistance Archive An online collection of analyses and tools for liberatory orga-nizing and movement-building. <www.coloursofresistance.org/>

Democracy at Work Network DAWN is a network of certified peer advisers all with strong social and professional ties, They provide technical assistance services to worker cooperatives. <www.dawn.coop/>

The Icarus ProjectA network of people living with experiences labeled as “mental illness,” The Icarus Project envisions a new culture and lan-guage that resonates with our actual experiences and “mental illness” rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework. <www.theicarusproject.net>

INCITE! Women of Color Against ViolenceA national activist organization of radical feminists of color ad-vancing a movement to end violence against women of color and our communities through direct action, critical dialogue, and grassroots organizing.<www.incite-national.org>

Peoples’ Institute for Survival and BeyondA national and international collective of anti-racist, multicultur-al community organizers and educators dedicated to building an effective movement for social transformation. <www.pisab.org>

16

ORGANIZATIONS, WEBSITES, & COLLECTIVES, CONT.Southerners on New GroundSONG is a home for LGBTQ liberation across all lines of race, class, ability, age, culture, gender, and sexuality in the South. SONG builds, sustains, and connects a Southern regional base of LBGTQ people in order to transform the region through strategic projects and campaigns. SONG builds this movement through leadership development, intersectional analysis, and organizing.

School of Unity and LiberationSOUL offers education to further a new generation of organiz-ers rooted in a systemic change analysis—especially people of color, young women, queer and transgender youth, and low-income people. <www.schoolofunityandliberation.org>

U.S. Federation of Worker Co-opsA national grassroots membership organization of and for worker cooperatives, democratic workplaces, and organiza-tions that support the growth and development of worker cooperatives. <www.usworker.coop>

U.S. Solidarity Economic Network A network of transformative economic values, practices, and institutions that exist in the U.S. and all over the world. Egali-tarian and participatory economic consumption, worker-coops and progressive unions. <www.ussen.org>

17

TYR

ON

E B

OU

CH

ERB

ELFA

ST, M

E

LYD

IA P

ELOT

-HO

BB

SN

EW Y

OR

K, N

Y

ESTE

BA

N K

ELLY

&JE

NN

A P

ETER

S-G

OLD

ENP

HIL

AD

ELP

HIA

, PA

KIR

AN

NIG

AMO

AK

LAN

D, C

A

info

@ao

rtaco

llect

ive.

org

ww

w.a

orta

colle

ctiv

e.or

g