On Sunday, February 27th from 3:00 - 5:00 pm ET, Shoulder to Shoulder, Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), and Seeds of Peace are coming together to host a Youth & Young Adult Virtual Summit on addressing religious discrimination in our classrooms and communities.
This interactive convening will be a chance for youth and young leaders to connect and learn new strategies for the work. Participants will share experiences, explore resources, and identify strengths, challenges, and hopes.
We'll also hear from special guest, Yasmin Elhady, comedian and attorney who recently made her TV debut on True Story with Ed Helms and Randall Park, sharing her tales of growing up as a Muslim kid in Alabama, watching wrestling, and running for school president.
While this event is led in consultation with and for youth and young adults, people who work in schools (or with youth and young adults) are also welcome to attend.
We highly recommend that you organize a small group of friends to register and coordinate splitting up to attend different workshops. This way, you can get together after to debrief and build up an action plan for your school and community.
We are excited to offer the following workshops as part of this summit. When you register you will select which workshops you would like to join.
My Role in the Social Justice Ecosystem - Led by Anna Castro and UyenThi Tran Myhre with the Building Movement Project. - During moments of injustice, we feel an urgency to act. The source of this motivation is described beautifully by bell hooks: “The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.” However, at first we may feel overwhelmed and not know where to start or how to approach social justice work in a way that is in alignment to our strengths. Using the Social Change Ecosystem Map framework, we will identify our guiding principles, our role in our social change ecosystem, and plan for how to engage in social change movements in a sustainable way. For more information about the Social Change Ecosystem Map, please visit: https://buildingmovement.org/our-work/movement-building/social-change-ecosystem-map/
Bystander Intervention Training in Public Spaces - Led by Alicia Walker-Patterson with Hollaback! - How to respond in the face of discrimination We all have a responsibility to do something when we see street harassment happening, but too often we freeze. We don’t know what to do. Bystander intervention gives us tools to intervene without compromising our own safety. When we intervene, we don’t just reduce trauma for the person being street harassed. We also start to chip away at the culture that allows harassment to be so prevalent. Alone we can’t shift the culture — but together — our actions matter. In this training our goal is to give participants the tools to intervene the next time they witness harassment in public spaces. We will equip you with the right information on how to be an effective bystander in the midst of public space harassment using our proven 5D’s methodology, our five strategies for intervention. Then we will practice so you leave our training feeling more prepared to successfully and safely intervene. For more information: https://www.ihollaback.org/bystanderintervention/
Racial Trauma is Real: Strategies for Self-care - Led by Dr. Rachel Singer - This interactive workshop will focus on the impacts of racial trauma, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma. Join Dr. Singer to discuss strategies for identifying signs of burnout, practicing tools for self-care, and creating a plan to enhance well-being. The session will include interactive discussion and hands-on practice of self-care strategies. https://www.resnikpsychology.com/therapy-team/dr-rachel-singer
How to use photographs to build relationships and instigate change - Led by Roman Williams with Interfaith Photovoice - Photovoice is a participatory action research technique used by members of groups to identify needs, raise awareness, and instigate change. The process involves a facilitator working together with participants who use their smartphone cameras to take photos of their everyday lives in response to questions. Over a series of several meetings, participants from different faith and cultural backgrounds can discuss their photos and identify shared experiences, needs, and concerns, which can culminate in a public exhibition and instigate change. Explore more at https://interfaithphotovoice.org
Stimulating conversation and action with opinion writing - Led by Firdaus Arastu with ReThink Media - Firdaus will guide us through what an opinion piece (op-ed) is and why they are a powerful tool for shifting public attitudes. Participants will learn the format and style of opinion writing that media outlets are looking for and practice drafting an opinion piece.
If you have any questions, please contact Cassandra Lawrence, Shoulder to Shoulder Communications and Community Engagement Manager: Cassandra.Lawrence@s2sCampaign.org