Proposal Support
To support you in creating a proposal, we offer some thoughts regarding the terms “Love and Justice.” These definitions provide an expansive understanding of these ideas to aid you in your workshop proposal.
Terms
We have provided two terms that are important to understand this years Equity Summit and its theme.
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Love -
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“strong affection for another rising out of kinship or personal ties” “Love Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster. Accessed September 24, 2024. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/love#:~:text=%3A%20a%20quality%20or%20feeling%20of,and%20tenderness%20felt%20by%20lovers.
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For bell hooks, “Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect, and trust” (1999). She goes on to explain that love is revolutionary and emphasizes the importance of love within families and friendships and the importance of community as a place to nurture love. “without love, our efforts to liberate ourselves and our world community from oppression and exploitation are doomed. As long as we refuse to address ...the place of love in struggles for liberation we will not be able to create a culture ...where there is a mass turning away from an ethic of domination ”. hooks, b. (2023). Communion: The female search for love. HarperCollins.
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Social Justice activist Vienna Rye proclaims that “love is dismantling systems of oppression” and challenges us to deepen our definition of love as a transformative power. In the realm of social justice, love prompts people with different experiences to care unconditionally about each other. Vienna Rye. Outdoor Speaking Event. 2022
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Justice
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Charity is no substitute for justice. If we never challenge a social order that allows some to accumulate wealth––even if they decide to help the less fortunate––while others are shortchanged, then even acts of kindness end up supporting unjust arrangements. We must never ignore the injustices that make charity necessary or the inequalities that make it possible. . . charity is episodic . . ..What is needed are structures of justice that perpetuate the goodwill intended in charity. Justice allows charity to live beyond crisis. - Dyson, M. (2006.) Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster (pp. 152, 203). Civitas Books.
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“Collectively, we are what the world actually looks like. And in order for our systems to reflect that, they don't have to create a new reality. They just have to stop resisting the one we already live in.” Ferrera, America (2019.) My identity is a superpower -- not an obstacle [VIDEO] (13:03). TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/america_ferrera_my_identity_is_a_superpower_not_an_obstacle/transcript?subtitle=en.
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“reckoning with past and present oppression to collectively craft a future towards authentic equality that brings about revolutionary change” Gorz, A. (1967). Strategies for labor: A radical proposal. Beacon Press.
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Interactive and reflective examples
Below, are some examples of interactive and reflective excersises you can incorporate into your workshop. Feel free to be creative!
Story Circles (multiple trained facilitators needed)
Story circles are a valuable perspective-taking tool and consist of small groups of people sitting in a circle, “sharing stories—usually from their own experience or imagination—focusing on a common theme.” A trained facilitator typically guides the story circle as it involves important context setting to ensure everyone’s voice is heard (establishing common commitments, allotting equal time for each participant to share, navigating, and/or redirecting the dialogue as needed). These typically take a minimum of 45 minutes to facilitate.
See this example guide from Oregon State:
https://richmond.box.com/s/kpbugc2ozmyo9qq5dsjbas72i0xdq9jm
Cluster Mapping
Before listening to a presentation, students break into small groups, across different parts of the room, and explore all of their connections to a particular idea. Next, new ideas are introduced into the room (via a presentation, video, etc.). Afterwards, students return to their maps, add to it, and generate new connections and ways of understanding.
This is an example of how a group can collectively create a cluster map:
https://medium.com/disruptive-design/tools-for-systems-thinkers-systems-mapping-2db5cf30ab3a
Artistic reflection (Lynda Berry four-square sketch template), with group share
This is an example of an individual reflection (in contrast to the group reflections listed above). This simple exercise guides participants through four questions that prompt them to reflect on an experience using their senses (what did you hear, what did you observe, what did you feel) and ends with the opportunity to draw a creative sketch. Participants can then share their insights with someone around the room.