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We are very excited to announce our 2024 Equity, Racial Justice & Culture Lunch & Learn Actionshop Series! Each 90 minute “action” shop will offer education, tools, q&a and opportunities for reflection, engagement, and action! These amazing speakers come with lived expertise and professional experience around each topic. You are encouraged to connect each topic with your own experience and challenge yourself to take small and large steps toward building equitable and racially just systems, and organizational spaces keeping an open mind and heart for your own transformational change.

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These FREE Lunch & Learn Actionshops were held over Zoom, once a month on varying Thursdays from 11:30am-1pm. Check out our 2024 line up!

Spring/Summer series

• May 23: “How Inequitable Housing Policies are Rooted in Myths of White Supremacy” offered by Ma.Caroline Lopez, MSW
   
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  We begin by exploring the era of european colonialism and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, both of which took unfounded ideas or ‘myths’ of white supremacy of europeans over native and African people to gain economic wealth for the ruling and owning class. Resistance and revolts were later met with retaliation via policies throughout U.S. history that are still impacting people today.
   
• June 20: “Implicit Bias vs. Our Shared Humanity: Impacts for your Organization, Staff, and the People you Serve” offered by Tasha West-Baker from Building Changes and Ma.Caroline Lopez, MSW
   
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  This session seeks to bravely begin the conversation, of facing our own biases and the othering of other humans, not as a means to dwell in the negative, more to encourage self-reflection that can breed transformational thinking. When we transform our thinking and lean into building bridges across our shared humanity, the revolution of belonging without othering as a mechanism for global, radical, social justice can be realized.
   
• July 11: “What is Colorism?: The Systemic Consequences of Skin-Tone Bias from Policy to Organizations to Lateral Violence” offered by Mercedes White Calf and Ma.Caroline Lopez, MSW
   
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  Colorism is insidious, having seeped into our culture for centuries and is as dangerous as ever. The implications go far beyond interpersonal harm. In this actionshop we will attempt to get to know colorism in all its forms so we can view the world with a more clear lens to see and understand how colorism has made its way into our own psyche, into our work culture, and into detrimental policies based on skin-tone bias. We will take time to discuss how we can recognize and address colorism, with a focus on healing, care, and safety for ourselves and our communities.

Fall Series

• September 19: “Implementing Equitable Boards and Advisory Teams for People with Lived Expertise” offered by Duana Ricks-Johnson (RAP Advocate), Terrell Berry, MSW (Youth Housing Advocate) and Duaa-Rahemaah Hunter, Statewide Organizer for the Resident Action Project (RAP)
   
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  In recent years there has been a rise in requests for people with lived experience/expertise to join advisory boards. If you or your organization have been in this process, you have likely experienced many challenges for various reasons. From the perspective of people with lived experience, most boards have not been set up in a way that is accessible for them to fully participate as much as others who have been historically resourced. The truth is that there has been a lot of harm done. This actionshop brings three advocates in the housing justice movement who have been on multiple advisory boards, and have also created advisory boards using equitable frameworks, and their own lived expertise to increase not only access, but a sense of belonging and value. Please join us to hear from these incredible speakers!
   
• October 17: “Operationalizing Equity Part 1: If White Supremacy Culture is the Culture Norm, What are We Gonna Do About it?” offered by Tasha West-Baker from Building Changes and Ma.Caroline Lopez, MSW
   
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  We are all swimming in the waters of white supremacy culture in this nation, and beyond. Like fish who are unaware of the water while going about their business, white supremacy culture is the culture norm. Tema Okun states, “While white supremacy culture affects us all, harms us all, and is toxic to us all, it does not affect, harm, and violate us in the same way. White supremacy targets and violates BIPOC people and communities with the intent to destroy them directly; white supremacy targets and violates white people with a persistent invitation to collude that will inevitably destroy their humanity.” In this actionshop we will briefly discuss the characteristics of white supremacy culture, and spend most of our time discussing the antidotes to these poisonous waters. 
  
  The Operationalizing Equity Series with Tasha and Ma.Caroline will continue in our Lunch & Learn series and beyond. These actionshops aim to take a deep dive into the ‘what, why, how, and what now?’ questions that come up within our organizations and agencies so we can build operational infrastructures that center equity, access, and shared humanity.
   
• November 14: “{R}evolutionary Practice Series: Dismantling Our Internalized Messages of Racial Inferiority and Oppression, and White Superiority and Privilege” offered by Ma.Caroline Lopez, MSW
   
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  “Racism not only impacts us personally, culturally, and institutionally. Racism also operates on us mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. When racism targets us, we internalize that targeting; ​when racism benefits us, we internalize that privileging.” (dismantlingracism.org) This practice series focuses on our personal evolution toward liberation from damaging notions and behaviors such as racial internalizations. These internal changes we seek and practice are radical and revolutionary. When we are practicing together, we are building a new world where we choose how we want to live and be in relationship to one another, without a foundation built on division.

In abundance, solidarity, and community-led power,

Ma.Caroline 

Ma.Caroline Lopez, MSW

Director of Equity, Racial Justice, and Culture