Solidarity can never be a destination but rather an ever-evolving lens through which nonprofit and philanthropic work should occur.
In 2020 and 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Movement for Black Lives, the continued degradation of the environment by capitalism, and an ongoing season of genocide and war prompted the NGO and philanthropic sectors to interrogate their role as potential enablers of inequity. Globally, institutions began to invest in equity frameworks, conferences on race, and tools to decolonize development, wealth, and public health, even offering discussions on reparations, shifting the power, and localization. We even saw the rise of racial equity indexes, toolkits, assessments, and strategies that many institutions hoped would safeguard against white supremacy.
Instead, we got virtue signaling and explanations for why decision-making power (and money!) remained in North America and Europe, far from the communities iNGOs and Foundations seek to serve. In 2024, many BIPOC are left wondering, what happened to the momentum and commitment to racial equity? This workshop argues that many lost interest in moving from learning to modeling principles of anti-racism, intersectionality, and solidarity. We are excited to offer a new tool for those re-engaging with this lifelong work: A Symposium on Solidarity, a full-day in-person learning space rooted in defining, identifying, and modeling new acts of solidarity.
Solidarity can never be a destination but rather an ever-evolving lens through which nonprofit and philanthropic work should occur. Toward that end, we’ve developed this workshop to:
Provide context on how colonization and white dominant culture should drive us towards embodying solidarity in our personal and professional worlds.
Define what we mean by solidarity and buttress the term with a robust unpacking of how Black doulas model solidarity in their work.
Inspire new actions through an innovative and multidisciplinary approach to design thinking.
When and where:
We’ll offer this workshop in person at the Vital Voices office in NW, Washington, DC, on XXX.
Tentative Workshop Agenda:
Session 1: Introduction
A fireside chat with Sanema Hardwick, Meditation Teacher at the Kadampa Meditation Center in SW, DC, on what must be dismantled in order to stand in solidarity with one other.
Session 2: The Traps of Colonization and white dominant culture
A lecture on understanding how colonization bred white dominant culture, which can never live harmoniously with solidarity.
Session 2.2: The balm of intersectionality
A workshop on intersectionality's ability to shift power through experiments in design thinking.
Session 3: Do as the doulas do
A short birth doula training session for NGO and philanthropic staff to better understand the principles of solidarity in practice.
Session 4: Closing
Closing plenary with a final “doula wisdom” offering to inspire change.
Intended Audience:
This workshop is intended mainly for NGO and philanthropic staff, activists, policymakers, advocates, medical professionals, professors, philanthropists, and anyone seeking to stand in solidarity with those deemed “other.”
We hope this workshop will be a valuable resource for individuals who aspire to redefine their approach to supporting others, for people of service in their homes, communities, and institutions.
Workshop fees:
$1,000.00 for full day workshop (10 am - 3 pm), including light breakfast, coffee/tea, and snacks
$500 for currently enrolled undergraduates + graduate students; young professionals with less than two years of professional experience
*If you would like to attend but can’t afford to, please email us at info@popworksafrica.org.
*Please note that once payment is processed, there are no refunds or exchanges to another person.
*We reserve the right to move this workshop to virtual as the COVID-19 pandemic is still here and very real.
