2022 Peace and Justice Action Conference

Transnational Solidarity: Anti-Racist Foundations for Peace

We came together for the Peace and Justice Action Conference on Saturday November 12, 2022. Because of our hybrid approach to the conference this year, we are excited to be able to offer you retroactive viewing of all the conference sessions!

If you registered and attended the conference in real-time, you should have received a password to access the recorded content in an email from Jac Archer sent on December 16, 2022.

If you were not able to join us on November 12 but would still like to view the conference sessions, we invite you to register at the link below to receive your access code to the recorded content.

REGISTER HERE

Registration Costs:

  • $70 for General Public
  • $50 for Members of PJALS and co-sponsoring groups (see list of co-sponsors below)
  • $20 for Living Lightly (self-identified low-income, students, seniors, etc)

Our conference this year was structured with workshops from four topic clusters:

  • Countering White Nationalism – Learn more about white nationalism as a local and global project.
  • The World We Want – Envision together a just and peaceful world, in contrast to the strife we see around us.
  • Transnational Intersectional Peace Movement – Get educated on the peace and justice movements growing locally, nationally, internationally, and transnationally; and understand the conflicts these movements face.
  • Education for Action – Learn the skills we need to join movements for peace and justice and build the world we want to live in.

Jump to Full Schedule

Suggested Readings and Resources

Keynote Speaker: Maria Stephan

Transnational Solidarity: Anti-Authoritarian Foundations for Racial Justice and Peace

Maria Stephan is the Co-Lead and Chief Organizer of The Horizons Project, a national organization building a movement to address systemic injustice, advance societal healing, and reimagine American democracy.

Maria is an award-winning author and organizer whose work in academic, public service, and nonprofit sectors has focused on the role of nonviolent action and peacebuilding in advancing human rights, democracy, and sustainable peace in the US and globally.

Maria has dedicated her life to the proposition that ordinary people, when organized and inspired, can bring about extraordinary change.

Maria Stephan’s work, experience, and theory of change make her an ideal Keynote Speaker for this year’s Peace and Justice Action Conference. We are honored to host her virtually on November 12th.

Friday Afternoon & Evening November 11

5:30-7:30 Reproductive Rights Happy Hour and Panel to benefit PJALS and the Northwest Abortion Access Fund

Stand up for reproductive rights by joining us at Boots Bakery and Lounge at 24 W. Main St. for a benefit Happy Hour and Panel in support of PJALS and the Northwest Abortion Access Fund. You can view the Reproductive Rights Happy Hour and Panel below:

Saturday November 12 Conference Schedule

Suggested Readings and Resources

8:00-9:00 Registration and Relationship-Building

9:00-9:15 Welcome

9:15-9:30 Mixer Break / Transition to Workshop

9:30-10:45 “Education for Action” Workshop Session 1

        • BOLD-ly Forward: How PJALS is Activating Community and Bringing Race-Class Conversations to Spokane County
          Jac Archer and Cori Jeager, PJALS
          TRACK: The World We Want

Deep canvassing with a race-class analysis in Spokane County will help activate the uninvolved and expand our community of action for justice. Spokane is deeply contested territory; persistent deep canvassing with a race-class analysis in Spokane County will help activate and expand our community of action, which we need for the challenges to come.

        • Map of Bigoted and Anti-Democracy Groups in the Inland Northwest
          Kate Bitz, Western States Center, Sarah Dixit, Planned Parenthood of
          Greater Washington and North Idaho, and Laura Tenneson
          TRACK: Countering White Nationalism

Join local alumni of Western States Center’s Defending Democracy Fellowship for an interactive workshop about the ways that they’ve seen bigoted and anti-democracy groups develop and change over their years of study and community organizing.

        • Ten Things New Activists Should Know
          Liz Moore and Sarah Hegde, Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane
          TRACK: Organizing Skills

The questions we ask as activists are essential to the process and a successful movement. What are those questions, why do they matter, and how do we answer them? In this workshop, we boil down the 10 most important things a new activist should know, and how to obtain that knowledge in different situations. Learn the first steps of becoming a successful activist in this interactive workshop! This workshop is a great refresher for experienced activists too – it’s universal knowledge in learning to become an organizer!

        • The Seattle Solidarity Budget: Defund, Defend, and the Power of Community Advocacy
          Angélica Cházaro, Charles I. Stone Professor of Law Assistant Professor
          of Law, University of Washington School of Law
          TRACK: Transnational Intersectional Peace Movement

The Defund Movement is not just a snappy catchphrase or incendiary sloganeering, it is a policy-based demand asserting that communities can and should determine how public resources can advance the public good apart from the harms of the police and prison state. Communities in the Seattle metro area are making this assertion, and their methods, mistakes, and successes are instructive.

10:45-11:00 Mixer Break / Transition to Workshop

11:00-12:15 “Education for Action” Workshop Session 2

        • Collaborative Artistic Expression and Creation
          Sarah Torres, Artist
          TRACK: The World We Want

Welcome to a collaborative art experience to feel, express, and process the high-trauma moment we are living in.

        • Digital Warriors – Women, Social Media and Revolution
          Documentary Screening and Discussion
          Dr. Yasaman Naraghi
          TRACK: Transnational Intersectional Peace Movement

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram can spark revolutions. Women around the world are using social media as a weapon in their struggle for equal rights. They are fighting against femicide in Latin America, female genital mutilation in Africa, compulsory headscarves in Iran and for peace between India and Pakistan. No matter what hostilities they face, including online trolls who call for them to be killed, they do not back down. Their campaigns inspire other women to take to the streets for equality. We’ll screen this documentary from Directors Bettina Kolb and Eva Richter, filmed in Argentina, Guinea, India, Mexico, and United States, and then we’ll discuss it together.

        • Engaging People to Act: Key Ingredients for Recruitment & Mobilization
          Blair David Tweedy Anundson, SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW
          TRACK: Organizing Skills

Isolation is like Kryptonite when you’re fighting against systemic oppression and exploitation. Come sharpen your skills at engaging people to get active to create change shoulder-to-shoulder! It all comes down to the art and science of “the organizing conversation.” Learn time-tested tools to help you put your time & efforts to the most effective use and make it more likely you’ll win!

        • Christian Dominance and Christian Nationalism: What is the Difference and What Difference Does it Make?
          Nell Myhand and Paul Kivel
          TRACK: Countering White Nationalism

Join this interactive workshop to explore the implications of the centuries-long Christian dominance of our society vis- à-vis white Christian nationalism, the white Christian Supreme Court and the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and their impact today in all aspects of our society.

12:15-1:00 Lunch and Relationship-Building

1:00-1:45 Keynote Speaker Maria Stephan

Transnational Solidarity: Anti-Authoritarian Foundations for Racial Justice and Peace

1:45-2:00 Mixer Break / Transition to Workshop

2:00-3:15 “Education for Action” Workshop Session 3

        • Muhammad Ali & Dr. King: Their Stand Against the Vietnam War
          Dr. Scott Finnie and Dr. Okera Nsombi, Eastern Washington University
          Africana Studies Program
          TRACK: Transnational Intersectional Peace Movement

A review of the ideologies and positions taken by Muhammad Ali and Dr. King regarding their stance against the Vietnam War.

        • From Proto-Fascism to Neo-Fascism
          Dr. Yasaman Naraghi and Dr. Enrico Zammarchi, Gonzaga University
          TRACK: Countering White Nationalism

A history of the origins of Fascism, its rise in the early-20th century, and its increasing prominence in the 21st century.

        • How to Plan an Action and Best Practices for Rapid Response
          Justice Forral, Spokane Community Against Racism, and Jac Archer,
          Spokane Community Against Racism and Peace Justice Action League
          of Spokane
          TRACK: Organizing Skills

Join this presentation to learn how to plan an action and find out more about the best practices for rapid-response actions.

        • Post-Election Political Landscape: Spokane County and Washington State
          Liz Moore, Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane, the Rev. Deb Conklin, and Mark Cooke, ACLU-WA
          TRACK: The World We Want

Now that the election is over, what does the new political landscape look like in Spokane County and across the state? What are the prospects for policy change on issues you care about, particularly the systemic racism of the criminal legal system and mass incarceration? Join us for a discussion with ACLU attorney Mark Cooke as well as people who have just run for office in Spokane County.

3:15-3:30 Mixer Break / Transition to Workshop

3:30-4:45 “Education for Action” Workshop Session 4

        • The Platform For Change: Envisioning a More Just Spokane
          Jac Archer, Spokane Community Against Racism and Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane, and Rev. Walter Kendricks, Morning Star
          Missionary Baptist Church and Spokane Community Against Racism
          TRACK: The World We Want

The Platform for Change uses policy to envision a Spokane County community safety and wellness network that is robust, diversified, integrated, holistic, and community centered. Learn about the coalition that works to articulate and enact this vision, and what it’s up to now.

        • All Bodies, All Choices: Countering White Nationalist Threats to Abortion and Bodily Autonomy
          Gabbi Nazari and Sami Alloy, Pro-Choice Washington
          TRACK: Countering White Nationalism

Explore how we build powerful, resilient movements in the face of interconnected threats by white nationalist and anti-abortion movements to control our bodies, our reproductive freedom, and our democracy.

        • Organizing for Justice and Community: How-Tos for Powerful Campaigns
          Sarah Hegde, Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane, and the Rev. Rick Matters
          TRACK: Organizing Skills

Organizing is how everyday people can make their own decisions, take action together for shared goals, and build our collective grassroots power.  To win the changes we want, we must think in terms of campaigns: a series of organized, planned actions that put increasing pressure on a decision-maker to take the action we want them to take. In this workshop we’ll discuss the stages and steps of successful campaigns and how to take action for shared goals to change the balance of power.

        • Israel/Palestine: US Militarism, Activism, and Solidarity
          Dr. Joan Braune, Gonzaga University, Dr. Raja Tanas, Whitworth
          University, Dr. Albana Dwonch, Gonzaga University, and Stephen Miles,
          Win Without War
          TRACK: Transnational Intersectional Peace Movement

Moderated by Dr. Joan Braune, panelists will seek to address the deep causal history and present of Israel/Palestine. Topics will include the role of US militarism and the disparity of power between the Israeli government and Palestinians, ethnic cleansing and apartheid, Palestinian youth activism, and solidarity in action for a future of justice, equality and freedom for all people.

4:45-5:00 Closing Plenary

Going Forward Together!
Jac Archer and Liz Moore

REGISTER NOW

Conference Co-Sponsors:

Members of co-sponsoring organizations may register at the PJALS member rate!

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