2012 Peace and Economic Justice Action Conference

Register before February 11 and join us at Early Bird Rates!

Here’s what attendees had to say about last year’s conference:

“I met amazing people and the mingle times were so productive and interesting. The energy at this conference and the reception was amazing. Wow! It is hard to feel hopeless about America’s current state when getting together to make a change like this.”

“What a stupendous job you all did! Well worth the price of admission! Extremely well organized, broad range of workshops, people totally engaged all day!”

“I can’t believe this conference was even better than last year!! It was world-class. The keynote speaker rocked my world.”

“Idealistic but practical. Motivating, energizing.”

We want YOU to join in this year!

Free Opening Reception, Friday February 17, 5:30p-8:30p:

Join us to kick off our conference with short film “Maria Full of Hope” and performances by local spoken word and musical artists. No conference registration necessary to join this party!

Action Conference, Saturday February 18th 8a-5:30p:

Connect with like-minded folks putting values into action and join us for fantastic speakers, 3 Education for Action workshop sessions (see list below), light breakfast & lunch!

Keynote Speaker: Steve Williams, founder and former Executive Director of POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights) in Oakland, CA, and co-author of Towards Land, Work and Power: Charting a Path of Resistance to U.S.-led Imperialism

“Young Activist Leaders” Panel Discussion

Early Bird Registration until Feb 11 (then add $5):

• $35 General Public
• $25 members of PJALS and co-sponsoring groups (see full list below)
• $15 Living Lightly (self-identified low-income, students, seniors, etc)
• Limited “workshare volunteer scholarships” are available—please contact Shar at [email protected] for info. Workshare shifts include set-up, registration table, resource table, clean-up, etc.

We’ll be at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane, 4340 W. Fort Wright Drive.

Peace and Economic Justice Action Conference schedule with workshops:

Saturday, February 18, 2012

8:00: Networking Breakfast and Registration

8:45-9:00 Opening Performances: Martín Alfaro and Sheila Fox

9:00-9:15 Welcome, Conference Opening, and Dedication

9:15-10:00 Keynote Speaker Steve Williams, founder and former Executive Director of POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights) and co-author of Towards Land, Work and Power: Charting a Path of Resistance to U.S.-led Imperialism

10-10:10 break

10:10-11:40 “Education for Action” Workshop Session 1 (90 min)

• Keys to Victory: Power Building Through Organizing and Leadership Development, Mariah McKay, Washington CAN!
• “Maria Full of Hope”: Intergenerational Discussion
• Safe & Just Alternatives: Campaign to Abolish the Death Penalty, Mishi Faruqee, Safe & Just Alternatives
• Know Your Rights with the Police, Brooks Holland, GU Law School Professor and Board Member of ACLU-WA
• Games for Activists and Non-Actors: Bringing Theater and Fun into our Activism, Margaret Mount
• Finding and Using Your Own Edge: Process Oriented Psychology and Activism, Ed Byrnes, Ph.D. and Gene Hansen, Ph.D.
• Bring Our Billion$ Home: The Costs of War, Shar Lichty, PJALS
• Soldiers or Police: The struggle in Palestine and its impact on the militarization of American policing, Sheila Fox and Marianne Torres, PJALS Palestine-Israel Human Rights Committee

11:40-12:40 Lunch

Affinity Groups or Caucuses may organize gatherings

12:40-1:40 Panel: Young Activist Leaders, moderated by Molly Fitzpatrick, EWU Scary Feminists, Eagle Pride, and PJALS Young Activist Leaders program, with panelists

1:40-1:50 break

1:50-3:10 “Education for Action” Workshop Session 2 (90 min)

• Olympia, are you listening?: Building a Statewide Movement to Make Change, Danielle Friedman, Statewide Poverty Action Network
• Labor Panel, Spokane Regional Labor Council’s Education Committee, panelist Mark Wagar, AFSME and others
• Activist Poetry in Practice, Paige Kenney
• Cultivating Community: Bringing People Together and Saving the Planet Through Community Gardening, Audrey Connor, Alyx Franz, and Ryan Weech, Youth Sustainability Council
• Imperial Nature: US Democratization Project in the Middle East, Majid Sharifi, EWU Politics Dept, and Sean Chabot, EWU Sociology Dept
• Spokane Time Exchange Project, Bethany Haynie, Jason Bennetch, and Sherry Stevens, STEP
• Checklist for a Kick*** March, Rally or Media Event: Best Practices for Event Planning, Liz Moore, PJALS
• How Not to Build the Middle Class, Alex Stone, Economic Opportunity Institute

3:10-3:20 break

3:20-4:50 “Education for Action” Workshop Session 3 (90 min)

• Developing a Long-Term Vision for Our Movement, Steve Williams, keynote speaker
• Police Accountability Panel, local representatives & Spokane Police Accountability and Reform Coalition; moderator Dr. Ed Byrnes; panelists Dylan Dressler from Native Project, civil rights attorney Breean Beggs, Tim Connor from Center for Justice, and Ron Anderson from NAMI
• Radical Inclusivity in a Heterosexist World, Molly Fitzpatrick, PJALS Young Activist Leadership Program
• A Public Bank for Washington State, Cindy Cole, State Coordinator of Public Banking Institute and John Repp, Washington Public Bank Coalition
• Keeping Your Activist Self Strong, Sheila Fox, Notable Healing
• Peacemaking and Reconciliation in Post-war Iraq, Tom Webb and Mustafa Mahmood, Iraqi Student Project
• How to Persuade and Influence Others, Bart Haggin and Tom Schmidt
• Operation Bootstrap: Community Economic Development, Juliet Sinisterra and Michael Poulin

4:50-5:30 Closing Plenary: Going Forward Together!

Door Prizes!

Co-Sponsors: (Contact us to become a sponsor!)

• ACLU of Washington
• AHANA
• Anonymous “In Memory of Otto Zehm”
• Associated Students of EWU Diversity Outreach
• Bart Haggin
• Boundary County Peace Group
• Center for Justice
• Destinations
• Eastern Washington Voters
• EWU Eagle Pride
• Faith Action Network
• Greater Spokane Progress
• Kauffman and Associates
• KYRS
• Main Market Co-op
• Merlyn’s
• NAACP
• Non-Partisan League
• Occupy Spokane
• Peace and Justice Action League of EWU
• Progressive Democrats of America, Spokane
• Scary Feminists of EWU
• Smith-Barbieri Progressive Fund
• Spokane Police Accountability and Reform Coalition
• Spokane Regional Labor Council
• Spokane Time Exchange Project
• Student Awareness League of SCC
• Sun People Dry Goods
• Teleologics
• The LGBT Center
• The Oak Tree
• UFCW 1439
• Undergraduate Bachelors of Social Work of EWU
• Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane
• Veterans for Peace, Spokane
• Washington CAN!
• WEA-Eastern Washington
• Western States Center
• Yak Research
• Youth Sustainability Council
• in partnership with Active Voice and Marguerite Casey Foundation

Co-sponsoring organizations’ members can attend at the PJALS member rate. If you’d like to co-sponsor, just fill out this quick form and return it to us, or email [email protected]. Underwriting sponsors make this event a wonderful success–and we appreciate you! If your network is bigger than your budget, your group might be able to give sponsorship support through in-kind publicity! Contact us to talk about it!

Why this conference? We want participants to leave with…

• Analysis: deeper understanding of patterns of unequal power relations, locally and globally, and the interconnections of our work for change in this moment in history.
• Skills: greater confidence and sharper skills to take creative and strategic action to shift the balance of power toward economic justice, human rights, and peace.
• Relationships: strengthened relationships and networks as building blocks to creating change in our communities, with an emphasis on young activists and regional participation.
• Action: increased commitment to ACT!