ROP’s 2010
Rural Caucus & Strategy Session
Hometown Strategies for Democratic Economies
Saturday, April 10th in Albany, Oregon
8:00 – 5:00
Rural Caucus & Strategy Session
Hometown Strategies for Democratic Economies
Saturday, April 10th in Albany, Oregon
8:00 – 5:00
8:00 Registration and Breakfast – Come early to beat the rush and enjoy a hot cup of joe before diving into the day!
9:00 Welcome from ROP & Keynote Address from Stephanie Guilloud of Project South with special Spotlight on the Oregon Movement with local leaders.
10:30 Creating a Vision for 2010 and Beyond
11:30 Lunch and Open Space Discussions
12:40 ROP Update, Meet the Board, 2010 Human Dignity Awards, and more!
1:00 Panel on Local Democratic Economy Roundtables
1:45 Hometown Strategies Sessions 1 (see workshop descriptions below)
3:20 Hometown Strategies Sessions 2 (see workshop descriptions below)
4:45 Closeout & Group Photo
5:00 Good bye!
Hometown Strategy Sessions
Session One (1:45 – 3:05)
Conversations on Racial Justice: Organizing Across Race and Culture
Facilitator and Presentor: Stephanie Guilloud – Project South
This session will open the dialogue on how we organize across race and culture amid the changing face of rural Oregon and the broadening base of ROP. Stephanie will share lessons from her experiences doing long term cross-cultural organizing with Georgia’s Project South and the 2007 US Social Forum in Atlanta.
Building Self Reliant Communities as an Organizing Strategy
Mike Edera – West County Council for Human Dignity, Randi & Aaron Embree – Macleay Grange, & Jared Gardner –Unitarian Universalist Economic Justice Action Committee.
The economic crisis has encouraged (or sometimes forced) us to rethink consumption while we build alternative economic systems. How can we rebuild our communities to be more resilient and also interdependent as we insert our core values of inclusivity, human dignity, and democracy? This workshop will explore these themes as we look at one concrete model: the Common Security Club, as a strategy to meet people’s needs and build the movement.
Mike Edera – West County Council for Human Dignity, Randi & Aaron Embree – Macleay Grange, & Jared Gardner –Unitarian Universalist Economic Justice Action Committee.
The economic crisis has encouraged (or sometimes forced) us to rethink consumption while we build alternative economic systems. How can we rebuild our communities to be more resilient and also interdependent as we insert our core values of inclusivity, human dignity, and democracy? This workshop will explore these themes as we look at one concrete model: the Common Security Club, as a strategy to meet people’s needs and build the movement.
Creating Jobs with Justice: Lessons from Rural OR
Rich Rohde – Oregon Action (Jackson Co), Ellie Pope – Columbia County Citizens for Human Dignity, Al DeVita – Laborers Union, and Lynn Feekin – Labor Education and Research Center
This workshop is a conversation with organizers who are pioneering the effort to create green jobs in their communities and finding ways to include justice and equity in conversations about this ‘new frontier’ of economic development.
Foreclosures Defense: From Education to Direct Action
Nancie Kroeber – Good Grief America and other local groups
This workshop offers a dialogue with those who are spearheading foreclosure defense work in their own neighborhoods. Learn about the many points of entry for organizing around the foreclosure and eviction crisis – starting long before the notice is ever nailed to the door – and take away strategies for your own community.
Session Two (3:20 – 4:40)
We are a Welcoming Community: Rural Media Center 2010
Facilitated by the Rural Organizing Project
In our commitment to create just and humane comprehensive immigration reform, we need to lay groundwork that transforms immigrants from outsiders to neighbors. Through our local papers, we will get our welcoming messages about the value of immigrants onto the kitchen table of thousands of people each month. Join this workshop to strategize about using media for immigration justice and to build welcoming communities.
Food justice: Strategies to Grow our Movement and Feed our Communities
Harry MacCormack – Sun Bow Farms, Tera Couchman Wick – Village Gardens & Nella Parks- Oregon Rural Action
Food has the potential to strengthen communities, expand our movement, and serve as powerful force for economic and social justice. Smart communities use food to meet basic community needs, while modeling and growing a new style of neighborhood, use of resources, of wealth and job creation, and of economy. This workshop will ask a panel of food justice visionaries how they are building a movement from the roots up!
Move our Money: Putting our Money Where our Values Are
Barb Dudley – Oregon State Bank group, Charlotte Hart- St Helens Credit Union, Tony Stang- Credit Union Association of OR
The Move Our Money campaign has taken hold among ROPers, our communities and across the country. With the recent of Oregon legislation that increases the cap on public funds in credit unions and organizing for an Oregon State Bank, there are increasing opportunities to support more local, democratic banking institutions. This session will give an update on the statewide organizing and explore hometown strategies to keep our money in circulation in Oregon.
Barb Dudley – Oregon State Bank group, Charlotte Hart- St Helens Credit Union, Tony Stang- Credit Union Association of OR
The Move Our Money campaign has taken hold among ROPers, our communities and across the country. With the recent of Oregon legislation that increases the cap on public funds in credit unions and organizing for an Oregon State Bank, there are increasing opportunities to support more local, democratic banking institutions. This session will give an update on the statewide organizing and explore hometown strategies to keep our money in circulation in Oregon.
Beyond Know Your Rights: “Secure Communities” & New Strategies for Stopping Deportations
Shizuko Hashimoto – PCASC & Stephen Manning – Immigration Attorney
“Secure Communities” is one of the programs and informal agreements that pair local law enforcement with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to enforce federal immigration laws. The result? Increased racial profiling with serious consequences for immigrant families and local communities. This session will explore local and statewide strategies available to fight back against this dangerous pairing. It’s going beyond Know Your Rights!