Last night, we had our first of two workshops to address harmful and problematic dynamics that reflect the difference in power between different groups within NLG membership, staff and Board across race, gender, professional status and class backgrounds. The recent exposure of past NLG National Vice President misrepresenting her as Puerto Rican and gaining access to political leadership, influence and centrality within solidarity work, should raise questions for all of us who are white activists and organizers (even with our own experiences of targeting, oppression and repression). Some of those questions are about how much space we take up, where we place ourselves and if someone else is better placed there, how we center ourselves in the work in ways that are about us rather than the struggle. There is a need and room for all of us in the movement and we want to do that work in ways that keep those most impacted at the center. As important as these larger questions and more extreme manifestations of white opportunism and other forms of perpetuating abuses of power and oppression, are the day-to-day ways we operate and interact. The second in this series, Interrupting Harmful & Problematic Dynamics, on February 23rd, will support us in continuing to move towards an organization that is welcoming of the leadership of those closest to and part of the communities and movements we defend and act in solidarity with. (Registration for this workshop is below). On the larger questions of abuses of power, below is a statement from the NLG - SF Bay Area and Sacramento in response to the targeting of two NLG observers by the Vacaville police as part of a larger disturbing and dangerous consistency of brutality and acting with impunity. Shortly after the targeting of our legal observers, the Vacaville police shot and killed a man after mere minutes of allegedly noticing reckless driving on the street. And, a Vacaville Police Department member was recently filmed violently engaging in animal cruelty to his own K-9 police counterpart . All without consequence. (See the statement below). Delayed due to COVID, the NLG-SF Bay Area is gearing up to virtually host our Staying True to Your Roots movement lawyering conference in Spring 2021. The day-long conference will lift up frontlines of movement lawyering and provide skills-building workshops. Please fill out the survey below to inform the direction for this year's conference. From inside out, the NLG - SF Bay Area is working to align its commitment to the rights of people, living things, and the environment. February’s member workshops are important in the effort to align that commitment to the movement with our internal practices. - NLG-SF Bay Area Team |
