Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship

“Solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement: Why and How” Join us March 18-20, 2016 at Goshen College.

Black Lives Matter Goshen

Schedule | Registration | Food, lodging & directions

In the shadow of the recent spree of racism in colleges across the country, and under the longer shadow of historic racism and racialized violence in the United States, Goshen College’s PAX Club, Black Student Union, Latino Student Union, and the Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies Department are organizing this year’s Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship around the theme of “Solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement: Why and How?”

A mix of input and interaction—working with a wide variety of leaders, in small groups and plenary sessions—will help us examine race and racism in our own institutions, colleges, and churches. Sessions will be organized under four main headings:

  • Why does it matter?
  • What’s my part?
  • What will we say?
  • What sustains and inspires us?

The goal of our work is to empower us to combat racism individually and institutionally, in our homes and in our hearts. We will work toward being able to make two kinds of statements concerning race and racism by the end of our time together: one will be statements directed to our different institutions that speak to the particular issues they are facing, the other will represent the common voice we have forged in our work together in this Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship conference.

Schedule

ICPF conference participants: here’s the schedule; names of those leading the different sessions coming shortly!

Friday, March 18

4 – 6 p.m. Check-in (Newcomer lobby)
6 – 7 Light meal for participants coming from outside Goshen (Newcomer 17)
7 – 8 Introducing the conference and ourselves
8 – 10 Movie: Dear White People (Newcomer 17)

Saturday, March 19

8 – 9 a.m. Breakfast (Westlawn Dining Hall)
9 – 10:45 Why Does It Matter?

  1. Keynote speaker
    Dr. Kaye Whitehead will address current realities facing the Black Lives Matter Movement, as well as its history and its connection to the Civil Rights Movement.
  2. Responses
    * Nekeisha Alexis is an occasional writer, speaker, and independent scholar on topics related to resisting oppression, with special interests in the intersections of racism/white supremacy, sexism/patriarchy, Anabaptist/Christian theology and ethics, and human violence and exploitation against other animals.
    * Dr. Darryl Heller is the Director for Student and Community Engagement at Indiana University South Bend and also serves as the Executive Director of IUSB’s Civil Rights Heritage Center.
  3. Plenary discussion
10:45 – 11 Break
11:15 – 12:15 p.m. What’s My Part?

3 teach-in options:

  1. Toni Woods and Sharon Kniss: Real talk. Real issues. Real stories. This interactive workshop will keep it real by engaging the question of “what is my part?” through collaborative conversation and discussion. The conversation will be hosted by community leaders from neighboring South Bend, Indiana – Toni Woods, a leader in innovative black empowerment efforts as a mother and entrepreneur, and Sharon Kniss, a transplant white peacebuilder working at justice and community-building concerns.
  2. Joshua Russell: His teach-in will be built on his work in advocacy  as legislative assistant and communications director for the Washington office of Mennonite Central Committee US, where he focuses on criminal justice reform, with particular attention given to the racial disparities in the US criminal justice system.
  3. Nicole Bauman, Donald Brown, Jean Carter, and Jason Shenk: These Elkhart-based activists will explore organizing approaches that are “intersectional,” addressing what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King called the triple evils of racism, poverty, and militarism—and the ways this work relates to Black Lives Matter.
 12:15 – 1:15 Lunch (Westlawn Dining Hall)
 1:30 – 2:45 What Will We Say? (1)
Student facilitated work toward our conference statements on race and racism
 2:45 – 3 Break
 3:15 – 4:30 What Sustains and Inspires Us?

2 teach-in options:

  1. Antonius Northern, Laquan Lunford, and Chanel Beebe: their teach-in will be part performance, part discussion, part class room. They will explain their craft—spoken word and poetry—and invite participants to consider how they might use spoken word in their justice work.
  2. Nicole Bauman: She will lead an informal session on self-care within the context of privilege, speaking as a white woman. She will speak to understanding place as an ally, and lead a session on yoga as a self-care practice.
4:30 – 5:00 Response and reflections from our keynote speaker, Dr. Whitehead
6 – 8 Dinner in Goshen
Evening Free-time options

Sunday, March 20

8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Breakfast (Westlawn Dining Hall)
9:30 – 11:30 What Will We Say? (2)
Again, student-facilitated work together
12 – 1 p.m. Lunch (Westlawn Dining Hall)
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