White Anti-racist Summit IV
Springfield, MA
April 2008
The Summit Coordinating Committee formed the previous year remained intact and took responsibility for organizing Summit IV. Planners now viewed the summit as a continuing piece of work.
At last year's summit we collectively shifted the dialogue to white anti-racist organizing and movement-building. This year, we develop and focus that dialogue with the goal of building a long-term vision, skills, and strategies for white anti-racist organizing and concrete steps for how we can begin that work in our local communities.
Fifty-four people registered for the summit. The event was held on a single day, Saturday, April 5. The 2-day (Wednesday & Saturday) format used the prior year was found to be problematic because of the intervening time between the Day One and Day Two sessions negatively impacted the continuity of the event. The planners felt a single-day event would sharpen our focus and not tax our planning and organizing resources.
No written report of the summit event is available. CSWAC's invitation to the summit lists three framing questions that were used to set the tone for the day. The summit opened with some "get acquainted" exercises. The major portion of the day was devoted to reports from white anti-racist collectives that described how they carried out their work. In some cases, reports were given by white anti-racists working together with other white anti-racists within multiracial anti-racist organizations. Groups reporting, listed in the order in which they reported, were:
-- The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond
-- AWARE (Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere)
-- Crossroads Ministry
-- Catalyst Project
-- Challenging White Supremacy Workshop
When the individual reports by groups concluded, representatives from each reporting group formed a panel and held a discussion with summit participants. Finally, the last 90 minutes of the day were given to networking and planning time. Participants broke into small groups and discussed strategies for organizing in their local settings.
Although there was no written report of the day, a list of "burning questions" was created during the summit. Several participants commented on how these helped convey the sentiments of the white anti-racist community.
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