Ever wonder what it might be like to have a personal army? People unified together fighting for your safety, humanity, justice, and peace. This is what the Facing Race 2014 National Conference was for me. The coming together of activists, artists, agitators, educators, and leaders for a weekend to ignite, engage, and commit to the fight for racial justice. It was a space of bravery and transparency, where we could critique the system, challenge each other, and brainstorm ways to have a positive impact in our communities.

As a person who occupies multiple oppressed identities, Facing Race was not only a place of intellectual stimulation and growth, but because I was surrounded by people who were engaged with me in this collective struggle, it was also a holistic space of healing. Together, we dialogued on racial inequalities, white allyship, the experiences of women of color, and the intersections of sexuality, race, and gender identity.

While there were too many amazing sessions to choose from, the conference realistically could have been an entire week long instead of a weekend. I attended four breakout sessions. They were:

• “Marijuana, Racism, and the Future of Reform” led by Gabriel Sayegh, Deon Haywood, Ana Yañez-Correa, and Kenneth Glasgow
• “Both/And/All: Applying Justice at the Intersections of our Identities” led by Isa Noyola, Tricia Rose, Soya Jung, and Pramila Jayapal
• “Rainbow Warriors: Lifting Up Queer and Trans Youth Resiliency” led by Deanna Gao, Chay Tadeo, Cecelia Kluding-Rodriquez, and Denicia Cadena
• “Institutionalizing Racial Equity and Advancing Positive Racial Impacts” led by Terry Keleher, Jermaine Toney, Dominique Apollon, and Julie Nelson.

Each session offered a great deal of thought-provoking material, and I utterly enjoyed what I was able to attend.

The parts of the conference where everyone came together were the most moving experiences for me for a couple of reasons. First, the spirit in the room with everyone attending the conference was undeniably powerful. Second, we often lifted our voices together in chant or song, spreading words of love, justice, and freedom.

This year Facing Race took place in the South, which led to interesting conversations on our country’s cultural differences, and the progress made in a region with deeply rooted racism and injustice. As a young woman from New England, I realized the importance of creating coalitions with people from the South. It’s easy to forget that despite being part of the same country, every region has its own flavor and rhythm of life. It surprised me when a stranger called me out as not being “from around here” for my fast manner of speaking.

The Keynote address featured Bernice Johnson Reagon from Sweet Honey in the Rock and her daughter, Toshi Reagon, who played beautiful music and had the entire room singing together. My favorite was “Ella’s Song” which says:

“We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.”

 

The power of those words and the collective voice of the room was a testament not only to the wonderful gift and passion of the Reagons but also the commitment and purpose of each person present. The thing about racial justice, oppression, and inequity is that it is not the responsibility of one group, but it is a collective responsibility for the betterment of society.

While the conference is called “Facing Race,” it went beyond that. There was space to show up authentically as your full self. There are not many spaces in the world where people are empowered and actually encouraged to do that, as we often have to compartmentalize certain areas of our lives or identities in order to be accepted or to fit in. Our relationship with the world, and our socialization and engagement with it is what informs the work that we do and how we want to move forward. Without full recognition of the individual self and the identities we hold, the social justice work and the fight for racial equity is incomplete.

In one of the final plenary sessions entitled “The Next 50 Years,” the speakers said, “There’s many futures out there; you get the one you fight for.” Thinking about where our country and society was fifty years ago gives me hope that in the next fifty years, we will have made great strides in equity and inclusion. One of the great founding ideals of our country is that “all men were created equal,” so we work to ensure that we all feel safe, that our experiences are honored, and that our stories told.

Click here to learn more about the sponsoring organization Race Forward. In the words of Cornel West, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”

Bulaong