Archives for July 2012

Event Date:

August 3, 2012 – 12:00am – August 5, 2012 – 12:00am

Por tercera vez en Memphis, El Centro de paz y Justicia ofrecerá el entrenamiento G.O.T. PODER(Grassroots Organizing Training for Power) en ESPAÑOL para la Comunidad Latina.

¿Quiénes deben participar de este entrenamiento?

Todos los organizadores, líderes, activistas comunitarios y gente de la comunidad latina como Tú, que están deseosos de  ser parte de un cambio que libere a nuestra comunidad de las ataduras del miedo y la desesperanza.

¿Por qué tomar este entrenamiento?

Porque nosotros, el pueblo, hemos olvidado que tenemos el PODER de crear un CAMBIO para tener una vida más digna. Esperamos que un presidente venga a salvarnos pero, llevamos casi una vida esperando… Vivimos con un sistema de inmigración roto, donde miles de personas tienen que enfrentarse diariamente a los retos que implica vivir en las sombras por no contar con documentos. ¡Es momento de tomar acción!

¿Que obtendré con G.O.T. PODER?,

En este entrenamiento obtendrás conocimientos de como Organizar tu Comunidad, Organizar Campañas, Transformar Conflictos, Planear Eventos, Trabajar con los Medios de Comunicación y muchas otras habilidades que te ayudarán a ser parte del cambio para el beneficio de todos. Además conocerás otras personas de la comunidad con quienes podrás trabajar en conjunto.

CUÁNDO: Del 3 al 5 de Agosto – La asistencia a todo el entrenamiento es requerida.

Viernes 3 de Agosto de 6:30pm a 9:30pm

Sábado 4 de Agosto de 9 am a 6pm

Domingo 5 de Agosto de 1pm a 6pm

DÓNDE: En el Centro de Paz y Justicia, 1000 S. Cooper St. Memphis TN 38104 (Iglesia First Congregational)

Estacionamiento detrás de la Iglesia, para entrar, tocar el timbre en la puerta roja que esta al costado de los juegos para niños.

COSTO: La suma que Ud. vaya a pagar por el entrenamiento dependerá de sus ingresos anuales (ver tabla más abajo). Le pedimos por favor que tome en cuenta que el costo real que este entrenamiento tiene para el Centro es de $200.00 por Persona. Apreciamos mucho su colaboración. El costo del entrenamiento incluye: Más de 14 horas de entrenamiento y material de apoyo, bocadillos ligeros para el desayuno, el almuerzo del Sábado, y el seguimiento y apoyo de los mejores activistas y organizadores de Memphis.

Si su ingreso anual es:             Ud. pagaría:

            Menos de  $15,000              $30
$15,000-$25,000                 $50
$25,000-$35,000                 $100
$35,000-$45,000                 $150
$45,000-$55,000                 $225
Más de  $55,000                  $300

Comuníquese con nosotros por si tiene preguntas. Puede escribirnos a gio@midsouthpeace.org   o llamarnos al  901-644-9229   •  901-725-4990

As it sometimes seems figuratively, training people means filling an empty glass with knowledge; but it’s more about creating an appropriate environment for putting into action the actual content, or knowledge that is already in the glass.

How many times have we been in training expecting the facilitator to give us all the answers to our questions? 

How many times have we been in a training feeling so “comfortable” because there were not big challenges? 

Also, how many times have we been in a training stretching our comfort zones, taking challenges and having some feelings of fear and/or risk without being in physical or emotional danger?

How many times have we found the answer to our questions within ourselves?

Too many questions? Good place to start!

My dad use to say that in a crisis moment, people become more creative.  So why wait for a critical moment to catch us by surprise when we can take the step and let it push us a little bit outside of our comfort zone and encourage the creativity?

Because every single person has a unique life, with unique experiences and different ways to learn that sometimes are not recognized even by ourselves, we tend to forget that we are the experts of our own life.

We could extend our arms and take something from our own bank of learning experiences to create change or to resolve a conflict, but how often do we turn to this resource? Or maybe, we have learned to believe that somebody (school, church, or government) has to fill our glass and answer all our questions, thus canceling our ability to meet challenges.

Mid-South Peace and Justice Center is working towards having the kind of training that allows the participants to have the appropriate environment to discover how to use the knowledge based on our own experiences, developing it and putting it into action with the help of specific tools, to organize our community and create social change.

This training is for guiding a group through the path of identifying concepts and principles that we can harvest from everyone in the group, including the facilitators.

Historically, organized communities are those who have created a transcendental social change in the world.  And the list of issues “to change” is still a big one.

In August, Mid-South Peace and Justice Center will hold the third training, Grassroots Organizing Training, G.O.T. Poder in Spanish for the growing Latino Community in Memphis and surrounding areas.

There is a big group of latino people working hard for “The Community”, getting ready in case Tennessee becomes like Arizona or Alabama, states with anti-immigrant laws that will not only harm the latino community, but the Tennessee community as a whole.

We will learn from each other and grow together for continuing to make Memphis a much better community in which to live.

G.O.T. Poder in Spanish training is so new we highly recommend that even past G.O.T. Poder graduates take this training, as completely new tools are used to teach the skills in a totally new way. 

Topics covered include: Intro to Organizing, Organizing your Community, Campaign Planning, Facilitating Meetings, Media, Transforming Conflict, and Direct Action. 

A maximum of 25 people will be trained in order for all to get individual support and for the maximum learning potential for the group.

Format: A one week training. On August 3 – 5, 2012.

**More details about hours and location soon.**

Cost: Sliding scale based on the individualʼs income. If your organization is sending you to the training, use the organizational budget to determine the fee. It costs MSPJC $200 per person to do the training. Fee includes over 14 hours of training, simple snacks and lunch on Saturday, and follow up support from a network of the mid-southʼs best organizers and activists.

If your annual income is…               You pay …
Less than $15,000              $30
$15,000-$25,000                $50
$25,000-$35,000                $100
$35,000-$45,000                $150
$45,000-$55,000                $225
Over $55,000                     $300

MSPJC offers many workshops publicly, but we also offer our workshops to organizations and people working around a specific issue, with workshops tailored to meet the organization or group’s individual needs. We are able to offer one of our Core organizer workshops, or we can design a workshop to meet your organization or group’s specific needs.

If you are interested in bringing MSPJC to your organization or group to do a workshop, please contact us at 901-725-4990 or by email at gio@midsouthpeace.org or allison@midsouthpeace.org.

*Nuestros entrenamientos también están disponibles en Español

Our trainings are also available in Spanish.

Homeless Organizing for Power and Equality (H.O.P.E.) is the name of a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center sponsored organization who’s members are exclusively people who are currently or have formerly experienced homelessness. Fresh off the heels of victory in our ROAD HOME campaign, where H.O.P.E. won more than $500,000 of County funding for homeless and veterans issues this organization is eager to continue the fight for our people.

DIGNITY

H.O.P.E is continuing to investigate allegations of criminal wrong doing at two local homeless service providers at the request of our members. H.O.P.E. is getting a lot of reports from women experiencinghomelessness that employees at a local shelter are having inappropriate sexual conduct with female clients in exchange for shelter or “PLAY TO STAY” as it has been called. H.O.P.E. will be performing street outreach now and over the course of the next few weeks and months to reach out to unsheltered women to document these cases to pass on to the DA and Police to DEMAND a full investigation and prosecution of any and all offenders.

At a July 2^ND  meeting with H.O.P.E.’s legal counsel we have received new information, documentation and evidence of clear sexual harassment at ANOTHER service provider location. To make matters worse the employee in question who was suspended for lewd comments and inappropriate financial propositions to female clients with mental illness was allowed to return to work today. As a result at least one of the female clients has gone back to the streets abandoning her housing out of fear. H.O.P.E. is in the process of drafting a letter and if need be exploring legal, public,media and direct action to resolve this situation and ensure that all men, women, and children are safe and treated with dignity and respect within our social service network.

SELF DETERMINATION

H.O.P.E. is also pursuing the creation of a Worker’s Co-op to facilitate part time income sources for it’s members. This venture, led by H.O.P.E. organizer, Paul Garner, would involve members of H.O.P.E. being trained in silk screen printing for the creation of t-shirts for organizations, church youth organizations, political campaigns and grassroots organizing groups. This service will be fully owned and operated by the members themselves.

H.O.P.E. welcomes Dan Levin to this project, who has volunteered to offer his services as a business consultant for the H.O.P.E. worker’s co-op. Mr. Levin will be aiding the group in writing a business plan as well as working through the nuts and bolts of how to set up and run a business enterprise owned and operated by the members.

The new steering committee has began working on bylaws,qualifications for membership and a feasibility study to start a co-op of our members to make and sell t-shirts. The group is currently preparing workshops to train the members in all aspects of running the business venture and creating the shirts themselves.

MUTUAL EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

H.O.P.E. is currently working to set up a  series of free self defense courses for women experiencing homelessness with a strong facilitated emotional healing therapeutic component.

SOLIDARITY

H.O.P.E. has also joined as a member of the Memphis/Shelby Homelessness Consortium. The Consortium is made up of more than 40 member agencies, led by the Community Alliance for the Homeless, a nonprofit that provides planning, technical assistance and service coordination to public and private agencies working to end homelessness in Shelby County.

Members of H.O.P.E. attended the annual meeting of the Memphis and Shelby County Homeless Consortium and presented the CHAMPION award for outstanding service in the cause of homelessness by an elected official to County Commissioner Steve Mulroy. H.O.P.E. also elected member Robbie Howard as the group official representative on this body. Robbie is eager to get involved and get our members involved in the Street outreach and/ or Employment/job committees.

The Word Reconciliation?

As the core group of community leaders continue to grow in working on the project of Community and Police Reconciliation, we are thinking in regards to the word Reconciliation.  The word Reconciliation could mean so many things,  depending on the shoes you stand in. 

1. We have some individuals who are sincerely offended of anyone thinking that the community and police needs to reconcile.   

2. We have some who think the job of the police is only to harass and put people in jail. 

In Memphis and Shelby County we have a very diverse  population. 

Why is there such a difference in how we view our Law Enforcement.  

Is it or could it be any of the following:

1. Gender
2. Race
3. Social status
4. Income status
5. Age

As the Core group of citizens build the frame work we would like feed back from what you in the community feel or see standing in your shoes. 

Our community is in transition, this transition will allow us to explore the link between the change and how individuals view this change. 

• How does change impact YOU?
• Why do many people resist change?
• How can you effectively advocate for what you want in ways that foster healthy relationships, organizations, and communities?

Over the next several months our core group of community leaders will address real issues and concerns that are the reality of how many people feel here in Memphis and Shelby County.  

In order to build the frame work, the core group knows of the challenges that they face however, they are committed to putting their time and vision in a project that will have policy in place for the future of Memphis and Shelby County that will have the stamp of approval of the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County with a strategic visioning dialogue that will be the vision of the community as a whole.    

If you would like more information or if you would like to forward your questions regarding this project so that your voice may be heard please contact :

Melissa Miller-Monie
Organizing Coordinator
melissa@midsouthpeace.org
(901) 725-4990