Please join us for our 2nd free

Compassionate Politics Workshop

Sat., Jan. 15, 8:30 am–3:30 pm

Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples

2041 Larkin (near Broadway), S.F.

Hosted by Rev. Dorsey Blake

In honor of Martin Luther King’s birthday, we invite you to gather with us in an effort to transform our society into a truly compassionate community. During our time together, we would like to focus our attention on this primary question:

How can political activists embody compassionate, empathetic, and other best practices from the personal, spiritual, and social spheres in our efforts?

The morning session will feature a diverse group of community leaders in a Wisdom Circle dialogue around compassionate politics and policies. They will be sharing their thoughts on the urgency of understanding traditional ways to promote personal and social growth that have largely been forgotten in the modern world, as well as new ways of being that can strengthen our relationships and political work together.

Confirmed Wisdom Circle participants include:

• Rev. Dorsey Blake, Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples
• Rev. Mutima Imani, East Bay Church of Religious Science
• Rev. Diana McDaniel, Unity Church of San Leandro
• Antonio Gonzales, American Indian Movement
• Lailan Huen, Daughter and Campaign Manager Jean Quan for Oakland Mayor
• Joaquín Quetzal Sánchez Jr., Youth for Climate Justice
• Imam Rashid Patch
• Nancy Kahn, Bay Area Nonviolent Communication
• Rhonda V. Magee, University of San Francisco Law School
• Wafaa Aborashed, United Nations Association East Bay & Healthy 880 Communities
• Brenda Salgado, Movement Strategy Center (moderator)

We’ll have a full group dialogue, and also open the floor to everyone to place their passionate questions and contributions on our agenda for small-group sessions. A few topics that will likely be proposed are:

• How can models of indigenous spirituality and community-held decision making processes inform us in our efforts to build a more compassionate society?
• How can we contribute to compassionate social transformation by promoting economic justice?
• How do we value our relationships, in each of our interactions, as we strive to achieve our political goals?

Please join us for these exciting and important discussions. Together we’ll explore plans of action for how we can transform our communities and political endeavors to be models of compassion.  

Please register in advance if you plan on attending. Food will be provided for all registered attendees. To register, ask questions, make suggestions, or volunteer, please contact us at: compassionate-politics-workshop@googlegroups.com

Agenda

8:30—Sign-in. Food and mingling.

9:15—Opening

9:45—Wisdom Circle Dialogue

10:45—Full Group Dialogue

11:45—Review plan for afternoon breakouts

12:00—Lunch

1:00—Afternoon breakout discussions

2:30—Closing

3:30—Celebration/Mingling/Cleaning up

The workshop will conclude with a full group sharing, a quick poll on whether, where, and when to convene again to move the discussion further, and consideration of next steps.

Notes taken during breakout groups will be distributed to all participants.

Additional Info and Logistics:

Please register in advance. A buffet lunch will be served to those who register by January 12th. Your contributions supporting this awesome event would be greatly appreciated; if you are interested in volunteering or donating, please contact us at: compassionate-politics-workshop@googlegroups.com

We seek to be family friendly. If you need childcare at the event please inform us by January 7th.

There is no registration fee for the event, Voluntary donations and love offerings will be requested to help cover expenses. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

Parking is challenging at the site, so public transit and carpooling is highly recommended. From East Bay, take BART to Montgomery, walk one block to Kearny, and catch #45 to Union and Larkin. Within a few blocks, there is a 60-car parking garage at 1945 Hyde, and two small garages at 1650 Jackson and 1645 Pacific. Within several blocks on Polk Street, where the #19 bus goes north to Vallejo, there are several garages, including those at 1700 California, 1735 Sacramento, and 1399 Bush.

Planning Committee: Lenel de Emma, Wade Hudson, Brenda Salgado

For more info, see http://groups.google.com/group/compassionate-politics-workshop