One-Day Conference on Post-Hurricane Katrina Gulf-Coast

Posted by on April 23, 2007

?Thinking Globally, Acting Locally?: One-Day Conference on Post-Hurricane Katrina Gulf-Coast
5 May 2006 @ Swarthmore College, 10am-5:30pm

The aim of this conference is to raise continued awareness and to actively address the short and long term issues that arose in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The conference will unite students from local colleges and universities (University of Pennsylvania, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Ursinus, Swarthmore and Widener) who want to create a network and working framework for social change in our local and global communities. The conference, titled, ?Thinking Globally, Acting Locally? was conceptualized in the spring of 2006 by a collective of Swarthmore students who were spurred into action after working in solidarity with the residents of New Orleans to aid in the rebuilding of the city. The collective decided to bring it?s experiences from New Orleans to the larger Swarthmore campus and has held numerous successful fundraising events for the Common Ground Collective and the Cut-Off community center, both grassroots organizations in New Orleans. Moreover, the collective has held campus-wide discussions addressing the New Orleans education system and media depictions of those affected by the hurricane. The collective continues to organize alternative break trips to work in New Orleans. The overarching principle guiding this conference and the work of the collective is that a critical mass can achieve an anti-racist, anti-classist society.

Conference participants will have the opportunity to participate in informative, interactive and engaging workshops. These workshops are constructed to empower student-activists, create a space were student-activists can network and to produce concrete programs for social change. Attached is a schedule of the day?s events. If you plan to attend the conference please RSVP Danielle Toaltoan (ltoalto1@swarthmore.edu) or Kendra McDow (kmcdow1@swarthmore.edu). We hope to see you there!!!

In Solidarity,
Naima Brown
Marrisa Davis
Nick Forrest
Nick Malinak
Kendra McDow
Danielle Toaltoan
Evan Trager
(Swarthmore College Collective, Conference Organizers)

Schedule of events:

10am-10:45am
? Coffee, Donuts and Registration (Kohlberg Student Lounge)

11am-12pm
? Opening speaker, Michele Tingling-Clemmons

12pm-1pm
? General ?Training for Change? Workshop (general workshop, all participants will attend)

1pm-1:45pm
? Lunch provided by ?Taste of New Orleans?

1:45pm-2:45pm
? Media & Race: Depictions of Katrina
? Faith-based & Grassroots Organizations- What works?
? Effective Lobbying: Politics & the Rebuilding of New Orleans
(participants have the choice to attend one of these workshops)

2:50pm-4:20pm
? Continued Activism in New Orleans: “Where Do We Go From Here?” Workshop
(general workshop, all participants will attend)

4:30pm-5:30pm
? Keynote speaker, Cool Black

The Conference is sponsored by the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility, Common Ground Solidarity Network and Hurricane Katrina Relief.