The Environmental Justice Team is excited to offer a 3-part training this summer! July 18, Aug. 1 and Aug 15, 2019 

This training is for members interested in building valuable skills and learning lifelong tools to help end divisions based on racism and other forms of oppression, and to advance unity in our efforts to resolve the climate crisis, including developing environmental justice goals for individual organizing teams.   

The current climate crisis is the result of a long history of exploitation.  Historically, a dominant group has exploited other groups in order to extract resources such as water, land, labor, wealth and other natural resources. These systems of exploitation have been maintained by dividing and pitting groups of people against each other based on oppression, including racism, classism, sexism and the genocide and oppression of indigenous peoples and cultures.  In recent times, as the drive for profit has accelerated, dominant groups and nations have continued to exploit humans and the resources of the Earth at an increasing rate. This has resulted in human-caused climate change, which is destroying human lives, as well as many systems of life on Earth. In order to resolve this crisis, we need to be able to overcome divisions and work together to end these long-standing patterns of oppression and exploitation.  

Bonnie Cohen and Amy Tai, members of both Mothers Out Front and Sustaining All Life/United to End Racism, will lead the training, during which we will:

• Learn about oppression and its effects, both personal and historical, and its role in causing the climate crisis.
• Explore aspects of our individual experiences, backgrounds and ancestry that have left a residue of rigid thought patterns, including any unconscious biases toward both ourselves and others, which contribute to difficulties forming and maintaining effective working relationships across race and class. 
• Learn how to heal underlying emotional distress that limits our ability to think clearly and act effectively in these areas. 
• Learn aware listening tools to assist others to heal in a similar fashion.
• Work together to think about our local communities, and help each other develop specific and practical environmental justice goals.  

The class will meet on three Thursday evenings over the summer:

July 18th, August 1st and August 15th from 6:30-9 p.m.  Location TBD, within 30 minutes of Boston, depending on where participants are coming from.  If people are coming from far west, we may meet in different locations on different dates to maximize convenience for the most people.

All Mothers Out Front members are welcome.  We are especially interested in those who would like to play a role in advancing environmental justice in their communities.  For questions, please email Bonnie Cohen at bz49h@yahoo.com. Participants should plan to attend all three sessions.  If you are interested in the training, but have a conflict with one or more dates, please contact Bonnie to discuss.