[AWARE-LA] Dialogue this Saturday and a Very Important Announcement regarding future of SDs - please read!

[Jason David]

Greetings AWARE-LA!!!

   

   Join us on Saturday for our monthly White Anti-Racist dialogue! It will be a great, comfy, and relaxing circle with good folks and the opportunity to explore, reflect on, seek feedback, share, or ask questions about anything going on in your life related to race, whiteness, and/or racism.

   The dialogue starts at 1pm and we would love to see you there! We will be meeting at our regular location, the MCC-LA church at 4953 Franklin Blvd in Los Feliz. Because of an event happening at the church, our gathering will take place upstairs - so just follow the signs. 

   Below you will find a very important announcement: 

   AWARE-LA and the Saturday Dialogues are approaching our 8th anniversary in November. This is such an incredible achievement and it is unbelievable to think that we have been hosting a space, a home, a sanctuary, a base, for eight wonderful years. 

   Now we are at a crossroads, an important moment for our organization, our work, and our community. We believe that this community is telling us something based on our attendance these past few months. Fewer people are coming to the dialogues, at the same time that our leadership capacity has been significantly reduced in the past year. This phenomena doesn't need to be seen in any negative light, rather, as a signal and opportunity to shift the structure of the way we gather as a community. Rather than set meetings every first Saturday of the month with complex and specific agendas formulated with a group of 20+ in mind, it may be time to move to a more informal format, possibly house gatherings and/or potlucks with a very basic structure for dialogue - sharing and listening to what is most relevant in our lives at the time. 

   Importantly, the future of AWARE-LA and of the Saturday Dialogues has not been decided yet. It cannot be without the reflections, opinions, and ideas of our larger community. Certainly, over the years our best practices and resilient efforts have helped us establish principles and models for doing this work accountably and with an eye toward a multi-pronged approach to individual growth and collective change-making capacity. Now we need to figure out the logistics of keeping the dialogue going.

   As stated above, there will be a dialogue on August 6th as normally scheduled. In September, we will have our traditional Summer potluck and social gathering, typically hosted by one of our members. Then in October, we are putting out a big call for everyone in this community who can be there to come to the MCC-LA Church for what will be the last Saturday Dialogue there. The meeting will be dedicated to celebrating eight years of incredible work and relationship-building and to discuss the future of our dialogues. Please mark your calendars now - Saturday, October 1st, from 1-4pm. We would truly love to celebrate with you and would appreciate any ideas or reflections as we move forward. 

   Thank You AWARE-LA, please feel free to start reaching out if you feel the need.