BRATTLEBORO — Come celebrate The Root Social Justice Center's fifth birthday on Saturday, Sept. 22, with a family-friendly event for kids of all ages.
According to a news release, The Root is raising fun and funds to keep their space and programs going strong for the coming year. While they encourage folks to come ready to donate, the event is free and open to the public.
Participants are invited to gather at The Root, 28 Williams St., at 3 p.m., to make signs and learn songs. At 4, everyone will parade through Brattleboro in a march to highlight racial justice and then gather at The Root for a potluck dinner and a short program from 6 to 8 p.m. to share victories and celebrate the work the community is doing to move racial justice forward.
The Root, located in the Whetstone Arts Building, provides a physically and financially accessible space in Southern Vermont for social justice groups to meet. It is also a hub for racial justice organizing. In 2017 and 2018, The Root started six programs:
• Youth 4 Change, focusing on art and education as a tool for organizing youth.
• Soul Food Sundays, providing a place for self-identified People of Color to come together to break bread, heal, and spend time with one another.
• I AM VT Too, a photojournalism traveling art show that highlights racial microaggressions toward People of Color in Vermont.
• Families United, a peer support group focusing on “the impact of Department of Children & Families and other harmful systems on our families.”
• Black, Indigenous, & People of Color Caucus, a network of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color coming together to organize collectively to build relationships, power, and systemic change for the lives of People of Color.
• The Root Feeder, a People Of Color-led, multilingual, multimedia (video and audio) distribution of local, regional, and global stories focused on racial and environmental justice.
All these programs are going strong and helping to build visibility and leadership for a racial justice movement.
The Root also hosts “Social Justice Forums” to explore issues affecting our communities, such as mass incarceration, immigrant rights, domestic violence, racism, and decolonization.
In addition to these programs, The Root is available for the public to host social justice organizing events such as workshops, potlucks, film screenings, and meetings. Since opening its doors in September 2013, the Root has hosted more than 500 events, the majority of which have been open to the public.
The Root says it isn't just celebrating its work over the past five years, but is also celebrating what it calls “the beautiful resiliency of communities and individuals of color.”
Participants may come for part of the event or the whole thing and are invited to bring their art, music, talents, and racial justice signs. They may also bring a potluck dish to share, or something to grill. The event is kid-friendly, wheelchair accessible, and fragrance-free.