BRATTLEBORO — This week, southern Vermont-based organizations, Lost River Racial Justice and Out in the Open, in collaboration with The Root Social Justice Center, released what they call “a toolkit on organizing for racial justice.”
According to a news release, the Rural Racial Justice Study Group Toolkit “is an in-depth look at organizing for racial justice in a rural context. It shares resources for community members, and a model for praxis on racial justice.”
“A lot of work from many people over several years has led to the release of this toolkit,” said HB Lozito, executive director of Out in the Open (weareoutintheopen.org) and past study group facilitator.
“We think of it like 'study group in a box' - intended to be a guide for other rural community members organizing for racial justice,” Lozito continued. “Those of us in small communities have a critical role to play in the struggle and we hope this Toolkit can help folks start and/or continue the work.”
The toolkit is in depth and comprehensive, containing all details for six sessions, resources for facilitators, tools for organizing the study group itself, sample budgets, and more. It contains detailed appendices with links to all learning materials, outreach resources, and guides for how to run the study group.
It was crafted and created in 2018, revised after the 2019 Rural Racial Justice Organizing Study Group, and is being released to the public now as organizing for racial justice is ever more present across the country and globe.
“This is long term work that is grounded in building relationships while working to let go of white supremacy in ourselves and our rural communities,” said Anne Loiuse Wagner, Lost River Racial Justice (lostriverracialjustice.org) Nucleus member and past study group facilitator.
The Toolkit is accessible for free download at bit.ly/31u32mV, and organizers say it is intended to be used widely.