REI Phase I Workshop - September 23-24 - Hosted by CARA

This is a Racial Equity Institute 2-day Phase I Workshop hosted by the California Anti-Racism Alliance and sponsored by the Alameda County Community Food Bank.

Workshop Description

The Racial Equity Institute’s two-day workshop is designed to develop the capacity of participants to better understand racism in its institutional and structural forms. Moving away from a focus on personal bigotry and bias, this workshop presents a historical, cultural, and structural analysis of racism. Topics covered include our fish/lake/groundwater analysis of structural racism; understanding and controlling implicit bias; race, poverty, and place; markedness theory; institutional power arrangements and power brokers; importance of definitions of race and racism; history and legacy of race in American economic and policy development; racial identity and its interaction with institutional culture. With shared language and a clearer understanding of how institutions and systems are producing unjust and inequitable outcomes, participants should leave the training better equipped to begin to work for change.

Time

This workshop will go from 9:00am - 5:00pm PT on Monday and Tuesday, September 23-24. Sign-in and breakfast will start at 8:30am PT, so we encourage you to arrive and get settled during this period as the workshop will start right at 9:00am PT.

This workshop is designed for participants to attend the FULL 2-day training as each part of the workshop builds on the pieces that come before. If you miss one piece of the workshop, you may miss the foundation for the rest of the experience. If you are unable to attend the full workshop, please look at for a future opportunity where you can attend the full workshop.

Food

A breakfast (light) and lunch will be served for both days of the workshop. There will be vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options for lunch. You may want to bring your own water bottle as well during the workshop.

Attire

Wear something you are comfortable in for the two days, keeping in mind that you may want to consider layered options in case you feel too warm or too cold.

Devices

We ask that you do not use your devices such as your phone or laptop during the workshop as it can be distracting to other participants. If you would like to take notes, we prefer you do it by hand over using a device for this reason. There will be breaks during the workshop, so feel free to use those devices during those times.

Location/Transportation Options

Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB) is located near Oakland International Airport at 7900 Edgewater Drive; as you're driving from the airport on Hegenberger Road, you'll turn left at Edgewater Drive (there's a shopping center there (where Walmart used to be); you’ll see the Cane’s restaurant). Continue down Edgewater Drive approximately another half mile (past the Toyota dealership). The Food Bank will be on the right side of the street (it's the driveway just past the Uber sign). Please turn into the parking lot and proceed to the building at the back of the property – past the loading docks; it is marked “Community Engagement Center”. Please park in one of these spaces in front of this building and enter under the orange awning. Let the person at reception know that you are here to attend the race equity training.

Parking Details

If you will be driving to work, please park in the back lot in front of the Community Engagement Center (CEC), which is the gray building at the rear of our driveway with the orange awning. Please do not park in the small guest parking lot that runs along Edgewater Drive or in the Member Agency Shopping parking lot located just past the parking lot security gates.

When you arrive at the Food Bank, please mind all on-site traffic signs and drive all the way to the back of the building toward the orange awning. Note that the speed limit is 5 mph. Once you have parked, please walk to the front door of the Community Engagement Center and enter under the orange awning. Let the person at reception know that you are here to attend the race equity training.

If you will be walking to another part of the complex or need to enter the administrative offices facing Edgewater Drive, please use the yellow path painted on the asphalt. This yellow path is a safety feature intended to keep pedestrians safe from the commercial trucks, vehicles, forklifts and other material handling equipment.

Bicycles

The Food Bank has a bike rack adjacent to the Member Agency Parking lot (near the sliding glass doors inside the front gate). Please bring your own lock for your bicycle.

Public Transit

There are a few ways to get to the Food Bank on public transit. We strongly recommend that you confirm operation and schedules when planning your trip.

The Oakland Coliseum BART station is about 1.0 mile from the Food Bank. While it is possible to walk over Hegenberger Road to the Food Bank, it is not ideal since the sidewalks for pedestrian traffic are limited. AC Transit’s 98 bus line stops about ½ block away across the street from the Food Bank. Please visit the http://www.ACtransit.gov website for fare details and scheduling (about every 30 minutes).

Alameda County also runs a free shuttle service from the Oakland Coliseum BART station to the Edgewater County Offices, which are about a block away, on the opposite side of Edgewater from the Food bank. Ours is the East Oakland Shuttle toward Edgewater (not Eastmont). The shuttle stop is on San Leandro Street, on the same side of the street, but on the far side of the Coliseum Bridge, from the BART entrance. Shuttles are blue and green, and you have to ask the driver which direction they are going (there are two loops, but they don’t have signs, you want to ask for Edgewater).

Shuttles run every 20 minutes from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Please visit http://www.acgov.org/sustain/what/transportation/sp.htm for details. You can download the county’s DoubleMap app from the Apple App Store or Google Play in order to track real-time arrivals.

About REI

We are an alliance of trainers, organizers, and institutional leaders who have devoted ourselves to the work of creating racially equitable organization and system. We help individuals and organizations develop tools to challenge patterns of power and grow equity. Join us today.

About CARA

The California Anti-Racism Alliance (CARA) is a network of people committed to building relational power and advancing racial equity in California who share a historical, cultural, and structural analysis of racism and inequity as alumni and partners of the Racial Equity Institute (REI) and the Groundwater Institute (GWI).

Host or Publisher California Anti-Racism Alliance