Tools for Building Unity With Groups in Conflict

Building an effective climate change movement will require millions of people all over the world working effectively together.  While most of us believe that a unified climate movement is necessary, many of us belong to groups that have been systematically pitted against each other.  Pitting oppressed peoples against each other has been one of the primary ways ruling class forces have maintained their control for centuries.

Sustaining All Life/United to End Racism (SAL/UER) has developed tools for listening and healing these intergroup divides.  In this workshop we will offer a unique perspective on the very systematic ways our peoples get divided from each other.  We will share examples from our own lives of using tools from SAL/UER to break through these barriers and reach across the divide to find one another.  Building unity across group lines is not always easy.  In reaching for unity, we sometimes uncover the historic trauma of our own people that now keeps us separate from each other.  We might remember a painful time when we felt let down by the actions of a group we thought were our allies.  Learning about the history of each group's oppression can generate compassion and patience.   Some of these intergroup conflicts are centuries in the making. They won’t disappear overnight and they won’t disappear without conscious effort and attention. 

Come hear a hopeful message from individuals who have practiced tools from SAL/UER and learned how to break through these intergroup divides. 

Host or Publisher Diane Shisk