YWCA Racial Justice Summit

This year’s YWCA Racial Justice Summit presents the theme of Anti-Racist Accountability as a continuation of last year’s subject of Intent vs. Impact. YWCA Olympia works to recognize and raise up the voices and experiences of People of Color in our community by having a conversation about what it means to be accountable to those most impacted by the continuous harms of racism. We have seen how the best intentions alone cannot undo the infinite ways that racism is rooted in our history, government, local community, our own bodies, and the ways we connect and communicate with each other. Anti-Racist Accountability requires an ever deepening understanding of what it truly means to listen, believe, and respond to the ways in which People of Color experience racism.

The 2018 Racial Justice Summit will include spoken word performances, panel discussions, a keynote speaker, and caucus-based workshops. YWCA is interested in sincere transformation and hopes to model vulnerability, openness, and commitment to being accountable to those who are not often given a platform to safely discuss racism.

The Racial Justice Summit will provide a point of engagement for everyone: People of Color and White anti-racists of all ages, experiences, and backgrounds. We welcome those who want to talk about eliminating racism in community for the first time, seasoned allies and activists, and everyone in between. YWCA aims to provide opportunities to explore our personal work and collective responsibility to dismantle racism in our community, while establishing clear action steps and solutions to highlight accountability as an active process.

Registration for the Racial Justice Summit is now open on the agency website (ywcaofolympia.org) and a limited number of ticket waivers are available, thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of South Puget Sound.

For more information about the Summit, contact YWCA at 360.352.0593 or rjsummit@ywcaofolympia.org