Program Description:

The mission of The Gathering for Justice is to build an intergenerational movement, rooted in history, cultures and nonviolent direct action.  Our purpose is to heal communities, build collective strength and generate an environment of hope and opportunity.

The Gathering uses the following strategic assumptions to measure the advance towards our mission.  They are:

·        Identification, recruitment and training of activists working on justices issues towards coordination and mutual support;

·        Rigorous policy research and support of policy at the local and national level; and

·        Successful shifts in policy at the local and national level.

Program Goals were set to test and create models to implement our assumptions and build our key outcomes.  They are:

·        Organize regional and national conferences to fortify local relationships nationally;

·        Increased coordination with organizations using web based tools, such as  websites and the internet; and

·        Support local and national policy solutions advocated by The Gathering partners with coordinated nonviolent direct action.

 Guiding Principles and Core Values:

 
The values of The Gathering are essential and enduring tenets that provide a frame of reference for decision-making, contribute to the organizational atmosphere and guide the annual, shifting strategies:

• Collaboration:   We know that victory is attainable only when we work in strategic, genuine collaboration with each other, our allies and our stakeholders.  Among the staff and executive committee, it is our responsibility to work collaboratively and in a way that supports each others' success.  We will seek out and engage allies and stakeholders to achieve mutual goals and strengthen the movement. 
• Competency:  We are unwavering in our commitment to bring competent, competitive and committed leaders into our campaigns to end child incarceration.  We will not compromise the high standards we expect people to bring to campaigns and public service.  We will support our young people in reaching these standards.
• Culture:  We have made culture a centerpiece of organizing.  We include all representative cultures in every aspect of planning and execution of The Gathering.
• Non violence:  We are committed to a moral framework of justice and love that informs our organizing and strategy.  The tactics that we will use internally and externally will be non violent.
• Innovation:  We will work to identify new, efficient ways of bringing more people together.  As well as use innovation as a tool for model exchange.  We also dedicated to look for new non violent tactics for the 21st century.
• Integrity:  We are unwavering in our commitment to bring authentic leaders with integrity into The Gathering as staff members, organizational leaders and committee members.  We will bring integrity and purpose to all that we do.
• Performance:  We will evaluate our work based on the impact we have on improving the live of the young people who work with us as well as the movement we are making towards policy change, and we will hold ourselves and others to a high performance standard that accomplishes tangible, transparent social and political change.
• Professionalism:  Ethical, professional behavior by all individuals associated with The Gathering is essential in order for the public to have trust in our mission and work.
• Responsibility:  We know that we have a responsibility to achieve short-term victories that shift the balance of power and also support long-term change that will have an enduring impact on communities for years to come.  We will not sacrifice our ideological vision for quick gain and we will not engage in gratuitous battles that detract from that vision.

2007 STRATEGIC OUTCOMES AND 2007 IN REVIEW

Leadership from the local level has been identified by The Gathering and has allowed us to create regions for targeting our coordinated efforts. We have used the following criteria to determine our focus areas: 1) participation in The Gathering meetings, 2) capacity of the organizations on the ground, and 3) the current posture of local elected officials to this issue. Groups with adequate capacity will facilitate local organizing committees and develop a detailed plan reflecting the current situation of their geographic area, mapping of current efforts, summation of policy solutions and request for support from the coordinated body needed for 2008.

2007 was a monumental year for The Gathering.  We retained our first full time organizer and built an executive committee of 17 dedicated young people and Elders who meet monthly to support the work.  The team created, implemented a plan to assess overarching outcomes and program goals:

1. Organize deeper in our communities who have participated in The Gathering meetings;
2. Assess the initial interest and needs of our communities to continue to organize around the goals of The Gathering; and
3. Begin to train on the issue of child incarceration and nonviolent direct action. 

Our organizing for 2007 consisted of the following efforts:

I.  Regional Gatherings

Over the past year, partners of The Gathering have hosted regional gatherings to provide a forum for local leaders to participate in the common goal of our organization:  To coordinate efforts and build relationships with youth organizations to create a local agenda to end child incarceration.

These regional gatherings facilitated the creation of local action campaigns providing participants an opportunity to actualize the goals of The Gathering through local policy issues relevant to their community. The cities that have hosted regional meetings of The Gathering are:

Metro Washington DC

Birmingham, AL

Orange County, CA

Pittsburgh, PA

Boston, MA

Chicago, IL

Detroit, MI

Albuquerque, NM

The Gathering of SIMBA and SIMSA

*Gathering of Ministers, Detroit MI

*Gathering of Judges, Borne, MD

*please note these gatherings are national pertaining to a specific practicum.

The Model:

The goal of these regional meetings is to provide a forum for local leaders and community members to connect.  They coordinate efforts with social justice organizations and create a local action campaign through nonviolent direct action to end child incarceration.

Each region created intergenerational and intercultural local organizing committees to form the event agenda and ensure diverse outreach.  Each gathering was two days. It focused on nonviolent direct action training and popular education on child incarceration.  Every effort was made to create a safe space for young people to participate.  In most cases the young people led every aspect of the meetings and the Elders were asked to support and observe.

Using this model The Gathering was able to reach over 2,000 young people which led to the necessity of assembling nationally to exchange models and ideas.

The success of these regional meetings and the follow up to these gatherings range with the capacity of the city and the policy campaign they created.  A few highlights include:

1)   Pittsburgh turned out 600 people to support  Ms. Pamela Lawson's court case, her seven-year-old child that was held at gun point by a police officer in Pittsburgh.  This is one of Pittsburgh's campaign events central to their local organizing;

2)     Rev. Michael Pfleger and Rev. Jesse Jackson in Chicago lead a local Gun  Protest to rally support to end violence in Chicago;

3)      Boston created a Council of Elders and Young to work with the city on their CORI laws (laws that prevent felons from working); and

4)     Over 250 Detroit Public School students met to discuss a nonviolent direct action approach to their concerns of cops in schools.

II. The National Convention

During the initial regional gatherings and discussions with The Gathering partners it was decided that a national convention would allow us to meet one another in a larger collective and give participants an opportunity to decide on national priorities for The Gathering. The goals of the first convention were:

1)     Convene local organizations working with The Gathering to discuss potential policy solutions to fight injustice in the criminal justice system.  This main focus of the policy targets tackled youth incarceration;

2)     Train young people on nonviolent direct action and work on integrating this tool into ongoing organizing models; and

3)     Decide on local organizing campaigns The Gathering can support nationally with its ongoing program in 2008 and beyond.

The 2007 convention was hosted in Oakland from November 16-18.   Over 800 young people, from 17 states participated in the three-day event.   Participants were recruited by members of the regional gatherings and by their local organizing committees so as to maintain the continuity of dialogue and leadership development. 

Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Mayor Ron Dellums, The Peace Development Fund, Ella Baker Center, The Burns Institute and 20 other local community based organizations formed a host committee to assist The Gathering nationally in creating the convention and introduced participants to Oakland's juvenile justice movement and shared their models and lessons. 

Using a traditional convention model, each delegation was asked to prepare a presentation for their local action campaigns.   The campaigns would be discussed over the weekend and voted on. Three of the most viable campaigns would be taken on nationally.  Seven regions prepared campaigns and the top areas picked were the California Bay Area, Chicago, and New York. 

The field work of 2008 will reflect the follow up necessary coming out of the national convention.  National staff will support the maintenance of convention delegations locally.   Through monthly nonviolent direct action trainings, larger national gatherings to maintain model exchange and the beginning research necessary for a national campaign, we will in one of these three cities, begin implementing nonviolent direct action plans in 2009.

          2008 Goals and Objectives:

Infrastructure:

Objective       Set a process and structure for the Executive Committee.

Objective       Increase revenue to $1.5 million; target foundations to diversify our funding base

Objective       Develop an on going communications plan that begins to explore creative ways to keep the grassroots in contact.

Objective       Develop a long-term strategic plan that includes base line capacity for our states and plan for expanding states and involvement.

 Nonviolence training:

Objective       Organize 11 two day nonviolent direct action core training with our local organizing committee and 30 people from their community.  This will ground the local participants for the year of organizing through a nonviolent method.

Objective       Facilitate a 10 month training in the application of nonviolence and leads to a local agenda being created and supported in 11 cities.

Objective       Create mentorship programs with the elders of our civil rights movements in 5 of our cities.

Policy

Objective       Create a policy advisory board, led by James Bell to support the outcomes of the trainings and agenda creation with viable local policy strategy of 3 of the local organizing agendas.

 Objective       Bring together Facilitate 2 national strategic planning meetings, Memphis on April 3-6 and a convention in the winter.

To achieve these objectives The Gathering will continue to focus on three central program activities:

The Gathering Program for 2008:

1.     On-going regional nonviolence trainings of The Gathering participants: 

Goal: Interracial and intergenerational model exchange that strengthen relationships between community based organizations and nonviolence.

Nationally, The Gathering will continue to organize locally by providing a year long training on the tenets of nonviolence and its practical applications. 

. Training Approach

The Gathering is prepared to assist in the initiation of best practices necessary to affect present conditions where Nonviolence is not practiced. We propose to expand our training capabilities and capacity to bring the concept of Nonviolence to your community. Nonviolence training and education offered to a substantial number of people (from school children of all ages to teachers, administrators, parents and the community as a whole) provides better alternatives for resolving conflicts. The goal of nonviolent reconciliation is justice, a win/win solution rather than a win/lose situation. The nonviolent approach reduces both financial and human costs in managing conflicts and promotes reconciliation. It may be the only approach where a party to a conflict is rewarded for teaching the opponent how to master his or her weapon. Nonviolent solutions not only preserve the dignity of conflicting parties, but also elevate the relationship between the opponents to one of cooperation and understanding, in which they jointly implement change and celebrate victory.

1.     Introductory Seminar

This seminar has evolved from the experiences by Dr. Lafayette, Dr. Kings nonviolent tactician concerning methods of nonviolence education. The purpose of the seminar is to examine the philosophy used by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the movements he led from 1954 to 1968 and to explore their application to the current conditions of violence and conflict.

The two-day workshop will introduce skills to:

·        De-escalate conflicts in interpersonal disputes.

·        Distinguish between constructive confrontation and destructive conflict that can lead to forms of violence.

·        Incorporate the Kingian philosophy of nonviolence as an additional tool in their interaction at school, home and within their communities.

·        Apply Dr. King's methodology and strategy to mobilize the six basic community leadership groups to effectively address conflict in the school and community.

·        Frame the issue in conflicts, so that the energy is directed toward --causes--not symptoms.  (See Appendix A)

2.     Practicum and Continuation Seminar:

Based upon completion of the introductory seminar, participants will be invited to attend a series of sequential seminars to share their experiences and applications of the Nonviolence strategies and to study the writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. These seminars are designed to strengthen individual and group capacity to use the philosophy and to learn from the experiences of their peers. At the end of this period candidates are invited to complete a written assessment of their knowledge about Kingian Nonviolence and how they have applied it to a specific type of institutional or community-wide condition, in our case, the incarceration of our children.

The Gathering will continue to support larger regional gatherings our communities may ask for.  We do not plan on expanding outside of the participants currently involved.  We believe it is critical to build the capacity of our participants already on the ground.  The three static pieces of any regional gathering are local policy exchange, elevation of using tactical nonviolent direct action and cultural exchanges.

2.     Innovative internet and online coordination:

Goal: Coordinated nonviolent direct action support for locally initiated efforts and the coordination of a plan to elevate local solutions to the national level.

Our online presence will be a technical expression of The Gathering program and will reflect the needs of the community. We will use cutting edge technology to create a user friendly network. The content will be created by our participating organizations as well as local organizing committees.

Impressive work has been going on throughout the country for several years around the issues of justice and child incarceration. We must collectively decide to halt the business of any targeted city to raise the crisis level of our organizing that will allow us to negotiate local policy with elevated force. The Gathering coordinated efforts will create a database of people throughout the country interested in supporting nonviolent direct action and trained in nonviolent direct action. The Gathering website will highlight actions being done with our partners, and decide on national collective action.

In the spring of 2008, we will be hiring an Organizing Director, to ensure a proper organizing and communication strategy is implemented.  This will allow us to fully integrate technology into organizing in the field. 

3.     Support local and national policy pertaining to the justice system and youth incarceration:

Goal: Shift the policies that incarcerate members of our communities.

Many of our partners have a litany of policy solutions to end the suffering of the working class and poor. These people who are socio-economically profiled are those most affected by the justice system. The Gathering will collect and track these policy models. We will collectively decide on national policy to lobby for in Congress. A lobbying force maybe created in Washington DC to institutionalize these efforts and ensure local communities are represented on the Hill.

We will study our target cities as potential national campaigns for nonviolent direct action application. 

THE GATHERINGS STRATEGIC PARTNERS

-Gang intervention groups

-Child incarceration groups

-Formerly incarcerated groups

-Community peace groups

-Leadership development groups

-Women's groups

-Churches & communities of faith

-Labor youth groups

-Lawyers and Judges

-Professional groups

-Native American and Indigenous leadership groups

-Social and political action groups

-LGBT community

-Youth education groups

-Arts and culture groups

-Universities and campus groups

Example of participating organizations: list not exhaustive

Barrios Unidos

St. Sabina Beloved Community

One Hood

Prison Moratorium Project

The Burns Institute

Appalshop

Innovative Approach

Unity One

The Advancement Project

Onondaga Indian Nation

La Plazita Institute

Service Employees International Union

Simba Circle

The League of Pissed Off Voters

Taino Nation

Mohawk Nation

Federation of Southern Co-operative Farmers

The Young Peoples Project

Hopi-American Indian Project

Cayuga Nation

Homeboy Industries

Vanguard Foundation

 
OUR LEADERSHIP

Executive Committee- (The Gathering Advisory Board)

The Gathering for Justice is a project of the Tides Center.  Our Advisory Committee includes the leadership of:

Ivanhoe Donaldson                         The Feldman Group

Omo Moses                          Young People's Project

Nane Alejandrez                 Barrios Unidos

Amelia Kirby                                    Appalshop

Juan Pacheco                        Barrios Unidos

Carmen Perez                       Probation Office of Santa Cruz CA

Curtis Jones                          City Councilor, Erie PA

Anasa Troutman                  Highlander Center

Oren Lyons                           Onondaga Indian Nation

Father M. Pfleger                 St. Sabina Church

Sylvia Stone                          Innovative Approach

James Bell                             Burns Institute

Haatim Gyenyame              Simba Circle

Gus Newport                                   Vanguard Foundation           

STAFF LEADERSHIP

Executive Director:  Malia Lazu

National Organizing Director: Carmen Perez

Nonviolence Direct Action Coordinator:  Jonathan Lewis