The Unconference on Reparations & Healing is an informal and flexible space that allows participants to decide the agenda and suggest discussion topics of their own interest. The goal for most unconferences is to prioritize conversation over presentation. The purpose of this Unconference is to generate discussion about reparations and healing, as well as push the edges of conversations on reparations, making space for nuance and complexity. Our work is a part of the greater reparations process currently taking place around the country.
The Origin Story:
Our Reparations Researcher & 2020 Climate Justice Fellow Simone Johnson has been slowly researching how birthwork, reproductive health and justice and family constellation work ties into reparations. Since the very beginning Simone has been interested in the role of dreams and time in her research, and has found a lot of inspiration from Rasheedah Phillips' writing and Black Quantum Futurism.
Since starting as a Reparations Researcher at Culture Push, Simone has also been in regular discussions with the Culture Push staff about reparations, her particular research and how Culture Push as an arts organization can respond to the times. Simone sees reparations as slow and collaborative work that needs multiple and even differing perspectives to imagine all that can be imagined for authentic repair and action, and ultimately collective liberation.
The Unconference came out of Simone and the CP staff developing a living, Emergent Strategy for Healing, with up to seven strategies so far. The language of 'Emergent Strategy' is inspired by "Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds" by Adrienne Maree Brown. Our discussions brought us to organizing an Unconference around healing that invites people from different racial/ethnic backgrounds to join, but intentionally uplifts the voices of African-American/Afrodescendant and Native identifying peoples; it is important for us to merge conversations on reparations for both groups of people.
Simone, among other things, is currently creating a science fiction infused timeline to 'make the case' for reparations.
