June is over!!! It's been a crazy year and it's hard to believe that we're already halfway through it!!! The past month has been incredibly busy for us here at East Point, so we just wanted to share a few words about what we've been up to with this quick post.
It's Sunday, and I'm currently writing from Seattle, where I will be working with the Fellowship of Reconciliation to facilitate a two-day organizing workshop for their youth group.
From Wednesday to Friday this week, my friend Nathan and I were in Soledad prison, where we co-facilitated a Intro to Kingian Nonviolence workshop for over 60 incarcerated men. The workshop was led largely by our inside training team, who continues to amaze me with their level of commitment.
We held the workshop in a large gym, with three simultaneous groups happening, including a Spanish language group. Many of the participants are men who typically do not go to other programs and groups on the inside, but word about Kingian Nonviolence has been growing in this prison so they joined us for a full two-days. A huge majority of them enjoyed the workshop so much that they've already signed up for our next workshop in September so they can go through it again!!!
Our inside training team has already led workshops for over 650 men in this prison, and the work continues to spread!!! This workshop was followed up with a day-long advanced training on Friday for our trainers, where we went deep into the study of the history of the Civil Rights movement.
On Tuesday this week, I facilitated a day-long workshop for Stanford students who are part of a program at the Haas Center for Public Service. The students will be spending the summer working with middle school students, tutoring and mentoring them while building Beloved Community. The day-long workshop was to give them some skills around restorative justice and circle-keeping.
I also recently came back from the University of Rhode Island, where I was honored to join Dr. Lafayette and Gail Farris in leading the Level II certification training for Kingian Nonviolence. This year, 66 people from over a dozen countries were certified as Kingian trainers!!!
In June alone, we have also:
- Facilitated a conversation about race for the senior leadership of a Buddhist monastary.
- Facilitated a two-day nonviolence and organizing workshops for street outreach workers in partnership with the New York Justice League.
- Continued our ongoing programs in San Bruno County Jail and San Quentin State Prison.
- Led a day-long Buddhism and Nonviolence retreat at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City with our friend Nirali Shah.
- Presented at a conference of young progressive Christian leaders in Atlanta.
All that has happened just in June alone, thanks to your support.
We are looking forward to continuing our work in July. Chris is getting ready to head to Minnesota for a series of workshops and speaking events on the Gandhian Iceberg, and I am preparing for our next two-day workshop in Oakland as well as a big weekend visioning retreat for the leadership of East Point Peace Academy.
We will have a TON of exciting updates for you all coming out of the retreat. We look forward to updating you more then!!!
Thank you all for your ongoing support of this work!
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