Fierce Vulnerability Network (FVN)
6 Month Cohort Program
Are you called to the intersection of racial and climate justice?
Are you committed to the work of making reparations real?
Do you see direct action as a necessary component of the struggle for collective liberation?
Do you long to be part of a movement community that understands the interconnectedness of personal, interpersonal, and systemic healing?
The Fierce Vulnerability Network (FVN) is a decentralized constellation of direct action teams committed to racial and climate justice, working to reimagine direct action movements. FVN engages in the critical work of nonviolent direct action to confront systems of injustice face-to-face, while maintaining the vulnerability to speak from our hearts about our yearning to heal.
Deeply aware of the humbling enormity of the crises humanity is facing and our own imperfections, we are nonetheless determined to act. The Defining Marks of FVN are:
Our longing for collective liberation, for healing of people and planet. We long to be of service to the sanctity of life.
- Guidance by the spirits of our ancestors and the wisdom of the natural world, of which we are a part. We believe this to be sacred work.
- Our shared understanding that racial and climate justice are inseparable.
- Our rootedness in an integral nonviolence approach. In addition to direct action, our work encompasses self-transformation and community uplift (the work of building sustainable, regenerative and just communities).
- Our desire to be a grounding, communal, spiritual movement home for one another, from which a fuller expression of our gifts and ourselves can be brought into the wider movement ecosystem.
We hold two core commitments that are the primary “what” of the network:
- Making reparations real; and
- Direct action at the intersection of climate justice and racial justice.
We hold three additional commitments that represent our primary “how”:
- Embodying fierce vulnerability;
- Discerning and lifting up vocation; and
- Placing our trust in emergence.
PROGRAM
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Starting September 9, 2020, step into a 6-month program to engage with the core practices (DNA) of the Fierce Vulnerability Network with a small, Bay Area based cohort (25 maximum). Led by members of the East Point Peace Academy core team and community collaborators, this program will allow you to engage deeply with practices such as direct action planning, racial and climate reparations, decision making, emotional regulation skills, and more within a framework of healing, deep relationship building and ritual (see cohort schedule for details).
Starting with an in-person weekend workshop (COVID permitting), we will meet approximately weekly for 1.5 hrs via Zoom on Tuesday evenings and monthly for a full-day, in person session on Saturdays (10-6pm). At the end of 6 months, you will be prepared to lead a Network action team, thereby supporting the birth of FVN, a cadre of peace champions across the country.
WHO THIS IS FOR
This program is for individuals that are based in the Bay Area that are interested in joining the Fierce Vulnerability Network. The Network is a vision of deeply committed individuals who want to contribute to the healing of society in the midst of major transitions and collapse.
Our commitment is to create a BIPOC majority cohort. Acknowledging the challenging nature of being part of an intensive cohort - particularly if you come from marginalized communities - our Internal Reparations Fund works to support the needs of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) individuals so they can participate in Network activities, including this cohort. See more below.
White identified participants are strongly encouraged and invited to also engage in the work of undoing racism prior to, or concurrent with the cohort. We recommend the work of Resmma Menakem, White Awake, AORTA, the Catalyst Project, SURJ or UNtraining.
COST
Registration will be based on the Gift Economy, meaning that there is no amount that is too little or too large. You are also welcome to contribute with your wonderful talents.
East Point and FVN's Internal Reparations Fund can help to offset needs-based costs of BIPOC participants who would otherwise not be able to attend. Please do not let finances be the reason why you do not apply. If you have interest, we will do our best to support your participation.
SCHEDULE & COMMITMENT
The depth of transformation that the world is calling for requires us to do deep work together. This is therefore an intensive program, committed to building deep relationship, having courageous and healing conversations, and preparing ourselves to face - together - the transitions that our world is experiencing.
The program will begin in September with a 2.5 day, in person workshop. Following the launch of the cohort, we will meet approximately once a week on Tuesday evenings from 5PM - 6:30PM Pacific Time on Zoom, as well as once a month in-person from 10AM - 6PM in the East Bay. We ask applicants to do their best not to miss more than one in-person gathering and no more than three virtual gatherings.
Participation in the full opening weekend is mandatory.
Click the image above or here to download the full calendar.
Click here to download the .ics file and automatically import all events onto your calendar. If you are using Google Calendar, follow Step 2 in the instructions here.
KEY DATES
May 11th, 2022 - Application Opens
July 1st, 2022 - Application Deadline at Noon Pacific Time
July 11th, 2022 - Initial Invitations Sent Out
July 18th, 2022 - Deadline to Confirm Participation
Opening Workshop
Friday, September 9th - 6PM - 8PM
Saturday & Sunday, September 10th &11th - 10AM - 6PM
September 2022 - February 2023
