Anti-Oppression 101 with Sookie Bardwell (Part of Passion to Power: OPIRG McMaster’s Skills Training Series 2018)

Being a person is really hard, and being people together is even harder. While there are so many wonderful ways to be a person, many of us learn that some ways of doing so are inherently better than others, and that if we or those around us are having a hard time being people, it’s because we’re/they’re doing it wrong. The thing is, the only way to do it wrong is to fail to treat ourselves and those around us with the value and respect we all deserve. In this introductory workshop, you are invited to come together with others in order to build our collective capacity to better engage in positive and respectful ways with ourselves and one another. Together, we’ll come to an understanding of our individual social locations and the way in which the identities we hold within ourselves affect both the way in which we move through the world, the experiences that we have as we do so, and the way in which these experiences are influenced by the many systems of oppression that structure this social world. We’ll also have the opportunity to collaboratively build our capacity to intervene in these systems as they play out for us individually, interpersonally, and at a systemic level in order to work toward a world in which we can all have a much less difficult time being people, together.

Sookie Bardwell loves to work with other humans to figure out how to be better people for ourselves and each other. She has been working as a social justice educator for over a decade in a variety of settings, and is excited by the opportunities that arise every day to build our capacity to have more just and respectful relationships with ourselves, one another and the world of which we are all an important part in service of our collective liberation.
Free, pre-registration is required: opirg@mcmaster.ca or 905-525-9140 ext. 27289

Participants are invited to attend a lunch from the Real Food Kitchen proceeding the workshop at 12:30 p.m..