Applying Our Research
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 Senior Researcher Yvonne Yen Liu recently spoke at "Edible Education 101: The Rise and Future of the Food Movement," a lecture series at UC Berkeley, co-taught by Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Nikki Henderson of People's Grocery.
The class was convened to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Chez Panisse, founded by restauranteur and food justice pioneer Alice Waters. Yvonne presented the findings of ARC's "Color of Food" report, which surveyed the race, class, and gender of workers in the food chain. She also talked about the importance of examining so-called individual choices (what we eat) as they are shaped by larger structural factors (income, education, white privilege).
ARC's aim is to broaden the mission of the good food movement to include a focus on good jobs for its mostly workers of color. A food justice movement must advocate for the welfare and dignity of the workers whose labor is so critical to the food we consume on a daily basis. Video of the talk is available here.
And don't miss Yvonne's presentation on how Federal Budget Cuts will be increasing racial disparites.
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Network News
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 This Fall, ARC is launching an exciting new Racial Justice Webinar Series. This series was developed based on the input we’ve received from our broader racial justice trainings and initial webinars, and is designed to help a range of audiences navigate the complex and contested terrain of racism with greater clarity, unity and strategy.
Our first webinar, “Challenging Racism Systematically,” will be held on Wednesday, October 19, 1pmET/10amPT. We will take a systematic approach to addressing racism and focus on its causes and what changes we can advance. This is our core racial justice webinar and future ARC webinars will build on the concepts introduced here.
The second webinar, “Changing the Conversation on Race: Promoting Actions and Solutions,” will take place on Thursday, November 17, 1pmET/10amPT. The conversation on race won’t change unless we change it. And talk remains talk unless we move it towards action.
ARC Racial Justice Webinars are $35 each. However, until October 18, you can register for both webinars for just $60 (a $10 savings)! Enrollment is limited, so please register today to reserve your place.
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Colorlines.com Spotlight
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 In our September Colorlines.com special investigation, journalist Gabriel Thompson tells the long, sad story of D.C.'s immigrant-bashing rhetoric: "How the Right Made Racism Sound Fair--and Changed Immigration Politics." Republican strategists have won the messaging war on immigration reform--and Democrats have conceded defeat. The result is more harsh policy than ever, and a dangerous culture of hate.
Following the investigation's release, Colorlines led a Drop the I-Word webinar for ethnic and community press, co-sponsored by UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. and New America Media. Presenters included: Gabriel on the widening use of the slur “illegals” and related terms in the media after 9-11; Attorney David Bennion on precisely how and why the i-word is legally inaccurate; DREAM activists Tania Chairez and Mark Cortez on the impact of the i-word on their own lives; and Colorlines.com News Editor Jamilah King reviewing our stylebook on immigration. This webinar is available here. |
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President's Message
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Over the last few weeks I see a certain poetry in two movements that have emerged: one to save Troy Davis – and end the death penalty, and another to control corporations, especially those of the financial industry, with Occupy Wall Street. The first speaks to social control, that latter to economic control – two sides of the same coin.
The intense protests have been riveting as both online and on-the-ground activism have gained momentum and covered by mainstream media. The efforts to save Troy Davis were tragically unsuccessful, and Wall Street continues to operate, business at usual. Still, policy and institutions that perpetuate inhumane capital punishment and corporate greed are, for the time being, under scrutiny.
While the racial dimension of the criminal justice system is obvious to many people, the movement to reform Wall Street may be less so. In economic justice, it is particularly tempting to ignore the links between race and poverty, as well as the profound influence of sexism and sexuality on economic hierarchies. Everybody’s suffering, and these wedge issues are so often used to divide the working class that many activists lean toward a universal framework for making change.
But addressing systems of oppression, and the people those systems affect, can be done without elevating one group’s suffering over another's. The goal is to understand how the mechanisms of control actually operate. When we understand, we can craft solutions that truly help everybody.
This means economic and social justice movements reaching toward each other, to expand rights on all fronts. And it means ARC will continue to share tools for racial justice.
Rinku Sen
President and
Executive Director
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