September's community page features several must-have new resources for dialogue leaders, a plethora or conferences and trainings, important news for activists, links to World Conference Against Racism info from various perspectives, and much more. Enjoy! And please let us know what you think ().

SCRC Conference to be Held Next Month

The Study Circles Resource Center is sponsoring a national conference next month in Washington, DC. Working Together for Creative Community Change will take place on October 12 and 13, and will bring together organizers of community-wide study circles and activists and community leaders who are interested in learning about the study circle method of dialogue.

Participants will hear true stories of community change on tough issues such as racism and race relations, police-community relations and education; build skills to organize dialogue and action; network and learn from study circles leaders; strengthen their organizing teams; and join a growing national movement. The conference will feature interactive skill-building workshops, best practices Q&A sessions, affinity group sessions, presentations by nationally recognized leaders working to strengthen democratic principles and practices, and more.

Those interested in displaying materials at the conference should email Carrie Boron at . Registration deadline is September 17, and rates range from $50 to $150. For more info or to register, click here or email .

New Book on Intergroup Dialogue Out This Month

David Schoem and Sylvia Hurtado have collaborated to produce a valuable book for the intergroup dialogue field. Intergroup Dialogue: Deliberative Democracy in School, College, Community and Workplace is a comprehensive study of intergroup dialogue which showcases 12 in-depth case studies, offers critical perspectives, and explores the foundation of dialogue in democratic theory.

The case studies are drawn from leading organizations in the dialogue field, including the Study Circles Resource Center, Hope in the Cities, the Anti-Defamation League and the National Conference for Community and Justice, as well as several major universities and consultants to corporate America. Each case study presents the program's rationale, an account of its successes, and evaluation data.

Sylvia Hurtado teaches at the University of Michigan's Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education. David Schoem is Faculty Director of the Michigan Community Scholars Program and teaches in UM's Sociology Department. Schoem also co-edited the excellent book Multicultural Teaching at the University. Intergroup Dialogue can now be ordered from the UM Press or from Amazon.com for $19.95 (paperback) or $59.59 (hardcover).

Great Multicultural Ed. Site Revamped

If you're involved in multicultural education in any way and haven't yet heard of the Multicultural Pavilion website, don't hesitate to check it out right now! The Multicultural Pavilion, which was created by Paul Gorski in 1995, provides a plethora of resources for educators, students, and activists interested in exploring and discussing multicultural education.

The website features original essays and articles, engaging intercultural activities, quotes about social justice and education, links to various web-based discussion forums, an index of songs for initiating dialogue, film reviews, various fact sheets, links to many other multicultural sites, and much more. Recent renovations to the site include a newly-designed link index and a new section with original resources on the digital divide.

Paul Gorski currently works at the University of Maryland, coordinating Diversity Works and the Student Intercultural Learning Center and the Intergroup Dialogue Program. Gorski also runs the Multicultural Supersite, a website for teachers and teacher educators with original resources on curriculum transformation, classroom activities, and research.

SCRC Offers New Must-Have Dialogue Guide

Organizing a community-wide dialogue program is a complex undertaking. Many things are happening at the same time: coalition building, communication and publicity, recruiting participants, training facilitators, fund raising, planning for action, and more. The Study Circles Resource Center just published a new step-by-step guide entitled Organizing Community-wide Dialogue for Action and Change, which is designed to help you understand and carry out the many aspects of community-wide organizing for public dialogue and action. Download a PDF version off of the SCRC website for free, or order your own copy for $30 (plus $6 for shipping and handling) by calling 860-928-2616.

Bill Introduced to Create U.S. Department of Peace

On July 11, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introduced H.R. 2459, a bill to create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace which embodies a broad-based approach to peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution at both domestic and international levels. The Department of Peace would serve to promote non-violence as an organizing principle in our society, and help to create the conditions for a more peaceful world.

The Department of Peace would focus on nonmilitary peaceful conflict resolution, violence prevention and the promotion of justice and democratic principles to expand human rights. A Peace Academy, similar to the five military service academies, would be created, its graduates dispatched to troubled areas around the globe to promote nonviolent dispute resolutions.

"Violence at home, in the schools, in the media, and between nations has dragged down humanity," said Congressman Kucinich. "It's time to recognize that traditional, militant objectives for peace are not working, and the only solution is to make peace the goal of a cabinet level agency." Ask your Congressperson to support bill H.R. 2459 (over 40 of them already do!) or check out Kucinich's website for more info.

New Book on Whites Confronting Racism

Eileen O'Brien's new book Whites Confront Racism: Antiracists and Their Paths to Action is scheduled to be published this month. The book examines the distinctive place that whites can take in the fight for racial justice, bringing together interviews with white anti-racist activists from across North America. Avoiding the typical white options of being "non-racist" or feeling guilty, these whites demonstrate the multitude of ways whites can be proactive in combating modern racism.

These activists, of both genders and all ages, have arrived at their antiracist commitments through several different yet typical paths. They struggle to transform individuals, institutions and themselves, incurring risks as well as rewards along the way. Their affiliations with antiracist organizations, or lack thereof, play a crucial role in the differences among them and their approaches to antiracist work.

The whites interviewed who are involved with antiracist groups come predominantly from either Anti-Racist Action or the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, and the contrast between these two groups shows that there are different types of antiracism. Although unity among them may not be possible or even desirable, acceptance of a broader concept of racism by all anti-racists is one of the ending suggestions for the future of antiracism. The book can be ordered for $21.95 at Amazon.com.

New Communication Book Available Free

Making Waves: Stories of Participatory Communication for Social Change was recently published by the Rockefeller Foundation. Making Waves, by Alfonso Gumucio Dagron, reviews 50 instances of community decision-making and action in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

For a free printed copy of Making Waves, email , writing the following in the subject line: Ref: Making Waves, Job #3184. Copies can also be requested at The Communication Initiative website, or a copy can be downloaded at the Rockefeller Foundation website.

World Conference Against Racism Resources

The Conference may be over, but new knowledge and information has only just begun to be shared. Below are just a few of the places you can go to learn more about what happened, what didn't happen, and what's going to happen now.

National Public Radio dispatched reporters around the world to examine many of the issues being addressed at WCAR. Click here to listen to your choice of dozens of excellent radio programs.

Project Change team members reported, interviewed participants, and photographed proceedings daily for their online news service, AntiRacismNet, and the NGO Forum/WCAR-dedicated site, www.ngoworldconference.org.

For a focus on women's issues and perspectives, check out the Feminist International Radio Endeavour (FIRE) site. FIRE featured live webcasts and a variety of reports and updates from WCAR. For the youth perspective, check out Global Kids, Inc., whose daily video and text diaries were hosted by PBS Online's NewsHour Extra.

Asian American Journalist Publishes Provocative Book

William Wong recently published Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America. The book is a powerful collection of essays and stories that chronicle the Asian American experience with humor, pungent wit and astute perception. Yellow Journalist takes you on a kaleidoscopic journey - from Angel Island to affirmative action, history to Hollywood, immigration to identity, Connie Chung to Tiger Woods.

Wong, whose writing has been featured in such news outlets as the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Oakland Tribune, grew up in Oakland, California's Chinatown during the 1940s and 1950s. Among his pioneering journalistic achievements were significant news feature stories about a growing Asian American community for The Wall Street Journal's front page in the 1970s and provocative columns in various outlets about Asian America, politics, race relations, multiculturalism and a changing America. Click here to learn more about Yellow Journalist. The paperback version of the book can be ordered from Amazon.com for $16.06.

Hope for a Just Society

Those whose dialogue efforts are leading to community action may be interested in veteran activist and organizer Ted Glick's recently published 93-page book entitled Future Hope: A Winning Strategy for a Just Society. Glick, who is the National Coordinator of the Independent Progressive Politics Network, shares in the book what he has learned from front-lines involvement in many of the major social struggles of the past three decades.

Howard Zinn, author of the popular A People's History of the United States, says this about the book: "Ted Glick's Future Hope is a bold attempt, provocative and intelligent, to lay out the strategy and tactics of a new revolutionary movement in this country.... It insists on combining the spiritual and the political, the personal and the universal, and dares to suggest what a good society might look like in the future."

Future Hope is available for $6.95. Go to www.radicalbooks.com or contact Future Hope Publications at .

Project Studies How Societies Handle Painful Histories

The Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs has a new project called "History and the Politics of Reconciliation," directed by Elizabeth Cole. The project studies how societies reckon with difficult pasts over generations, and includes the ethical dimensions of how societies select which parts of their history to emphasize, commemorate and teach.

As part of this project, a workshop on the theme of "The Search for a 'Useable Past'" will be held October 25-26, 2001 in New York City. For more information, contact Elizabeth Cole at 212-838-4120 ext. 219 or .

New Criminal Justice Fact Sheets Available

Those whose action efforts touch upon criminal justice issues may be interested in the Prison Activist Resource Center's recently-produced fact sheets on Racism and the Criminal Injustice System (one each for African American, Latino, and Native American issues). Also new is a fact sheet on the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The fact sheets may be downloaded in PDF format from the website, and can then be printed out and used as educational tools or for outreach work.

Public Participation of Underrepresented Groups

While there is agreement that participation in public affairs is central to minorities' sense of identity, to their sense of belonging in their national community and to protecting their interests, there is less agreement on how such participation should be facilitated and structured. Yash Ghai's report Public Participation and Minorities provides various approaches and modalities in the hope of furthering the cause of inter-community cooperation and concludes with a series of recommendations for states and intergovernmental organizations.

Public Participation and Minorities is a report of Minority Rights Group International. The 28-page wire-bound report, which was published in April, can be ordered from www.minorityrights.org. For further information, email , Marketing and Publicity Officer of Minority Rights Group International.

New Listserv for Dialogue Leaders Gaining Momentum

DialogueLeaders, the new listserv (email discussion list) for organizers, facilitators, and researchers of intergroup dialogue, is now over 125 members strong, and growing every day! For info on how to join the list, which was developed by the Dialogue to Action Initiative to provide a forum for people in the dialogue field to network with one another and share important information, click on the DialogueLeaders icon.

National Rally Against Racism at Penn State this Month

The Penn State Black Caucus and the PSU Village together with other student groups are organizing a massive rally against racism and hatred of all forms. The main rally will take place at the University Park PSU campus on Saturday, September 15, with events taking place throughout the weekend.

Recent problems at Penn State (from longstanding issues of racial climate to death threats against students and regional murders) have highlighted troubles at the Pennsylvania university, and the rally will be a time for thousands of people from all over to come together to take a stand. The rally will involve nationally known speakers, participants from across the nation, workshop opportunities for in-depth discussion of issues, and a chance for the Penn State/State College community to come together in unity. For more info, click here or email .

Youth Gather at Democracy Institute 2001

A diverse group of over 100 young people gathered this June, in Tallahassee, Florida to build their organizing skills and learn about democratic reform. The youth developed their skills in direct action, lobbying, facilitation and consensus, coalition building, and campus and community organizing, and attended sessions on such topics as the Voting Rights Act, redistricting, the mechanics of voting reform, voting rights for ex-prisoners, and campaign finance reform.

The Democracy Institute lived up to its advance billing: it was "the coming-out party of a diverse, multi-ethnic young people's movement to take back the reins of power over our own lives." A statement of purpose was developed for this emerging youth democracy movement, and planning began for an even bigger event next year, during the summer of 2002. Many attendees will be involved in on-going, pro-democracy activities in their home cities and towns.

Following the Institute, some of the participants worked as interns for one to eight weeks with on-the-ground projects and campaigns on electoral reform in Florida and elsewhere. For more information about the Institute, go to www.democracysummer.org or email .

Birmingham Pledge Week - An Inspiration to Us All

You know the story. On September 15, 1963, a bomb planted by white racists exploded in the basement of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four little African American girls who were attending Sunday School. To show its commitment to ending racial prejudice, the city now organizes the Birmingham Pledge Week (September 9-15) to inspire people - in Birmingham and around the world - to make a personal daily commitment to eradicate prejudice from their lives and the lives of others, and to treat all people with respect. Tens of thousands of people from around the world have made the commitment.

Common Ground Film Festival Set for October

Leading off with the hit film "Remember the Titans," Search for Common Ground is sponsoring the first-ever film festival on the theme of cinema and video as media for reconciliation and conflict transformation. The festival will take place in Washington, DC, October 18-21.

After the opening presentation and reception at Visions Cinema Lounge, the festival will move to American University for three days of screening of documentaries and feature films from at least seven different countries, from South Africa to Vietnam. Goals for the festival are to showcase films that contribute to preventing or reducing conflict; honor filmmakers who work within the framework; encourage future productions that promote understanding, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence; popularize this kind of filmmaking; and move audience from beyond viewing to dialogue.

Following the festival in Washington, SFCG will send the films as a traveling series on a one-year tour of U.S. colleges, where they will be viewed by thousands of students. For more details, go to www.sfcg.org or contact Gil Kulick, Communications Director of Search for Common Ground (202-265 4300, ).

COPRED Conference on Globalization & Justice

The Annual Conference of the Consortium on Peace Research, Education & Development (COPRED) and the Peace Studies Association (PSA) will be held October 4-7 at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. The conference will focus on visions and strategies for justice and peace in the context of globalization. Participants will examine existing research and ongoing activism to better understand the relationship between globalization and struggles for justice and peace and to map out an agenda for future study of and organizing around these issues.

COPRED is a community of educators, activists and researchers working on alternatives to violence and war. For more information about the conference, click here or email .

Philly Events for Whites Working Against Racism

Training for Change is holding another of its excellent White People Working on Racism trainings next month. From Friday, October 26, at 6:00 p.m. through Saturday, October 27, at 9:30 p.m., Lorraine Marino and Antje Mattheus will be leading this workshop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At this workshop, participants talk about how racism works and what their role is, and develop personal action plans and consider concrete steps they can take to confront racism in their lives.

Those of you in the Philly area may also want to join Training for Change on Tuesday, September 25 for an evening of support for anti-racist allies. The evening is part of TFC's popular ongoing series for white people who want to be more powerful in their work against racism. Go to www.trainingforchange.org or email if these events interest you. Some of TFC's other training opportunities are: Class Matters: Learning to See the Hidden Dynamics of Class in U.S. Society, How to Facilitate Transformational Work, and Training for Social Action Trainers.

Reparations Mobilization Conference in November

The first Reparations Education and Mobilization Conference will be held November 2-4 during Black Solidarity Day Weekend at City College in Harlem, New York. The conference will incorporate the spirit, energy and enthusiasm of the spreading reparations firestorm.

The conference has as its primary agenda to organize, build a united front and a worldwide strategic alliance of peoples of African descent, oppressed people as well as all progressive forces united to make the world a place where all humanity can live with dignity, respect and in genuine peace. For more info, email or click here. The website is a rich resource for learning more about reparations. It includes links to dozens of articles and websites covering such topics as Jews and holocaust reparations, both positive and negative opinions about reparations, and surveys of public opinion.

Baltimore & San Diego Training for Anti-Racist Whites

A 3-day workshop entitled What White People Can Do About Racism will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, September 12-14 and San Diego, California, November 7-9. Sponsored by The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, this three-day public workshop explores white people's roles, responsibilities and challenges in addressing racism in our lives, communities and organizations.

Areas of focus include understanding the dynamics of racism in today's world, identifying whites' self-interest in working against racism, exploring the role of white people as partners and allies for change, and developing effective action strategies in organizational and community environments.

Facilitators in Baltimore are Michele Holt-Shannon and Alan Davenport (with Dr. Judith Katz as a one-day guest), and facilitators in San Diego are Judith Katz and Michael Brazzel. The workshops are $450 per person, with discounts for groups and non-profit agencies. For more info or to register, go to www.kjcg.com.

National Day of Action for Racial Justice in Schools

Tuesday, October 30 is a day for organizations around the U.S. to focus public attention on racial inequality in our public education system and to call for equitable school reforms. Coordinated public actions in communities across the country will amplify the demand that public policies and spending on schools reflect and promote racial equity.

The Day of Action will bring particular attention to racial profiling and punishment in our schools - the hazards of learning while Black or Brown. The event is being coordinated by the Applied Research Center in collaboration with the ERASE Partners, a national network of community organizations working to address racial justice in schools. Information and action kits are available from the ERASE Initiative. Contact Tammy Johnson or Jennifer Emiko Boyden (Phone: 510-653-3415, email: ).

National Death Penalty Conference Next Month

Those of you with dialogue groups which are concerned about the inequities in the criminal justice system may be interested in the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's 2001 conference, which will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, October 18-21. The conference will bring together hundreds of concerned citizens, students, clergy, activists, attorneys, legislators, celebrities, and many others to strengthen and celebrate the movement to abolish the death penalty in the United States.

Preceding the conference is a North Carolina-wide speaking tour featuring talks by murder victims' family members who recall their tragedy, their struggle to heal, and their reasons for supporting alternatives to the death penalty.

The theme of the conference is "Building Communities of Justice and Hope." To find out more about the conference or to request a speaker during the October 5-17 tour, call 919-933-7567 or email .

PBI Conference in Switzerland Next Month

Peace Brigades International's 20th anniversary conference will focus on "Promoting Non-Violence and Protecting Human Rights: The Role of Civilian Third Party Initiatives in Conflict Areas." The October 26-27 event will bring together representatives and individuals from a wide range of backgrounds in peace and human rights movements, the organizations and communities they support, and intergovernmental and state bodies. For further information, email or go to www.peacebrigades.org.

NAME Conference to be Held in November

The 11th Annual National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) Conference will take place on November 7-11 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This year's theme is High Stakes: Achievement, Assessment and Advocacy Through Multicultural Education. There will be over 150 concurrent sessions, keynote addresses from some of the leading experts in the field, exhibits, entertainment, film festival, cultural tours, chances to network and discuss your work, NAME chapter meetings and much more. Click here for more information about the conference.

Have Suggestions for the October Community Page?

We update Dialogue to Action Initiative's Community every month, so we invite you to bookmark this page and return frequently. If you know of some news or a resource that should be mentioned here, or you have a site or project you'd like us to feature, please let us know about it by emailing us at .