Report from Colorado Communities for Justice and Peace Retreat

By Mary Donachy

From July 30th through August 1st, Colorado Communities for Justice and Peace (CCJP) hosted their Second Annual Statewide Organizers’ Retreat in Salida, CO. While many events at this year’s retreat were worth reporting, among them exercises to develop our vision, expertly facilitated by Leilani Henry, and several excellent Pathway groups, I have chosen to focus on the workshops on race relations led by presenter Jeff King. For myself, and I believe for many other retreat attendees, the workshop "Understanding Cultural Differences," and its continuation, "Peace Through Race Relations" were the most significant and compelling aspect of the retreat.

Both of these workshops addressed issues of race relations, domination, and racism. In the first section "Understanding Cultural Differences," the group examined the ideology and aspects of domination/domination culture, and how systems of oppression and domination are reinforced: through the assumption of moral and intellectual superiority; by being surrounded by like-minded others; by using the power gained by oppressing others to reinforce the oppressors’ privilege; by identifying dissenters as suspect, a threat; and by being ignorant of others. As we looked at these reinforcers, it became clear that these were aspects of our own community. Jeff King gently led the group to look at our participation in and use of the system of privilege and oppression that nurtures racism.

In "Peace Through Race Relations", participants began to develop ways to address the hard problem of racism, to look at racism and systems of privilege within our own (the peace and justice activist) community, and to find real ways to dismantle racism within ourselves, our community, and our world. Several concrete courses of action were decided upon, including: addressing racism within our respective groups and encouraging an examination of racism and privilege; working to see the manifestations of privilege in our lives and finding ways of addressing this privilege rather than accepting it; and having reading/discussion groups to explore and educate ourselves on issues of racism and oppression.

Considering my participation and complacency in the institution of racism was an invaluable experience, as was the CCJP retreat community who accompanied me on this powerful journey. I hope that we can continue to develop a community oriented around not only our own conception of peace and justice, but an understanding of the systems of domination and privilege that nurture racism and oppression, and a commitment to creatively deconstructing these systems within ourselves and our society.

Colorado Communities for Justice and Peace (CCJP) is a statewide coalition of Colorado organizations working to promote a just, peaceful and sustainable society through education, outreach and nonviolent action. The annual CCJP retreat is open to all and is intended to facilitate communication and cooperation within the peace and justice community and increase our effectiveness through mutual learning.

Jeff King is an enrolled member of the Muskogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma. He is the Director of Native American Counseling, Inc. of the Denver and Front Range areas and teaches classes on multi-cultural issues as they relate to psychology, counseling and race relations at the University of Colorado at Denver.

Leilani Henry is a leader in Organizational Development, specializing in small business, non-profits, academia, federal government agencies, and social change activists.