Our Offerings

REVOLUTIONARY LOVE
&
RADICAL PRAXIS:

THE LOVING JUSTICE LAB

With Kai Cheng Thom

Sessions on October 5, 6, 19 & 2oth 2024

Saturdays & Sundays, 9-2pm PT / 12-5pm ET

What is the definition of love as political praxis?

love not as a cliché or a warm fuzzy feeling, but love as a verb, love as action and skilled wisdom? How can social justice activists shift away from a culture of burnout, toxic conflict, and retraumatization to a culture of radical care, generative conflict, and collective resilience? How can we as a movement transform binary understandings of good and evil in order to embrace the deep complexity and nuance of our shared humanity – without spiritually bypassing or ignoring systemic injustice?

Join movement mediator, author, and somatic coach Kai Cheng Thom for an experiential, experimental intensive in the practice of her Loving Justice methodology for personal growth and conflict transformation. This course is a “learning lab” that combines video and live lectures on conflict transformation-related content with embodied conversation, practice and group process. Using embodied and creative facilitation techniques, Kai Cheng will guide participants through a powerful and emergent process focused on generating collective intelligence about how we can create a paradigm of radical love in social justice spaces.

This experiential process is intended for experienced activists who have at least three years’ experience of direct participation in social change movements (“direct participation” is self-defined and can encompass a wide spectrum of community, volunteer, and/or professional roles). Experience as organizers, facilitators, mediators, coaches, and other practitioners of personal growth or collective change work is strongly encouraged.

The ideal participant for this course is a practice-oriented dreamer feels strongly about intersectional social justice values, but also willing to question orthodoxies and challenge binary ways of working for change. In this lab, we will unveil our personal and collective shadows and search for wisdom in the exiled or “forbidden” parts of Self. Therefore, in order to have a good experience, it is essential that participants come into the course ready to discuss controversial and emotionally evocative topics, and to challenge their own worldviews with the goal of strengthening their political praxis. While Kai Cheng will facilitate the space with rigorous attention to trauma-sensitivity, dignity, and respect for all lived experiences, the nature of this process is one that intentionally embraces the paradigm of “dangerous space” – that is, we expect to encounter triggers and interpersonal disagreements along the way in the belief that doing so with compassion, curiosity, and integrity allows us to uncover powerful and healing truths for the good of the collective. This is not psychotherapy. Participants are called upon to show up with their emotionally resourced, adult selves.

Module one:
Conflict, Social Justice & The Shadow Self

Conflict, Social Justice & The Shadow Self

Video Lecture: Understanding Conflict, Group Dynamics, and Trauma Responses

We explore conflict through the lens of anti-oppression, trauma theory, and group dynamics and engage with gentle archetypal somatic practices in order to enter the space of collective connection and change.

Learning Outcomes: Able to define and discuss key aspects of conflict transformation work in conjunction with anti-oppression and trauma theory, familiarity with conflict survival “shapes” and their strengths and weaknesses, and deeper understanding of both our personal conflict patterns and the conflict patterns that frequently show up in social justice movements.

Module three:
Embracing the Dangerous Space: Working At the Edge of Conflict

Embracing the Dangerous Space: Working at the Edge of Conflict

Video Lecture: Transformative Justice & A World Without Punishment

Having prepared ourselves with trauma-informed practices, conflict tools, and complexity frameworks, we dive into the “edge” of the conflict transformation conversation in the social justice space. How do we integrate an abolitionist perspective with accountability and responsibility? How do we balance the need for safety with the importance of taking risks?

Learning Outcomes: Increased capacity to work with “edgy” conversations, ability to define and discuss Transformative Justice and distinguish it from Restorative and criminal justice models, familiarity with complexity-focused facilitation techniques.

Module two:
Complexity & Collective Being

Complexity & Collective Being

Video Lecture: Tools for Complexity & Role Theory, The Loving Justice Skillset

We examine the role of complexity in conflict transformation work and explore practices that engage the individual and collective body around binaries, polarities, and the “good-versus-evil” paradigm. We engage with ethical complexity and practice transformative movement, feeling, and thinking.

Learning Outcomes: Familiarity with complexity theory and key Loving Justice Practice models, ability to sense and discuss complexity as an essential element of social justice work, ability to use both somatic and intellectual practices to expand our capacity to hold complexity.

Module four:
Emergence: Loving the Mystery

Emergence: Loving the Mystery

Video Lecture: N/A, instead, participants will be asked to complete a creative “homeplay” assignment in preparation for this day

We engage in a group creative process in order to integrate and harvest our shared learnings. We make space for emergence, convergence, and divergence. We vision and dream together, then close our space.

Learning Outcomes: Increased capacity to work with “edgy” conversations, ability to define and discuss Transformative Justice and distinguish it from Restorative and criminal justice models, familiarity with complexity-focused facilitation techniques.

Important Application & Payment Details

SLIDING SCALE TUITION
$500 – $1,500*

(Please pay as high on the scale as possible for you, given your financial situation)

*A core principle of ERE’s financial model is to engage in accessibility, gift, and communal generosity whenever possible. All post production profits are gifted to black and indigenous led community projects. From this course, all post production proceeds will be gifted to Trans Pride Toronto: Transitioning Together, an organization that focuses on street-level outreach to support the needs of marginalized, radicalized, and sex working Trans/2Spirit community members in Toronto, Canada.

This course will fill at 60 participants.

Payment plans are available – please email us at [email protected] if you’d like more information about that.

We still have scholarships available for BIPOC identifying individuals! Please apply through the application form below.

These offerings will be held online over Zoom. Please come prepared to be fully present in a non-public space, and not in your car driving or in transition.

module one

24th / 9am - 3pm PDT
Opening session: module one
October 2022

8th / 9am - 12pm PDT
module two

29th / 9am - 12pm PDT
module three
November 2022

12th / 9am - 12pm PST
module four
December 2022

10th / 9am - 3pm PST
closing session: module five

ThIS application process IS NOW OPEN FOR THE OCTOBER DATES.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*

Email*

Phone*

Time Zone*

This course is intended to center the voices of individuals from marginalized communities who have been working as leaders (broadly defined) for social change in their own contexts. In order to make sure we are doing so, we would like to ask you for some demographic information:

We’d like to get a sense of who’s applying. Can you please share your social location? Please only share what you’d like for each category: race/ancestry, gender identity, ability, class status, & any other identity traits that you’d like to share.*

What are you hoping to learn and/or experience in the course?*

What life and activist experiences have brought you here?*

In your perspective, what role does the abolition of police, prisons, and punitive justice play as a part of social activism?*

This course explores powerful and potentially triggering content – for example, working with harm that has happened between community members, discussing “call out culture” and/or “cancel culture,” valuing the humanity of both survivors of harm and people who have caused harm, radical compassion, and making space for divergent opinions on big topics. How willing are you to explore these topics in a group setting?*

What supports do you have in your life to help you integrate the course material? Ie, counselor, coach, political discussion group, etc*

In this course, the intention is to practice the embodiment of revolutionary love in the framework of these three skillsets: compassionate curiosity, holding multiple truths, and integrity (holding firm boundaries and standing up for social justice). Imagine that you are in the course and a participant makes a comment that you perceive as being unconsciously biased. How would you like to respond? How would you like Kai Cheng to respond?*

In situations where unconsciously biased comments, microaggressions, or political disagreements are raised in this course, Kai Cheng will likely take a stance that is oriented towards deepening understanding and inviting curiosity about differing perspectives and social power dynamics, while also setting boundaries on language or actions that are consciously or intentionally harmful. How do you think you will respond to this kind of facilitative environment?*

In the scenario above, imagining that the hypothetical participant who made the biased comment is “called in,” how would you ideally like them to respond?*

The facilitator of this course is a transgender woman of colour (East Asian, of Chinese descent), and it would be helpful for her to have a sense of your experience with gender diversity in social movement work. What is your understanding of gender diversity, transphobia and transmisogyny as they relate to activism?*

What does “revolutionary love” mean to you? How would you like to embody revolutionary love in your work towards social change?*

Is there anything else you would like us to know about you and your learning goals?*

When exploring conflict, we can expect to encounter - and perhaps even enact - some of our shadow traits and relational survival responses. When you are experiencing stress and are not your best self, what are some patterns or habits that can show up for you?*

We are still offering scholarships for this course based on financial need for BIPOC identified individuals only. DO YOU REQUIRE A PARTIAL OR FULL SCHOLARSHIP TO BE ABLE TO ATTEND THIS PROGRAM?

Yes

SLIDING SCALE FEE*

Please pay as high on the scale as possible for you, given your financial situation. Choose the amount you would pay should you be accepted into the program.

What amount are you able to pay? You may answer “0”.*

Would you not be able to attend if you do not receive a scholarship?*

The following question is optional. If you do not answer this question, we will use your answers from the questions above to determine scholarship recipients. Please share with us your financial situation and why you are applying for a scholarship.*

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Refund / Dispute Policies

Cancellations requested up to 14 days prior to the event are eligible for a full refund minus a $75 administration fee.

Cancellations requested within 14 days of the event are not eligible for a refund.

Your payment will appear on your credit card statement as “EDU for Racial Equity”. If your payment is disputed with your credit card company – we will be passing the $15 service fee that Stripe charges us for that process to the registrant.

Our Offerings

REVOLUTIONARY LOVE & RADICAL PRAXIS:

Module one: Conflict, Social Justice & The Shadow Self