IRTF initiated our annual Social Justice Teach-In (aka Liberation Lab) in 1999. This spring, in particular, we feel a great need to call together justice-minded folks who are committed to human rights, liberation, and respect and dignity for all people.
Every year for the past 25 years, this event has been an informative and inter-generational day of community building and education for high school and college students and other community members seeking ways to take positive action for social justice.
2025 Liberation Lab: Chaos or Community
SAT, MAR 22 2024, 11am–4pm
Cleveland State University College of Law
1801 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
Info and registration: tinyrurl.com/irtf25lab
The InterReligious Task Force on Central America (irtfcleveland.org) is pleased to announce that this year’s Liberation Lab (aka Social Justice Teach-In) will be held at the Cleveland State University College of Law with a day of plenaries and skill shares hosted by IRTF and CPAC (Cleveland Palestine Advocacy Community). Each year for the past 25 years, this event has been an informative and educational teach-in for northeast Ohio’s students and community members, thanks to the generosity of our event co-sponsors. (Many thanks to the organizations and individuals listed below.)
LOCATION
Cleveland State University College of Law
1801 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
SCHEDULE and PANELS
11am….check-in and welcome
11:30….Choosing Liberation over Nationalism
1:00……Embodied Sanctuary
2:30……Wisdom from the Future: Student Organizers
SKILLS TRAINING (runs simultaneously 1:00-2:15pm)
De-escalation training
This 75-minute session will train community members in how to de-escalate conflicts they face in the community and as they stand in solidarity with others. Participants will learn specific techniques to use and will practice these techniques in role plays based on real life situations. Presenter: Cleveland Mediation Center
SKILLS TRAININGS (run simultaneously 2:30-3:30)
Know Your Rights
Educating people who attend direct actions about their legal rights to protest and the limits of those rights so that they may make educated decisions about when and how to exercise those rights. Covering issues around planning a protest, preparing for a protest, and attending a protest.
Legal Observer training
National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Legal Observers (LOs) document police misconduct and First Amendment violations at protests and direct actions. LOs are not part of the demonstration. LOs observe and document interactions between law enforcement and demonstrators in anticipation of future civil or criminal litigation under the direction of NLG attorneys. NLG Legal Observers do not negotiate with law enforcement, provide legal advice, or serve as peace marshals. Though NLG Legal Observers are typically law students, legal workers, and lawyers, trainings are open to everyone—EXCEPT those working for or with government or law enforcement agencies. Legal Observer trainings are also closed to the media. Presenter: Cleveland State University College of Law NLG.
PANEL DESCRIPTIONS
Choosing Liberation over Nationalism
In our current national struggle, we seek to uproot the root of religious nationalism.
What are appropriate ways to bring our faith into our activism?
We can look to many historical examples, from the role of Liberation Theology in Latin America to Mohandas Gandhi in the liberation of India. Christians and Jews are calling for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories and the liberation of the Palestinian people.
Panelists will present historical contexts to better understand current political events. They will reflect on their own experiences.
Presenters: Akshai Singh (Hindu nationalism), Sara Fadlalla (Cleveland Palestine Advocacy Community and Cleveland Sudan Network), Tommy Airey (former evangelical Christian now committed to radical discipleship), Rev. Reegie Bunch (Senior Pastor of Fifth Christian Church), Mara Layne (Jewish Voice for Peace).
Embodied Sanctuary
What does sanctuary mean to you? How do we create a sanctuary for ourselves to stay grounded, sustained, nourished and rested as our most authentic and beautiful self? What does it mean to embody the work of liberation? How can that help us be sanctuary people for one another?
When we say: “We keep each other safe,” or “We take care of ourselves,” what does that mean? How does that become tangible?
How do we assess our risks AND continue to take brave and courageous actions? What does this mean individually and as a collective of interdependent beings?
What would it mean to rid the self of the need to dominate, “be right,” or “to win”?
How are we meeting this moment and refusing to allow each other to go uncared for in the face of these death machines?
What is our relationship to land/reparations? How does this relate to our bodily autonomy?
Presenters: Paul Edward Montgomery Ramirez (Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance), Dara Adkison (TransOhio), Suncere Shakur (Mutual Aid Disaster Relief), Tori Hamilton (immigration attorney)
Wisdom from the Future: Lessons from Student Organizers
How are today’s students making the interconnections of struggles? What organizing tactics are students using today? What new things are being brought to the movement? What concrete obstacles do they face at their institutions? What repressive experiences are they having? How are they transforming this trauma? Is there any silver lining to the repression and oppression they are experiencing? How can community residents become better allies?
Presenters: to be announced
LUNCH (included with registration fee): vegetarian and vegan
RESOURCE TABLES
FAIR TRADE SALES support collectively-owned and democratically-managed cooperatives in Latin America, providing vital income to artisan and farming families.
This event is made possible by our Co-Sponsors (list in formation):
Brian Fry (on behalf of Eyewitness Palestine)
Church of the Resurrection
Cleveland Jobs with Justice
Cleveland Owns
Cleveland Peace Action
Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance
Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus
Denver Justice & Peace Committee
Equal Exchange
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Friends of Nickie J. Antonio
Ida B. Wells Foundation
Margaret W. Wong & Associates
Michael Melampy
Northeast Ohio Sierra Club
Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood
Rachel and Peter DeGolia
Sisters of the Humility of Mary
St Dominic Church
West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church-Social Action Committee
