We are excited to announce that this year’s summer intensive course will be hosted in Detroit, Michigan in partnership with the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center, from July 7 to 13. This year’s theme is All Power to the People!: Social Ecology and the Black Radical Tradition in Today’s Revolutionary Movements.
Participants—local as well as from across North America—will spend six days together studying and learning the core ideas of social ecology, popular movements for direct democracy and community power, and the practice and legacy of transformative community action in the City of Detroit. Four half-days will be spent on site tours around Detroit, while the remaining time will be spent in group talks, presentations, and discussions covering topics ranging from communal stewardship of land to the Rojava Revolution.
Participants must register in advance, as space is limited. Registration payments will be based on a sliding scale. Participants are welcome to arrange their own housing, but we will be organizing a mix of (paid) dorm housing on site and (free) solidarity housing elsewhere in Detroit. If you want us to arrange your housing, please make sure to select a housing ticket for each night you will be staying in Detroit.
If you are unable to attend in person but would still like to participate, we are also enabling (limited) Zoom participation for portions of the program. Registration for virtual participation is here.
We hope you can join us.
Schedule of events
All sessions will take place at Artist Village (17336 Lahser Rd in Detroit) unless otherwise specified.
Friday, July 7
12-2 pm – Arrival and check in
2:15-3:45 pm – Welcoming Circle
4-5:30 pm – What Is Social Ecology?, with Mason Herson-Hord
5:45-7:15 pm – Dinner
7:30-9 pm – Detroit’s History of Oppression and Resistance, with Charles Simmons
Saturday, July 8
8-9:30 am – Breakfast, optional tai chi, self-organized reflection circles
9:30-11 am – Thinking Dialectically, with Wayne Curtis, Mike Doan, and Chaia Heller
11:15-12:45 pm – Indigenous Values vs. Capitalist Values, with Roberto Mendoza and Eleanor Finley
1-2 pm – Lunch
2:15-5:30 pm – Detroit radical history tour, led by Richard Feldman and the Boggs Center
5:45-7:15 pm – Dinner
7:30-9pm – The Solidarity Economy, with Emily Kawano
Sunday, July 9
8-9:30 am – Breakfast, self-organized reflection circles
9:30-11am – Women’s Emancipation and Human Emancipation: Understanding Patriarchy, with Megan Douglass and Chaia Heller
11:15-12:45 pm – Democracy in Maroon Communities, with Modibo Kadalie
1-2 pm – Lunch
2:15-3:45 pm – What Is Capitalism?, with Emily Kawano and Peter Staudenmaier
4-5:30 pm – Decolonizing Nature, with Chaia Heller, Abundia Tristán
5:45-7:15 pm – Dinner
7:30-9pm – Building Black Food Sovereignty, with Malik Yakini
Monday, July 10
8-9:30 am – Breakfast, self-organized reflection circles
9:30-12:45 pm – Community power visits (offsite), with Birwood House, the Mama Akua House, Hush House, and the Georgia Street Collective
1-2 pm – Lunch
2:15-4:15 pm – Black Anarchist Legacies, with Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, JoNina Abron-Ervin, and Modibo Kadalie. Facilitated by William Anderson.
4:30-5:30 pm – Debriefs from community power visits and self-organized discussion
5:45-7:15 pm – Dinner
7:30-9pm – What Is Real Democracy?, with Eleanor Finley and Mason Herson-Hord
Tuesday, July 11
8-9:30 am – Breakfast, optional tai chi, self-organized reflection circles
9:30-11 am – Black Anarchist Futures, with Ashanti Alston and William Anderson
11:15-12:45 pm – Smashing Fascism, Defeating White Supremacy, with Peter Staudenmaier, Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, and JoNina Abron-Ervin.
1-2 pm – Lunch
2:15-4:15 pm – Democratic Confederalism and the Revolution in Rojava, with Berivan Omar, Arthur Pye, and Anya Briy. Facilitated by Eleanor Finley.
4:30-5:30 – Self-organized discussion
5:45-7:15 pm – Dinner
7:30-9pm – Dual Power and Revolution, with Mason Herson-Hord and Kali Akuno
Wednesday, July 12
8-9:30 am – Breakfast, self-organized reflection circles
9:30 am-12:45 pm – Urban agriculture visits (offsite), with D-Town Farm and the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Oakland Avenue Urban Farm, and Feedom Freedom Growers
1-2 pm – Lunch
2:15-3:45 pm – Zapatismo and Pluriversal Ontologies, with Linda Quiquivix
4-5:30 pm – Solarpunk Futures: A Workshop for Utopian Remembrance, with the Solarpunk Surf Club
5:45-7:15 pm – Dinner
7:30-onward – Party!
Thursday, July 13
8-9:30 am Breakfast, optional tai chi, self-organized reflection circles
9:30-11 am – Art as Resistance, with Meryem Dipdere, Solarpunk Surf Club, and Wayne Curtis
11:15-12:45 pm – Regional breakouts (small group discussions)
1-2 pm Lunch
2:15-3:45 pm – Closing circle
