Still Time to Register and Join Us at This Week’s Equity Conference!

CFA’s Equity Conference 2023, “Co-conspiring for an Equitable Future: Building the Social Justice Bridge,” will focus on anti-Blackness and anti-indigeneity in the CSU. The event is running now through Saturday.

It’s not too late to register!

“Equity Conference is one of the few conferences where I am guaranteed to learn something new, and to be pushed to think about something in a new way,” said Talitha Matlin, Equity Conference tri-chair and CSU San Marcos librarian. “It’s a week where faculty, counselors, coaches, and librarians can all gather to focus on how we can center anti-racism and social justice in the CSU and beyond; and with 29,000 of us on 23 campuses, that translates into a lot of potential change for the state! I also love that Equity Conference is a place where we can bring new folks into the work CFA does, who can become our co-conspirators as we ‘Build the Social Justice Bridge.’”

Remaining sessions include:

Thursday, 1 to 2:30 p.m., “Crutches and Spice,” Imani Barbarin describes ableism as having always been the best way to perpetuate white supremacy under the guise of “progress for the disability community”.

Thursday, 3 to 4:30 p.m., “Finding Our Way to Community Justice Strategies,” CFA Vice President of Lecturers, South, Monishia “Moe” Miller provides strategies to engage communities in reconciliation and healing, to address conflict and historical, trauma-based division.

Thursday, 5 to 6:30 p.m., “Singing Our Way to Freedom: A Film and Discussion,” Paul Espinosa chronicles the life of Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez from his humble beginnings as a farmworker in Blythe, California, to the dramatic moment when he received one of his nation’s highest musical honors at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Friday, 10 to 11:30 a.m., “Asian American Solidarity with Black and Other Communities,” we will discuss little know examples of Asian American activism and radicalism that speak to the importance of horizontal community engagements and scholar activism with facilitator Diane Fujino.

Friday, noon to 1:30 p.m., “Lunch with the Caucuses,” learn more about the leadership and work of CFA’s constituent caucuses and how you can get involved.

Friday, 2 to 3:30 p.m., “Adopting A Disability Justice Framework,” Alex Locust aspires to embody the tenets of social justice and fiercely advocates for equity in all community spaces.

Friday, 4 to 5:30 p.m., “Bystander Intervention,” Lynn Bowes-Sperry focuses on “bystander intervention” in harassment and discrimination (more recently micro- and macro-aggressions) as well as problematic behavior at work.

Saturday, 10 to 11:30 a.m., “Unions are for Everyone,” after the Inflammatory comments disparaging Black and Indigenous communities made by the head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (LACF) and three sitting Los Angeles City Council members were leaked in early October 2022, Yvonne Wheeler was the first Black woman elected president of the LACF. The discussion will center the vision for the future of labor organizing addressing equity and justice with an anti-racism and social justice lens.

Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., “I’m with the Blacks: More Than 25 Screaming,” a BLM Los Angeles panel of Black and Indigenous community organizers will share their ongoing co-liberation efforts for accountability and change.

Saturday, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., “Toward an Experimental Poetics of Radical Care & Deep Organizing,” Jason Magabo Perez, an associate professor and program director of Ethnic Studies at Cal State San Marcos and poet laureate of the city of San Diego, will talk about forming shared communities.

Saturday, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., “A Closing Reflection: CFA’s Equity Conference 2023,” CFA Equity Conference tri-chairs and Council for Racial & Social Justice co-chairs close our event with a reflection.

It’s not too late to register!