January 2023 Newsletter

In This Issue:


From the Director

Six years is both long and not long.  Not long because years do fly by (especially as one ages!).   And long because look at the difference between a newborn and a six-year-old!   Oh my goodness.

The last six years have been both long and not long for the Sojourner Truth School for Social Change Leadership.   We are six years old in January and, oh my heavens, how we have grown.   Begun in the wake of Trump taking office and born out of despair about what would (inevitably) lie ahead, I had the idea for the Truth School on a 3-day train trip home from Austin, TX to New England.   Desperate to do, create, work on, initiate SOMETHING as I envisioned the pain and suffering that would occur under Trump’s leadership, I realized that a movement-building School—a FREE movement-building School—might be needed, useful, and stem the tide of sorrow and feelings of hopelessness so many activists were experiencing.

Numbers are boring but here are a few…

Since 2017, the Truth School has offered well over 400 classes and trained well over 4000 people.   Prior to the pandemic, we held our classes in the Connecticut River Valley in the cities and towns of Greenfield, Northampton, Easthampton, Holyoke, and Springfield, MA.   We have now pivoted to Zoom, and have had class participants from 33 states and 16 countries!   We have well over 600 individual donors, much support from foundations, and have, since 2017, raised over a half a million dollars.   We have a wonderful board, a small, hardworking staff and have, in the last six years, hired 113 white trainers and 127 trainers of color.

We are successful by any measure, and still scrappy.  We succeed and also misstep, we recalibrate and make changes, we pride ourselves on being responsive and supple, and we are making a difference—one remarkable class at a time.

One of the things I have enjoyed so much over the last six years is reading the evaluation forms completed by YOU ALL after you take a TS class.   Wow!  The praise for our remarkable trainers, the gratitude for the classes, the appreciation that all of our classes are free, and the descriptions of how the class material will influence YOUR WORK for change move me and make all the hard work of running the School worthwhile.

The Truth School is thriving.  Thank you for being part of the extended family.   Here’s to six more years.  Wait, wait!  Six years is both long and not long.  How about, here’s to 60 more years?  (Am I being too ambitious?!  Forgive me, and ever onward!)

With warmest New Year’s wishes and ongoing appreciation for your work for change,

Andrea


Donate to the Truth School


The Truth School wishes you a Happy New Year 2023

"I believe telling our stories, first to ourselves then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act. It is an act that can be met with hostility, exclusion, and violence. It can also lead to love, understanding, transcendence, and community" --Janet Mock

And Still We Rise
Women of Color Leadership Forum
Starting in January!

 

And Still We Rise 6-Month Leadership Forum for Women of Color Prepare to be inspired, renewed, fortified, and transformed! Third Saturday of each month - January to June 2023 10 am to 1 pm Starting January 21, 2023 register at www.truthschool.org


JANUARY/FEBRUARY CLASSES

 

Below is a list of January and February classes. Complete information and registration links for all of our classes will be coming soon. All classes for our spring semester will be on Zoom.  All class times are Eastern Standard Time.

If you register for a class but can’t make it, please let us know at registration@truthschool.org. Accurate information about class size is important for trainers to know for preparation and planning purposes.
Thank you for this courtesy.

 

And Still We Rise
Amihan Matias
Saturdays, January 21, 2023 to June 17, 2023, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
January 21, February 18, March 18, April 15, May 20, June 17

Dream a New Dream: Live a New Story
Amber Chand
This is a series class; participants are expected to attend both sessions.
Saturday, February 4, 2023, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM and
Saturday, February 11, 2023, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Being the Change You Wish to See
Sarah Hickman and Tiffany McGee-Hickman
This is a series class. Participants are expected to attend both sessions.
Thursday, February 9, 2023, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM and
Thursday, March 9, 2023, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Walk The Talk: A Workshop for Men
Natalia Muñoz
Thursday, February 23, 2023, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

Race, Class, and Gender: A Cross-Generational, Frank, and
Free-Wheeling Discussion!

Olivia Ilano Davis, Thulani Davis, Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, and Safiyah Bey
Saturday, February 25, 2023, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

Repercussions of Revolution
Keamo Mokone
Tuesday, February 28, 2023, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM


FEATURING OUR TRAINERS:
Benita Jackson

 

Benita Jackson is a Professor of Psychology at Smith College, Director of the Society, Psychology, and Health Laboratory, and a Trained Facilitator in the Daring to Rest methodology. She teaches “Resting to Rise: A Daring to Rest Community Nap” for the Truth School.

 

Benita Jackson – In her words…

I’m an active college professor who teaches and researches on how society gets under the skin. I also support women to find their life’s purpose.

And once becoming a mama of twins, one with complex special and medical needs, coupled with a busy professional life, I felt exhaustion like none I’d ever imagined.

I could barely get a moment to myself that wasn’t in the wee hours of the night. How could I—of all people—find energy to help other people play bigger in the world?

Through years of trial and error, I finally figured out that bone-crushing fatigue isn’t something I “just had to live with.”

Re-learning how to rest deeply was transformative.

In addition to my years of academic schooling and social justice community building, I was moved to teach Daring to Rest™ so I could share the gift of this powerful experiential method. A critical health psychology researcher and health coach by training and passion, I also instruct a range of practical tools for bringing greater flexibility into one’s system, including breathwork, bioenergetics, emotion metabolism, and mindset shifting.

For decades, I’ve coached professional women to step into their life purpose as world changers.


"Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity." --Pema Chodron

WHAT PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING

 

"I learned about the history of solstice as a high holiday for many indigenous cultures, which will definitely stay with me and become a part of my own rituals around passing seasons and connections to the earth. I also learned and deepened understanding of indigenous wisdom around how to be in the world in a way that honors and respects all sentient beings, including ourselves. I will apply these frameworks to my own life and work." --Participant, Circle Practice to Mark the Winter Solstice

"Jade did an excellent job. Skillful facilitation, plus she shared stories about her own family and life. Deeply deeply moving. I learned so much. It was an outstanding class." --Participant, From Here to Equality: Exploring the Case for Reparations


"The most important thing to remember is this: to be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become." -- W. E. B. Du Bois


Daily Hampshire Gazette

Gazette columnist Andrea Ayvazian: The miracle of the human body

I have noticed that TV news anchors and radio hosts now often say “be warned” before particularly sensitive material is shared. They say something like “the following report contains…” and offer an alert. This column contains references to body parts…

 



THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT Beveridge Family Fund Bud Ackerman Fund Hornor Skinn Charitable Fund Markam Nathan Fund TJX Foundation Women's Fund of Western MA Anonymous Family Foundation


 The Sojourner Truth School for Social Change Leadership

We do one thing. Well.
We teach movement-building skills.
Class after class, week after week, month after month.
We prepare social change leaders to win movement struggles.


Join us.

 

Donate to the Truth School

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