CFA Members Attend the Annual Equity Conference

The annual Equity Conference – a project of the Council for Racial and Social Justice – is a celebration of CFA’s shift to becoming an anti-racism and social justice (ARSJ) union. CFA President Charles Toombs greeted attendees and introduced them to the “amazing week we are going to have” and a week of “opportunities to center the marvelous work we want to do.”

Following a tumultuous and historic year of strikes across the nation and global unrest with local impact, the Equity Conference, which took place March 13-16, focused on solidarity and healing through connectedness and collaboration. In recognizing that racism and white supremacy persist at the CSU and often in our campuses and departments, speakers spoke to the historical origins of whiteness and white supremacy and how it persists to this day.

Best-selling author of The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson discussed modern-day caste protocols built on the structure of an unspoken system of human ranking. In combating these systems of oppressions, Wilkerson argued that “we don’t need allies. We need stakeholders.” 

The demanding nature of these conversations was balanced with speakers that focused on the powerful role of the arts in our journey to co-liberation. Brandon Kazen-Maddox led an interactive session on radical empathy and inclusion. Kazen-Maddox  collaborates with and promotes Deaf artists who share a passion for bringing the artistry of ASL Dance Theater to the stage, screen, and beyond.

 Attendees also had the opportunity to benefit from yoga and mindfulness workshops. Artist and wellness consultant June “Jumakae” Kaewsit implored participants to not just “focus on selfcare, but on why it’s needed in the first place.”

Representatives from the Ya Basta Center shared with participants their fight to amend state law so that sexual violence prevention trainings are an in-person peer educator consciousness-raising activities. Their advocacy culminated in the Shero Week of Action when over 50 janitors – dressed up as Wonder Woman – marched to the Capitol and urged the governor to sign Assembly Bill 547. This bill, also known as the Janitor Survivor Empowerment Act, was ultimately signed into law in 2019.

On Saturday, Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr. reminded conference goers that we must “struggle in solidarity in the pursuit of good” and that freedom is not an end but rather an everyday practice. To have the sort of world we want, “we have to cultivate capacity to be still and reflective.”

Equity Conference organizers will post session videos in the coming weeks. They will be made available here. We will have a more expansive summary on the Equity Conference in next week’s Headlines.