KFTC Annual Membership Meeting

We Are Kentuckians: Sharing Our Stories in Art, Culture and Organizing

August 25-27
General Butler State Park, Carrollton, KY

Join us at KFTC’s 2017 statewide Annual Membership Meeting to continue to evolve our organizing in this moment in Kentucky. We will explore how our identities as Kentuckians – often complicated, always with a story – inform our organizing, and can be part of making social change possible. We will develop news skills and ways of thinking around using culture and art in our organizing that takes our work to a deeper level and helps sustain us as we work together in these challenging times. 

We hope to create lots of spaces for folks to build relationships that will continue to sustain us as we meet the challenges of this work. We’re planning a comfortable meet-and-greet for Friday night. Saturday will feature a presentation and facilitated discussion with Heather McGhee, the president of the national think tank Demos, and one of the preeminent voices speaking to what this moment calls for: sharing our stories, listening, building community, and finding beauty. We'll hear from, talk with, and speak as Kentuckians holding and learning from cultural organizing. Then we’ll have the weekend to learn together with workshops focusing on resistance and advancing our issue work; share together; and create beauty as we move forward toward out vision for Kentucky. 

Come learn the latest about:

• Building a Powerful Just Transition and Climate Movement in Kentucky through Culture, Community and Action – This workshop is an opportunity to express what motivates you to work for a Just Transition to a clean energy future in Kentucky, and think together about ways to build a stronger movement in Kentucky. We'll learn about creative ways KFTC members and allies are engaging their neighbors, elected representatives and candidates about opportunities to Empower Kentucky. And we'll brainstorm ways you can take action locally to help grow political will for clean energy jobs and meaningful climate action.

• Campaign For Our Commonwealth: Fighting for Economic Justice in Kentucky – Economic justice is a core part of all of KFTC's vision. That’s why we work for tax reform that is fair, adequate and sustainable. We’re approaching a moment of urgency for this work because Governor Bevin has announced that he intends to call a special legislative session this fall to change Kentucky’s tax structure ways not aligned with our principles or vision. The playbook Gov. Bevin is working from lowers taxes on the wealthy and corporations, and asks a lot more from everyone else, even taxing groceries and medicine. Learn where the campaign is at and how you can join the fight for tax justice.

• Organizing for Good, Affordable and Accessible Health Care for All – We'll begin with understanding where we are right now in the ever-changing landscape of healthcare policy on the state and federal levels. We'll hear from people doing exciting work to engage and activate people to make quality health care affordable and accessible to all people. And we'll explore creative ways to do this work where we live.
  
  
• Resisting Organized White-Supremacy through a Culture of Support – With the resurgence of organized white supremacist and white nationalist groups surrounding the rise of Trump, people of color and progressive activists are experiencing more fear and intimidation in doing organizing work than in recent memory. In this workshop, we will share our experiences, learn about the landscape of organized white supremacist groups in Kentucky, and explore ways to do anti-racist work in our communities while building a culture of security and support.

• Immigrants' Rights: Ways to get Involved 101 – The rights of immigrants within our communities have been the center of a lot of focus lately. You may be wondering what you can do to help in this important work but are not sure where to start. During this workshop, we will learn together about creative solutions to intentional communication that builds community. Join other members as we shape a solid foundation for taking action within our own neighborhoods in support and solidarity with those directly impacted.

Workshops will also build up our skills for the challenges that we face right now, including:

• Upstanding Bystander 101: How to Stand Up to Bigotry in Everyday Situations – This workshop will features stories, examples and discussion about how to stand up to bigotry in your everyday life in ways that help deescalate a situation, help targeted people feel safe and valued, and marginalize bigotry in public settings.

• Nonviolent Direct Action: What to Do When Decision-Makers Don’t Listen – We’ll explore creative ways to use Nonviolent Direct Action to move our campaigns forward when institutional pathways aren’t working. The main course of this workshop will be hands-on learning, with side dishes of history and introductions to different strategic uses of direct action.

• From Church Basements to Auditoriums: Creating Agendas and Facilitating Meetings in 2017 – In this political moment Kentuckians are mobilizing and gathering up in larger numbers than ever before. How do you create a meeting space that is safe, welcoming and accessible to all? What do you do when twice as many people show up than you’d planned for? How do you include art and culture to create a space that's meaningful? Come learn tools and best practices for scaling up your meeting facilitation and agendas to meet the needs of the moment.

• Telling Your Story for Visionary Resistance – Personal stories are a fundamental part of culture. It's where we start when we begin to make change. This workshop will give you the tools you need, in this moment of intense political resistance, to craft and share your personal story in ways that communicate your vision for a more just Kentucky. We’ll learn how to spread these stories – from homemade videos to kitchen tables to town hall meetings – in ways that push on decision-makers and bring others into the movement to build a world that is good for all people.

• Doorstep Cultural Organizing: Building Community and Power with Deep Canvassing – Learn the skills to participate in and lead others in deep canvassing as a strategy for building grassroots power. Deep canvassing expands upon conventional canvassing methods by creating a safe space for voters to share their personal experiences in order to come to their own conclusions about an issue. Deep canvassers create a space for face to face connection, processing, and empathy – foundational elements of cultural organizing. It's an effective way to not only work across lines of difference, but to also build and shift power in communities. Join us for this workshop to learn about what deep canvassing is, what it can do, and how you can use it in your community.