Groningen Anti-Racism Week – 15.03.2022 – 22.03.2022

Last year the Groningen Feminist Network organized our first ever Anti-Racism Week, along with other activists and organizations who are passionate and dedicated to abolishing white supremacy. This year we are back with our second annual Groningen Anti-Racism Week!

Why is this necessary?
Black-, Indigenous-, and People of Colour (BIPOC) continue to be systemically oppressed, exploited, and killed across the globe.
In the Netherlands, a few ways in which this is evident is from both lived experiences and research which have proven that BIPOC have less access to housing and job security, are more likely to be targeted and abused by the police, and face discrimination in schools, universities, hospitals, job markets, and so forth. Racist, right-wing political parties keep gaining more and more seats and power in the Dutch parliament, pushing for increased police funding and immunity, refusing to give proper asylum to refugees from the Global South, and completely rejecting the existence of institutional racism in the Netherlands. All while Western media also continues to do its part in simultaneously normalizing and disregarding BIPOC death and suffering.

Many people struggle to figure out what their role could and should be in the fight to abolish white supremacist structures, while also remaining confused and uneducated as to what the true lived experiences of BIPOC communities in this country are. And how in our racialized society, every aspect of one’s life is affected by race.

The Groningen Anti-Racism Week is an opportunity to inform yourself about the current situation in the Netherlands and Groningen, discuss and get to know other people, find out about local initiatives and organizations you can support, and also figure out how you yourself can do better in challenging your biases and practicing active anti-racism. There is also space during this week for BIPOC to come together, and engage in collective healing practices.

SCHEDULE

The following is an overview of all the events taking place during the Groningen Anti-Racism Week. Here you will find the date, topic, time, location, and the organizer(s) or speaker(s). In-depth descriptions of each individual event, along with sign-up links (you must RSVP to attend in-person!), and detailed accessibility information for each location will be shared soon.

• 15.03 – Tuesday – 19:00 to 21:00 – Groningen Anti-Racism Week Opening: An Introduction to Intersectionality – Mallika Sille & Momo Byass – Kraaienest
  • Link to event: https://fb.me/e/2tdSBN4Y8
• 16.03 – Wednesday – 19:00 to 21:00 – An intergenerational approach to resistance: lessons learned from ASHANTI – Pravini Baboeram & Sitla Bonoo – Online Event
  • Link to event: https://fb.me/e/3folIqp2z
• 17.03 – Thursday – 19:00 to 22:00 – Screening and Discussion: Naila and the Uprising – Internationale Socialisten Groningen – University College Groningen
  • Link to event: https://fb.me/e/1dSfzMzZJ
• 19.03 – Saturday – 14:00 – Group travel to the national demonstration “ Samen Tegen Racisme & Discriminatie” – Comite 21 Maart – Dam Square, Amsterdam
  • If you are interested, reach out via email, Instagram or Facebook.
• 20.03 – Sunday – 15:00 to 17:30 – Breathwork & Intuitive Arts for Trauma Healing (BIPOC Event) – Jordanka Waiyaki from Facing Love – Metaallaan 255, 9743 PK (Port Integral)
  • Link to the event: https://fb.me/e/2fXoP3O2c
• 21.03 – Monday – 18:30 to 21:30 – Organizing Against Climate Racism – Chihiro Geuzebroek – Location To Be Determined
  • Link to the event: https://fb.me/e/1EKCdG7UI-22.03 – Tuesday – 19:00 – 20:30 – Sustainable Anti-Racism – SCDAI & GFN – Online Event

COVID-19 REGULATIONS

Despite the removal of many Covid-19 regulations by the Dutch government, we acknowledge that the pandemic is not over and it would be highly irresponsible to host in-person events without taking proper measures. Because of this, we will continue to enforce various regulations during the Anti-Racism Week in order to minimize the risk of speakers and attendees catching or spreading Covid. You will also be able to follow most of the events online.

These regulations include the following:

– Depending on the size of the location, we will determine a maximum number of people who can attend in-person. This is to ensure that there is still enough space for everyone to keep a 1.5 meter distance. We will share a link for each event in order for you to sign up in advance and secure your place. Once the maximum number of attendees has been reached, there is no more opportunity to sign up. But it is still possible to follow the event online.

– We ask all attendees to wear a face mask during events. Preferably not one made of cloth. We will also have KN95 face masks available at the location. It is possible to remove your face mask if you are eating or drinking. It is also possible to remove your face mask when asking a question or making a remark. Throughout the entire event we strongly encourage everyone to keep the 1.5 meter distance.

– If possible we will be regularly ventilating the space as this has shown to also limit the transmission of Covid-19.

– We will have hand sanitizer available at the location, and ask you to use this before eating any food we might have at the events.

– In the case you have symptoms of Covid (whether or not you have been vaccinated), we kindly ask you to please follow the event online instead of attending in-person.

GENERAL ACCESSIBILITY INFO

In Person: Accessibility information regarding each of the locations for the in-person events will be shared a bit closer to the event dates, once the locations are confirmed.

Online: We are ensuring that in-person events are easy to follow in real-time via Google Meet. We will be using a microphone and camera to capture speakers, and sharing any powerpoints on the Google Meet platform as well, in order to have a proper view of the educational content shared/created by speakers. We will have a designated person to be in charge of the Google Meet, in order to be certain that things are working properly throughout the entire event. You may also pose any questions you want to ask during Q&A sessions or discussions in the chat, and we will make sure your question gets asked to the speaker(s). We do not have the ability to hire a sign language interpreter. The Google Meet platform has the option to turn on automated captions, which have an estimated accuracy of 70 to 75 percent.

The events which we are not able to host online include:

17.03 – Thursday – 19:00 to 22:00 – Screening and Discussion: Naila and the Uprising – Internationale Socialisten Groningen

20.03 – Sunday – 15:00 to 17:30 – Breathwork & Intuitive Arts for Trauma Healing (BIPOC Event) – Jordanka Waiyaki from Facing Love

• Moving Towards Sustainable Anti-Racism – March 22nd
• Organizing against Climate Racism – March 21st
• Breathwork and Creative Arts for Trauma Healing (BIPOC Event) – March 20th
• ISG Movie Night: Naila and the Uprising – March 17th
• An Intergenerational Approach to Resistance – Lessons Learned from Ashanti
• Groningen Anti-Racism Week Opening – March 15th
• Groningen Anti-Racism Week – 15.03.2022 – 22.03.2022