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 Martin Luther King Conference

Martin Luther King Jr., Human Rights Conference
Saturday, January 15, 2005
8:30am - 4pm
Sehome High School
Registration begins onsite at 8:30 AM. No advance registration
Tools for Change: Beyond Education to Advocacy

keynote speakers
Reiko Callner, Washington State Human Rights Commission
Louise Kent, Me-to-We advocacy group

Following these speakers, a series of informational and community-building workshops will be held between 9:00 and 4:00. The workshops will be organized into morning and afternoon sessions with a midday break.
Highlights include:

· Improvising Change: Students Confronting and Challenging School Bullying and Violence
· Rise up & Educate!: ESC 101 (WWU Ethnic Student Center)
· Educate to Advocate: The ABC’s of the ESC
· Brown Pride: Testimonials and Advocacy Plans for Allies and People of Color in the LGBTQ Community
· Conscientous Consumerism: Re-defining Citizenship in a Consumer Society
· Media Literacy: Finding, Promoting and Creating Alternative Sources of Information
· Me-to-We Guest Workshop: Inspiring Young People to Improve their Lives by Helping Others
· Power of Hope: Empowering Youth Through Arts-centered Multicultural and Intergenerational Learning Programs

Teachers attending this year’s conference will be eligible to receive clock hours for their participation.

Lunch will be available for purchase on site, provided by several local eateries.

Please see conference schedule and workshop sessions listed below

Conference location:
Sehome High School
near Western Washington University
2700 Bill McDonald Parkway
Bellingham, WA

Conference is Free of Charge for everyone.
Free parking.
Sign Language Interpereters and free Childcare: Please let us know by January 12th by contacting our office at 733-2233 or whrtf@whrtf.org.

Following the WHRTF MLK Conference
An evening session hosted by Western Washington University’s Ethnic Student Center
“Affirming Identity, Building Community and Cultivating Leadership.”

In addition, the ESC is holding their 14th annual MLK Jr. Celebration K-12 Art and Creative Writing Contest. The contest is open to all students of high school age or younger, and can be entered by calling 650-7613, or emailing olsena4@cc.wwu.

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CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

8:30 am - Registration
location: Cafeteria Lobby
CHILDCARE: Portable

9:00 – 9:05 Introduction & Welcome, Shannon & Co-Chair WHRTF
LOCATION: stage half of Cafeteria “B”

9:05 – 9:50 Keynote Speaker Reiko Callner
Introduced by Damani
LOCATION: stage half of Cafeteria “B”

Reiko Callner Bio

Commissioner Callner was appointed in 2002 by Governor Locke to the State Human Rights Commission. She is an attorney, the senior ethics investigator for the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. She was a prosecutor for ten years and also represented CPS. Her prosecution emphasized domestic violence and hate crimes. She wrote the City of Olympia’s hate crimes ordinance, prepared a domestic violence program for Dept. of Ecology, workplace violence programs for various agencies, and diversity programs for law enforcement agencies. She is a long-time civil rights activist, and received the YWCA’s Woman of Achievement Award for Social Justice in 2000.

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AM WORKSHOPS SESSION I

10:00 – 11:30 Media Literacy: Room 106-107
Coordinators: Shabnam and Andy
Panelists: WWU Communication Professor
· Media Literacy
The media plays a strong role in educating the public about issues locally, nationally and abroad as well as being of great entertainment value. In our society, media is part of how we form our identities and how we relate to other people. The way media portrays gender, class and racial issues must be viewed with a critical eye, however it’s unfortunate that most people absorb media at face value. Education is the key to deconstructing the myths about media and allowing people to become active citizens, not just consumers. Mainstream media is the norm, but this workshop wants to give participants the tools to find alternative sources of information and advocate independent media.

10:00 – 11:30 Improvising Change: Room 108
Coordinator: Shannon Carey
Panelists: Sehome Students
· Improvising Change: Students confronting and challenging school bullying and violence:
High school students working with Jonathan Berry and “Will Act For Change” have had intensive training in confronting and challenging bullying as allies in schools and communities. Using dramatic improvisational role-plays, these student actors and leaders present issues of violence to the audience in an interactive and provocative format.

10:00 – 11:30 Rise up & Educate!: Room 101
Coordinator: Stephany Haselrigg
Panelists: WWU Ethnic Student Center
· Rise up & Educate!: ESC 101
Western Washington University’s Ethnic Student Center’s first workshop will highlight the history of student activism that propelled the center into existence and continues today. The presentation will be followed by a student panel to provide a first-person/student account of what it truly means to be involved in the center, how it supports students, how they in-turn support the center, and how the center supports the campus and greater WWU community.

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SPECIAL 2 HOUR AM WORKSHOP SESSION
10:00 – 12:00 Power of Hope: Library
Coordinator: Malena
Panelist: Power of Hope
· Power of Hope
"Power of Hope” is an organization that works to empower youth through arts-centered multicultural and intergenerational learning programs, will lead an intergenerational workshop. This will be an interactive workshop where participants will participate in a community-building workshop that encompasses writing, music, and theatre. The workshop will conclude with a performance piece.
25 person limit

10:00-12:00 Brown Pride: Room 104
Coordinator: Christy Valle
Panelist: Brown Pride
· People of color within the LGBTQ Community
Queer people of color have historically bee and presently are marginalized within greater society. The issues faced by the lesbian gay bisexual transgender and questioning people of color have been overlooked. This two-part workshop will share the testimonials from a panel consisting of people of various genders, ethnic, and sexual orientations. The issues of gender, heterosexual, and ethnic privilege will be addressed through an interactive session.

12:45 - 1 Hour Lunch
Lunch break: India Grill and Thai House Cafeteria “A”

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1:00-1:50 Keynote speaker Louise Kent
LOCATION: Stage half of Cafeteria “B”

Louise Kent Bio

“Leaders Today” is pleased to launch its most exciting speaking tour and leadership program to date, designed to inspire and engage students to change their lives by changing the world. The “Me to We” project and tour motivates young people to move from the “me generation” of apathy and self-focus to the “we generation” of helping others, being civically engaged and volunteering on a local, national and even international level. Louise Kent is one of “Leaders Today” and “Free the Children’s” expert speakers. As she leads the Me to We tour across Canada and the United States she inspires and challenges young people to become socially and civically involved.

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PM WORKSHOPS SESSION II

2:00 – 3:30 Conscientious Consumerism Little Theatre
Coordinator: Jeffrey, Will
Panelists: Gleaners, Sustainable Connections
· Conscientious Consumerism: Re-defining citizenship in a consumer society
A workshop surrounding our power to shape and create community as consumers, will explore building local sustainable communities: How and why should we do this? What are the rewards and benefits? Local businesses and organizations that support socially responsible consumption will participate in a panel, with the goal that attendees will:
o Move towards a shift in thinking
o Consider the power of consumption choices
o Go away with concrete ideas on what one can do to promote change

2:00 – 3:30 Improvising Change - Room 108
Coordinator: Shannon
Panelists: Sehome Students
“Tools for Change: Beyond Education to Advocacy”
Whatcom County Human Rights Task Force – Education Committee

2:00 – 4:00 Me to We: Leadership Training Seminar - Room 106-107
Coordinator: Kari Vanderbilt
Panelists: Louise Kent
· Me to We: Leadership training seminar:
Presented by Louise Kent from the “Me To We” Project tour, this leadership-training seminar provides promising leaders with the opportunity to receive leadership skill training. This training experience will inspire, provide concrete action plans, and ensure greater sustainability and leadership programming throughout your school or community.

2:00 –3:30 Educate to Advocate - Room 101
Coordinators: Stephany Hazelrigg
Panelists: Phirum Sem, Marcela Tomlin
· From Educate to Advocate: The ABC’s of the ESC
The ESC’s second workshop will focus on the ever-important shift from education to advocacy that occurs on a daily basis within and around the ESC. The theme of, ABC’s: Affirming Identity, Building Community, & Cultivating Leadership will be communicated through a variety of interactive activities, dialogue, and supplemental reading materials. The workshop concludes with a goal setting exercise.

4:00 – 4:30 Closing, Ranking Member of the Education Committee
LOCATION: Stage half of Cafeteria “B”

4:30- 5:00 Clean up
Volunteers coordinated by Shannon = All locations

6:00-9:00 MLK Creative Celebration, Ethnic Student Center Cafeteria

CONFERENCE IS FREE AND OPEN TO ALL

Sponsors:
•Woodring College
• Whatcom Human Rights Task Force
• Bellingham Public Schools
•Northwest Indian College
• Copy Source
•Moka Joe's
• B.E.A.

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For information about previous conferences
please view: MLK 2001, MLK 2002. MLK 2003