Working to End Classism, as a Workshop Organizer
I was raised working class and am currently owning class, and I recently organized a large RC workshop. It was a wonderful opportunity to grow personally and to use the class privilege of time I now have to support some very important work.
In addition to thinking about the constituency of the workshop and the topic (which was not classism), I was very interested in learning more about increasing the number and visibility of direct production workers at workshops—as one step toward the goal on ending classism adopted at the 2017 World Conference of the RC Communities.[1]
I am delighted to say that as a result of the thinking, work, and discharging we did, direct production workers ended up being twenty-five percent of the workshop. They were still underrepresented compared to their presence in the world, but their numbers were much higher than they would’ve been otherwise.
Here’s what we did and learned:
1. I studied what had worked to increase the presence and visibility of other groups underrepresented in RC, such as People of the Global Majority and young people.
2. The leader of the workshop and I talked early on about how to get a good representation of direct production workers.
3. On the application we asked, “What is your class background?” and “What is your current class status?” That helped us to be aware of which applicants were direct production workers and to prioritize outreach to more.
Most of us in RC who identify as working class were, like me, raised working class then became upwardly mobile. We have played an important role in RC; our participation and perspectives have been important. Still, I think our role in class work could more closely resemble what Native people raised white are doing with regard to Native liberation. As we discharge on the class oppression we experienced earlier in our lives and the roles we play in society now, we can become more powerful in getting RC into the hands of direct production workers.
4. I sought thinking from Dan Nickerson, the International Liberation Reference Person for Working-Class People, about what I was doing and asked him whom he’d like to see invited to the workshop.
5. During the two years before the workshop, I strengthened my relationships with direct production workers in RC. I prioritized going to working-class and raised-poor workshops, where I built my relationships with direct production workers who were in the constituency of the upcoming workshop and told them how much I hoped they would join me there.
6. I and others called, left messages for, e-mailed, and texted direct production workers to encourage them to apply and to work through any obstacles to attending. I also asked people who were close to them to reach out to them.
Sometimes I felt like I was bothering people, but in each case they told me how important it was that I had persisted in their direction..
7. Early on, when it looked like we might receive more applications than we could accept, in consultation with the leader I did the following:
a. Made constituency lists of all the applicants so we could decide who to accept
b. Accepted immediately upon receipt of their application most people from underrepresented groups, most people who had to make flight arrangements, and key leaders
c. Sent a letter to all the other applicants explaining the situation and that they were on a waiting list and we would tell them when they were accepted
d. Held open for underrepresented groups a fourth of the spots until two weeks before the workshop, to allow us to continue doing outreach
The group that required more thought and balancing was RC leaders. The number of direct production workers leading in RC is comparatively small, and we needed many leaders to attend so the work of the workshop would go back to local Communities. After careful thought, we put a couple of direct production workers on the waiting list to make room for a couple of leaders. As it worked out, some people dropped out and all the direct production workers were accepted.
8. We worked with Area Reference Persons and RC funding sources to obtain scholarships for direct production workers who needed financial assistance.
9. We were able to set up a support group made up only of direct production workers, led by a strong and experienced (in RC) direct production
worker—something rare, in my experience, outside of class workshops. The group was powerful for its members and increased their visibility at the workshop. I cry each time I think of it. It gives me hope!
Some direct production workers were in other support groups based on other constituencies, but no direct production worker was the only direct production worker in a group.
Having the data from the application was extremely useful in setting up the groups.
10. We gave direct production workers some of the more visible jobs at the workshop, such as doing registration, making announcements, and leading songs.
I am thankful for the opportunity to organize this workshop and for all that we achieved together.
I’d love to hear what others are doing to implement the goal on ending classism.
Yarmouth, Maine, USA
Reprinted from the e-mail discussion
list for RC Community members
[1] The Goal for Ending Classism:
That the members of the RC Community, in order to move toward a rational society free of exploitation, commit ourselves to do the following:
- Build connections with and learn from members of economic classes that are underrepresented in our Community yet who represent the majority of the world’s people—the sector of the working class engaged in the direct production of goods and services, and poor people.
- Get the theory and practice of RC into their hands and encourage, support, and follow their leadership.
- Face, discharge on, and challenge any distress that causes us to believe that some lives are more important than others, to seek economic advantage over one another, or to be preoccupied with irrationally seeking comfort and security.
- Discharge toward a full understanding of the class society and its inherently destructive nature and communicate this understanding to others in our own way.