Social Justice Camp DC

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You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benmerrion1

I really wanted to thank everyone for helping out with lunch on the day of the camp. When I volunteered to organize food, I thought that was going to be easy. Just get a caterer, get space (reserving the West End library was simple), and there you go.

Whoops.

We had to be out of the library at 2pm and I realized at the last minute that leaving the GW campus at 12:45 as stated on the schedule wasn’t going to work.  There was no way we could start serving about 100 people at 1pm and be out by that time.

Except we did.

And I really wanted to thank everyone at the camp, but things were a little nuts, so I didn’t get a chance to. But I wanted to thank you now.

How Social Justice Campers Were Awesome:

1) When I told people about our time constraints with the library,  campers embraced the idea of altering the schedule to include a lunch session.

2) When I realized that we would need people to help navigate campers through the maze that is West End, we had 6 people step up.

3) And not only did we have 2 servers come forward, but when  I stepped away from serving to keep the flow going, another person took my place.

4) When I did direct traffic – forming lines around the meat, no meat and vegan portions, people were cool with me pulling them to the right line. (At least they didn’t complain :))

5) People stepped up to unfold chairs and get more when we needed them.

Because of this, everyone had food by 1pm!

6) People were cool with only having 30 minutes to be in their session instead of the alloted 45.

7) Everyone started to leave at 1:30.

8) Many people helped out with folding up the chairs and putting them back as well as clean-up.

Because of this, we were out of the library by 1:45!

So, you all rock! We did the impossible. It just shows how much we can do when we do it together. That’s what this is all about!

Peace,

Ben (@benmerrion1)
Social Justice Camp DC Organizer

If you’ve never heard of Albus Cavus (DC-based collective of artists, educators and visionaries who work in public space), check ‘em out.

I just heard of them while reading “Legal graffiti artists create murals around Washington, D.C. as past of MuralsDC” (very interesting WAPO story) and they sound great.

Here is a video from Ablus Cavus’ youtube channel featuring “14-year-old Dana Lopez who helped paint the new Sherman Avenue mural“:

Albus Cavus: Youtube Channel – Classroom Project

For more information:

Shared Hope International

Shared Hope International’s prevention programs examine the conditions that allow women and children to be bought and sold and document the marketplaces of victimization around the world. We work to enhance awareness of modern day sexual slavery and we build international alliances to combat sex trafficking.

Courtney’s House

Courtney’s House is committed to providing a safe space and loving home environment – in a therapeutic and emotionally healing atmosphere – for domestic sex trafficked girls between the ages of 12 and 17 years. Courtney’s House is dedicated to the mission of ending domestic sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of all children. We focus our efforts on providing long-term group home and providing direct services.

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If you’re not familiar with Tina Frundt’s story or sex trafficking issues in the DC area, definitely check out these links:

Working to Shed Light on Very Dark Practices (WAPO, 10/8/09)

Ex-prostitute fights sex trafficking in D.C. (Washington Times, 7/15/09)

X RATED: DC’s Underground Sex Industry (Washingtonian, 11/5/05)

Wanted to make sure folks got a chance to watch Obama’s MLK speech from Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in DC.

Dug this MLK quote that Obama referenced A TON:

“We know that there is a great camp meeting in the promised land of freedom and justice.” -MLK

Excerpted from Vermont Avenue Baptist Church’s history page:

In 1866, seven freedmen gathered for the purpose of forming a church. Receiving the necessary certification from the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, these former slaves set themselves apart and formed the Fifth Baptist Church of Washington, DC. They called as their pastor the Reverend John Henry Brooks, a former Union army wagon driver.

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For MLK Day, the Obama’s were at @SOME_DC. SOME’s flickr photostream has some pics.

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Close your eyes, take a deep breath and let yourself be carried away by Social Justice Camp DC presenters. Hit the Present tab above for more background info or right-click here to download and play for hours of enlightened enjoyment.

We wanted to share a couple upcoming events that could help incubate the conversations we had at Social Justice Camp DC and introduce folks to some movers and shakers in DC:

Jan 27 – DC Media Makers – Tech Entrepreneur and Photographer Jen Consalvo is presenting at NPR in Chinatown. DC Media Makers is a monthly meetup for journalists, entertainers, advocates, documentarians, and tech enthusiasts. RSVP on Meetup!

Feb 20 – 21 – RootsCampDC – RootsCamp is a “dynamic participant-led event that brings organizers together to learn from each other’s successes and failures.” Sound familiar?! Rootscamp08 was very much part of the Social Justice Camp DC DNA (this is the one that really kicked off @ninjaclectic’s addiction to unconferences!). You can register here.

If you have other events you’d like us to share with folks, email us at SocJustCampDC@gmail.com or @ us at @SocJustCampDC!

Thanks to everyone for making Social Justice Camp DC an inspiring and awesome experience!

We’re so grateful that you all came out on a very busy weekend in a very busy city to celebrate MLK’s birthday and talk about how we can move social justice forward in Washington, DC.

Presenters on Friday shared a ton of great information about homelessness, AIDS prevention, Adult Literacy, Health Care Access Issues,  working with children and across faiths, social justice and the Prime Directive, and using murals to tell stories and change hearts.

Big thanks to Kom from @flygypsy and Acacia (@cacie) from Kramers Cafe @kramerscafe for helping keep the event flowing! (I think we all saw Kom moved by the passion and dedication of the presenters as the night went on!)

Ya’ll are frikkin’ awesome! We hope to see you soon!

The Board with session topics and schedule is up online! Check it out

Of course, this board is subject to change as participants see fit. The ‘Master’ board is on the 3rd floor of the GW venue.