Category: News and Updates

Reports from the Inaugural session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.  Thursday January 19, 6:30PM (EST)/3:30PM (Pacific) (Click here to register)

In December 2022 the United Nations launched the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (UNPFPAD) as part of the International Decade on People of African Descent (2015-2024). The PFPAD will develop a global Declaration on the Rights of People of African Descent and define steps to improve the lived experiences of African descended people around the world through improved implementation of international commitments to end racism and all forms of discrimination. Delegate Justin Hansford calls this Forum a potential “instrument of liberation” that requires grassroots communities to “dream big” and engage with this global process to find creative and concrete ways to address ongoing harms of colonialism, genocide, and slavery. Over 900 civil society representatives attended the first PFPAD meeting in Geneva, which generated promising ideas for transformative change. Advocates who attended PFPAD will share their observations and offer ideas for how this new body can be a tool for building local and national movements to end white supremacy and advance racial justice. (Click here to register)

Panelists: Lisa Borden, Senior Policy Counsel, International Advocacy and Policy, Southern Poverty Law Center; Charkera Ervin, Howard University School of Law/ Movement Lawyering Clinic; Efia Nwangaza, SNCC Veteran, Civil/Human Rights Attorney, Director Malcolm X Center for Self Determination; Tiffany Williams Roberts, Director of Public Policy Unit, Southern Center for Human Rights; Gretchen Rohr, US-Liaison and Global Strategic Litigation Officer, Open Society Justice Initiative

Co-sponsors: U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance, Southern Center for Human Rights, Southern Poverty Law Center, Ubuntu Institute for Community Development, Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance, Global Studies Center & Center for African Studies-University of Pittsburgh

Saturday, January 21, 2023

More workshops for the annual D.C. Area Black Lives Matter at School Curriculum Fair have been announced! This online curriculum fair is open to educators nationally to prepare for the National Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action and Year of Purpose.

Educators around the nation are invited to join the annual D.C. Area Black Lives Matter at School Curriculum Fair, hosted by Teaching for Change’s D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice (DCAESJ).

Professional development credits will be available and ASL interpretation will be provided for selected sessions.

Learn More and Register

We recommend reading what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had to say about Reconstruction as part of his tribute to W. E. B. Du Bois on Feb. 23, 1968.King explains that “white historians had for a century crudely distorted the Negro’s role in the Reconstruction years. It was a conscious and deliberate manipulation of history and the stakes were high.” He describes how Du Bois set out to demolish the myths in his vital text, Black Reconstruction in America. King on Reconstruction

Recordings of our Training As Action Series sessions are up on our YouTube channel!

• Ending Gun Violence 
• Children’s Rights & Youth Action 
• Incorporating Human Rights into the Classroom
• Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights and Climate Change

>> See all recordings

All educators can be climate change leaders in their schools and communities. It is important that they have the necessary resources to teach about climate change impacts and solutions, and that they are able to support climate action with their students. Accessibility of instructional resources is fundamental to ensuring that everyone can participate in conversations about, and solutions to, climate change. We are happy to introduce two Climate Generation resources translated into Spanish to help more educators get started!

• Exploring Climate Change in our Communities: Field Activity is a short activity for both educators and students in grades 3-12.
• Explorando el Cambio Climático en nuestras Comunidades: Actividad al Aire Libre es una actividad corta para ambes les educadores y les estudiantes de grados 3-12.
• Becoming a Climate Change Educator is a toolkit primarily for educators new to the subject of climate change, although there are ideas and activities for experienced climate change educators as well.
• Cómo Convertirse en Educadore Sobre el Cambio Climático es un kit de herramientas primariamente para les educadores nueves al sujeto del cambio climático, aunque hay ideas y actividades para les educadores experimentades en cambio climático también.

Amplify Your Practice for People and the Planet (YOU)

Join Sandy Sohcot and Ellen Sebastian Change of The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program to amplify the impact of your environmental education practice.

In this workshop, you’ll consider your educational objectives and the impact your programs have on people and the planet. You will engage in conversation about the fundamental purpose of environmental education and reflect on how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights connects with your practice and environmental education overall.

This 6-session workshop over a 14-week period invites you to clarify your educational objectives, work on your challenges, and collaborate with peers.

You will design and develop action plans to move your practice forward. Participants will work in a safe and private environment as each develops and tests their action plans.

• Thursday, January 19, 2023 (10:00 – 11:30 AM, Pacific)
  • Session 1: Environmental Education & The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
• Thursday, January 26, 2023 (10:00 – 11:30 AM, Pacific)
  • Session 2: Your Practice and the UDHR
• Thursday, February 2, 2023 (10:00 – 11:30 AM, Pacific)
  • Session 3: Your Educational Objectives and Constituents
• Thursday, February 9, 2023 (10:00 – 11:30 AM, Pacific)
  • Session 4: Achieving Your Objectives – Strengths & Challenges
• Thursday, February 16, 2023 (10:00 – 11:30 AM, Pacific)
  • Session 5: Strategies, Actions & Collaborative Connections
• February 17 – April 12, 2023
  • Project Plan Development and Implementation
• Thursday, April 13, 2023 (10:00 – 11:30 AM, Pacific)
  • Session 6: Your Project Two Months Later
• April 14 – 21, 2023
  • Wrap Up

>> Learn more and register

THIRD THURSDAY HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM
Date: Thursday, January 19th, 2023
Time: 7 pm-8:15 pm (Central Time – USA)
Where: Zoom (register at link below)
Cost: FREE and open to the public

Register in advance: https://www.globalsolutionsmn.org/upcomingevents   After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Description: J. Drake Hamilton will describe the unexpected United Nations’ move forward in November 2022 on Climate Loss and Damage funding. She will describe the details that need to be set, and the next steps to further increase funding for mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, emphasizing the scale and pace of action needed.

Guest Speaker: J. Drake Hamilton

J. Drake Hamilton is Fresh Energy’s senior director of science policy. An expert in climate and energy policy at the state and national levels, her responsibilities include policy development of renewable energy solutions to global warming that will maximize economic opportunities. J. represents Fresh Energy at the UNFCCC climate summits. In November 2022 she showcased Minnesota’s nation-leading deep carbon reductions on the global stage at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Formerly she taught geography undergraduate and graduate courses at The George Washington University. J. earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Dartmouth College and the University of Minnesota in physical geography with emphasis on climatology, energy and water resources. Hamilton serves on the Advisory Board of the Irving Institute for Energy and Society at Dartmouth College. She was named by Minneapolis-Saint Paul Magazine as one of 100 Minnesotans “who make things happen.”You can find this information, as well as all of our upcoming events, on our CGS-MN website: https://www.globalsolutionsmn.org/upcomingevents

If you missed one of our past events and wish to see the recording, all are available here: https://www.globalsolutionsmn.org/pastevents

In this first self-paced, free professional development course—Youth in Front—you’ll learn the history of student-led activism and receive tools and actionable strategies for supporting student activism.

The course is divided into three units: Normalizing Student-led Activism, Legal and Practical Considerations and Preparing Ourselves and Colleagues to Support Student Activism. Each unit should take one to two weeks to complete. Once you complete the course, you’ll receive a certificate for 15 professional development hours.

The first 250 people to complete the course by February 20 will receive a free set of limited edition Youth in Front swag. Be sure to provide your shipping information when you sign up for the course to be eligible to receive the swag. 

Register for the course now—and help young people realize their power and support student activism.

Saturday, January 21, 2023

Educators around the nation are invited to join the annual D.C. Area Black Lives Matter at School Curriculum Fair, hosted by Teaching for Change’s D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice (DCAESJ). This online event is open to all educators, with the purpose to prepare the community for the National Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action and Year of Purpose.

Professional development credits will be available and ASL interpretation will be provided for selected sessions.

Learn More and Register