White People 4 Black Lives AccountabiliTEAMs
APPLICATION FOR THE 2022 PROGRAM IS NOW CLOSED.
where we stand
On January 6, 2021, we saw a white supremacist siege breach the US Capitol. Executive director of Showing Up for Racial Justice Erin Heaney called it, “part of a predictable and historic pattern of white backlash and violence in response to Black-led movement victories.” Heaney also said, “What has unfolded... underscores the need for those of us who are white to be organizing within our own communities. When we join up as part of Black-led multiracial coalitions, we contribute to winning powerful progressive victories. When we neglect the work of organizing our own, white supremacy festers and grows, escalates violence, and undermines democracy.” We saw this play out again just last week with GOP election victories in Virginia.
White People 4 Black Lives’ goal is to end white support for state violence in Los Angeles County. And we get there by making sure new White People 4 Black Lives members have a clear path to become anti-racist organizers, committed to organizing and acting daily (in public ways and in ways less visible) INCLUDING after moments of intense political and racial upheaval.
With the anniversary of the siege approaching in January 2022, the White People 4 Black Lives (WP4BL) AccountabiliTEAMs project will invite folks new to WP4BL to be part of a 3-month anti-racist organizer training. The program will move participants into the heart of our work through attending twice-monthly, 90-minute trainings on our core organizing methodology and participating in deeper exploration with their pods. The culture of this program is welcoming and transformative, with the goal of building a foundation for sustainable white anti-racist action for our participants.
The commitment is approximately 2 hours a week for 14 weeks beginning the afternoon of Sunday, January 16, 2022.
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What would you have done if you were alive during the civil rights movement?” this is your moment to find out your answer.
What is AccountabiliTEAMS?
AccountabiliTEAMs (A-TEAMs) is a welcoming, supportive, and transformative 3-month organizer development program—a great starting point if you're new to White People 4 Black Lives or have been around for a while but feel you could benefit from building a stronger foundation and deeper relationships. Priority is given to those in the Los Angeles area.
Please attend WP4BL New Member Orientation as part of your application process, if you have not yet attended. Register here.
There are two primary components, pods and trainings:
What are pods?
Every participant is placed in a pod with 4-6 peers (other newly activated members of WP4BL) and one pod leader (an existing WP4BL leader), who meet together twice a month to process learning from the trainings and deepen relationships.
Pods are a place to feel welcomed into the collective, build relationships, and nurture each other in our development as white anti-racist organizers.
How we approach leadership in WP4BL: We believe leadership isn’t hierarchical, and we work to create a leader-ful movement in which everyone has an opportunity to grow their skills. In the context of A-TEAMs, a pod leader is an active member of the collective who is there to hold space and offer support - but not to have all the answers.
What are the trainings?
There are 6 trainings over the course of A-TEAMs (2 per month), which focus on core components of being an effective, grounded, and dedicated white antiracist organizer. The 6 training topics are:
Personal Stake: Explore how white supremacy and the ripple effects of anti-Black racism have harmed you and your loved ones, and how to use that knowledge to deepen your involvement and guide your antiracist actions
Power and Organizing 101: Find your role as an antiracist organizer in building people power and sustaining movements
Disability Justice & Accessibility: Strengthen your skills to create organizing spaces that are welcoming and accessible, and deepen your political analysis of interlocking systems of oppression (white supremacy, capitalism, and ableism)
Restorative Justice: Dive deep on how restorative culture practices help us create sustainable movements and engage in skill-building so we can create and sustain the world we dream of - without prisons and police
Abolition: Begin to practice imagination as a core organizing skill and explore what we are fighting for when we fight for abolition
Relational Organizing: Understand why relationships are a foundation of movement building and the basics of leading a 1:1 organizing conversation
2022 Program Dates
Large Group Trainings will be held every other week in the evenings, on the same day of the week. There will be one orientation, six trainings, and one closing session. The session dates are as follows:
Sunday, January 16, 2022, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT
Sunday, January 23, 2022, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT
Sunday, February 6, 2022, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT
Sunday, February 20, 2022, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT
Sunday, March 6, 2022, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT
Sunday, March 20, 2022, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT
Sunday, April 3, 2022, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT
Sunday, April 10, 2022, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT
Pod Meetings will be determined per group availability.
Who should apply to A-Teams?
If you’re...
Excited to commit to 3 months of deepening your identity as a white antiracist organizer (and understanding more deeply what that means!)
Can attend at least 4 of the 6 large group trainings LIVE online via Zoom (trainings are recorded for later watching, if necessary)
Will watch missed large group trainings online before discussion with your small group pod
Will attend meetings with your small group pod twice a month
Ready to commit to relationship-building with a core group
Wanting to get more involved in WP4BL’s work
...then AccountabiliTEAMs is for you!
Note: All participants are asked to attend WP4BL New Member Orientation prior to participation in the program. If you have not attended WP4BL New Member Orientation, please do so by the end of the year. For orientation dates and to register, visit this link.
APPLICATION FOR THE 2022 PROGRAM IS CLOSED.
Accessibility
A-TEAMs has been designed to be grounded in our organizational accessibility principles and commitment to disability justice, with particular attention paid to disability and class accessibility (e.g. recording all trainings, closed captions on trainings, pod meetings at a variety of times). If you have questions or requests about accessibility, please reach out to us via email at whitepeople4blacklives@gmail.com, we would love to talk it through with you.
Additionally, we know that needs may shift or change! To be as responsive as possible, a designated WP4BL leader will be available to discuss accessibility needs that may arise throughout the program. Their information will be shared with participants for use during the duration of A-Teams - both during live training sessions and in between meetings.
Quotes from previous participants
What was the best part of A-TEAMs?
“The opportunity to build relationships and a deeper understanding of the role of white folks in the movement for black lives. I have never felt more activated by information and other white anti-racist leaders.”
“I think the whole program was incredible...I think gaining the relationships in my pod was the best part and something I definitely am looking for in WP4BL - to have like-minded people to talk through ideas and problems with, be accountable to, do actions with, and not feel so alone in this work.”
If you have questions…
If you would like to speak with someone more about the program, email the organizing team at whitepeople4blacklives@gmail.com.