Imagining Decolonizing and Abolitionist Futures!

Territories of the Wendat, Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee// Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Treaty Territory // Dish With One Spoon Treaty Territory
 
The organizing committee for the 2020 Abolition Convergence invites you to come dream with us! We invite each of you to join us in hopes that our relationships will advance movements and shifts that bring about the futures we dream of! So come create, connect, explore and dream with us!
 
Proposals: We will be open for proposals from September 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019 and welcome a wide range of artistic, activist, academic submissions! We also encourage folks to submit proposals that will help to build our children and youth tracks!!
 
Ideas for proposals may include but are not limited to:
    Workshops;
    Wellness spaces;
    Art, Multimedia, theatre and game-making spaces;
    Relationship building and sustaining;
    Panels
    Academic paper presentations
    Caucus meetings;
    Performances;
    Community Kitchens;
    Multi-session themes;
    Trainings/Skillshares;
    Roundtables;
    Spaces for creation and collaboration;
    Social Spaces
    And more! 
 
Our organizing committee is a collaboration of artists, activists, academics, and people with direct experience with the carceral system. Our group includes Indigenous folks, Black folks, people of colour, white folks, queer/trans* and 2-spirit folks, younger and older folks, folks who have been incarcerated and people who have worked and struggled against incarceration, detention, deportation, and settler colonialism in various ways.
 
In this light we want to encourage and make room for the participation of people/communities who face oppression or who may typically have less access to similar platforms including youth/students, Indigenous peoples, Black people, Latinx people and other racialized folks, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, Muslims, Jewish folks, Palestinian people, women, trans*/non-binary folx, people with different abilities, migrants, poor folks, sex workers, prisoners and other people who are directly affected by state violence.
 
We welcome proposals from anywhere in Canada, the United States or internationally. We recognize that lack of funds is often a barrier to participation and we will do our best to offer some subsidies for travel if a need is identified and funds allow.
 
Proposals & Registration: To register to attend or to submit a proposal, please fill out our registration form – and tell us a little bit about yourself:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1iSb4ikPzzUic190uyrWwOii5LJpD2b7rFhvv-F3-mrI/viewform?edit_requested=true
 
Cost: In an effort to make the convergence financially accessible to as many people as possible, we are proposing the following registration costs (Note: All funds are in Canadian dollars and $1 CDN = $0.75 US):
 
    Free – I am a youth, unemployed, underemployed, unfunded student, or someone who is formerly incarcerated
    $1 – $100 (sliding scale) – I am employed but receive no funding from my work or school to attend the convergence
    $100 – $200 (sliding scale) – I receive funding from my work or school to attend the convergence
    
Payments can be sent by e-transfer to: abolitiontoronto@gmail.com
 
    Twitter: @abolitionTO
    Instagram: @abolitionTO
    Facebook: @abolitionjournal
 
Questions? – Email us at abolitiontoronto@gmail.com
 
Please include a clear description of your proposed session, information as to how long it will be, whether you have any access needs, and whether you would like to conduct your session in a language other than English. We will accept proposals in text, audio or video format based on whatever is easiest for you.
 
Please let us know if you are bringing children and would like them to participate in the children’s track for the event! If you have specific accessibility needs, if you have dietary restrictions, or if you require support with accommodation and travel give us that information and we will do our best to support your attendance and participation in this convergence. We are continually in a process of trying to make all events accessible, but please let us know if there are things we’ve missed!
 
For more information on the convergence, please go here: https://abolitionjournal.org/more-information-on-convergence-2020/
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