Facing Race: A National Conference in St. Louis, MO — November 20-22, 2024

LeeAnn Hall

Executive Director | Alliance for a Just Society

LeeAnn Hall has been a leader of social and racial justice movements for more than thirty-five years. She was a co-founder of People’s Action and is treasurer of the board of Race Forward. As Director for Idaho Community Action Network, she led the successful campaign to cover farmworkers by Idaho’s minimum wage laws for the first time. LeeAnn was the recipient of the prestigious Leadership for a Changing World Award from the Ford Foundation and the Prime Movers Award. She lives in Seattle, Washington.


 


Presentations from Facing Race 2022

Building a Bigger We: The Multiracial Alliances Needed to Win

The ability to defeat racist policies and candidates at the ballot box in most states requires building broad multiracial electoral coalitions. This is no easy task. What does it take to build a “Bigger We” than we currently have in our organizations and movements? What kind of demands are required? How do we change the way we work to build lasting alliances to build power and challenge the racist threat and challenges to democracy? What can be learned from the Race-Class Narrative (RCN) and other approaches to speaking beyond the choir? Join us for a panel discussion of grassroots organizers doing the hard work on the ground and national leaders reflecting on the challenge we face.


 

Moderator(s): LeeAnn Hall Speakers: Erin Heaney, Fernando Mejia, Carrie Santoro, Anika Fassia

Presentations from Facing Race 2022

Democracy Is Under Attack. What Do We Do?: An Interactive Workshop

The “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA in 2017. The rightwing assault on the U.S. capital on January 6, 2020. These are just three recent examples of how the extreme right has used violent confrontation to try to shift policy and public narrative. Political violence large and small is having an increased presence in our lives. Based on work done together with the Social and Economic Justice Leaders Project, Alliance for a Just Society has created an interactive scenario planning workshop session to help groups think about how to respond (and not respond) to right-wing provocations.


 

Speakers: LeeAnn Hall, Libero Della Piana

Racing the Election: Reflections on the Midterms and the Direction Forward

The midterm election will be in our rearview mirror at Facing Race. There will be little time to be depressed or jubilant in the wake of the recent election. Join our esteemed panel of organizers, strategists, and movement thinkers to analyze the midterm elections. From Arizona to Appalachia, what was the impact of grassroots organizing and political power in communities of color? What are the good, the bad, and the ugly realities of the election results? How did racism and racial justice impact the outcome? and how do we plot a course for the post-election period given the challenging course ahead?


 

Moderator(s): Libero Della Piana Speakers: Rinku Sen, Judith Le Blanc, Alex Gomez, LeeAnn Hall

Presentations from Facing Race 2020

Strategic campaigns — advancing racial Justice

Racial justice strives for full liberation. How to get there from here is the question. This workshop will begin with a framework for evaluating and creating policy demands that advance racial justice. Participants will work together to assess how to build short-term
goals that build leadership and impact the lives of our members while marching down the path toward liberation.

Speakers: Libero Della Piana, LeeAnn Hall, Judith Le Blanc, Rinku Sen, Francis Calpotura

Political Education that Advances Racial Justice

A critical role that community organizations play is to develop grassroots leaders and their capacity for racial justice analysis. This requires taking the time and space to examine the roots of racism in our society and to understand how it operates today. This
session will feature a political education module aimed at deepening an understanding of the formation and nature of systemic racism using the history of 17th Century Virginia. We will then discuss how this curriculum was used by community organizations in
practice.

Speakers: Libero Della Piana, LeeAnn Hall, Ebony Guy, Meghan McNamara

Racial Justice Approaches to Community Organizing

This workshop will examine racial justice approaches to organizing and will engage participants through presentations and small group work. We will present the main framework of organizing and racial justice and examine the history of fo racial justice organizing.
We will discuss what makes organizing a unique and important approach to social change rooted in a theory of change based on an analysis of power.

Speakers: LeeAnn Hall, Libero Della Piana, Jodi Risper, Fernando Mejia, Brandon Sturdivant

Presentations from Facing Race 2014

Opportunities under Obamacare to Tackle Racial Disparities in Health: bringing the fight for access and care to your home state.

All things are not equal when it comes to health in the United States, where people of color live sicker and die younger than their white counterparts. Fortunately, the passage of national health reform has created numerous opportunities for addressing these disparities and improving the chances for everyone to live healthy lives.

Speakers: LeeAnn Hall, Jill Reese