EVENT: Camp Courage Spreading Empowerment in Oakland, CA May 2-3

If you're a regular reader, I don't need to tell you how big of a fan I am of Courage Campaign's Camp Courage, a two-day weekend event that trains equality activists in community organizing based on the principals that drove Sen. Barack Obama to become President Barack Obama.

I gushed about Camp Courage, Los Angeles and later wrote about how being a facilitator at Camp Courage, Fresno became more of a learning experience than a teaching experience for me. And just this last weekend, I facilitated again in San Diego.

Now Camp Courage is making its way to Oakland, CA in the Bay Area, Saturday, May 2 (8:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m.) AND Sunday, May 3 (8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.).

Camp Courage will cover basic community and political organizing skills, including:

• Finding your voice by telling your “story of self”
• Leadership development
• Principles of successful organizing
• Developing collaboration and building effective teams
• Techniques of voter persuasion
• Organizing a phonebank
• Canvassing
• Tabling
• Throwing house parties
• Online organizing
  

You may rightfully ask, "Why do I need to learn all this?"

The California Supreme Court is about to issue a ruling any day now on the validity of Proposition 8, which endangers the rights of every minority group.

If they uphold it, we will need to create an army of equality activists to support a new initiative campaign to overturn it, and you will need these skills.

If they do the right thing and throw it out, you'll still need these skills to help fight other discriminatory measures here in California and in other parts of the country.

Apply to Camp Courage, Oakland, CA. Get involved! I'll see you there!