School Intro | When | Where | Goals | Who is Invited? | How Much Does it Cost?
Introduction
Solidarity is fast approaching its 20th anniversary, and in many parts of the group there is renewed energy and attention to building our organization. 
While much of this new activity has been initiated and led by younger members, we have created very few opportunities for this new generation of Solidarity activists to reflect and strategize collectively.
Among the questions we face as a newer generation of Solidarity activists:
- How to make sense of the world we are living in?
- What are the lessons we draw from the revolutionaries who came before us?
- How do we put our feminist and anti-racist politics into practice?
- What sort of organization does Solidarity need to be in order to support our development as activists and revolutionaries?
As a response to this need for self-activity, reflection and collective action, the 2005 Solidarity Summer School is being organized by and for younger Solidarity members. The goal is to create space within the organization where we can fill the gaps in our existing knowledge of history and theory; wrestle with the challenges that we face locally, nationally and globally; and self-consciously reflect on the sort of organization we want to build and the shared politics around which we want to build our organization.
Please plan on attending, and being a part of this exciting effort to build on our best traditions and chart our collective future.
WHEN: July 22nd-27th, 2005
WHERE: Center for Third World Organizing, Oakland CA
(check out the CTWO website)
School Goals:
- Expand our knowledge and understanding of several issues, including Marxist theory; history of socialist organization in the U.S. and elsewhere; history of anti-racist struggle in the U.S.; transitional politics; etc.
- Work towards creating a common understanding, shared history, and collective vocabulary for our generation inside Solidarity.
- Draw as much as possible on the knowledge and creativity of summer school participants for our facilitators, workshop presenters, cooks, and entertainers.
- Create space for participants to reflect on and discuss Solidarity as an organization, and to think collectively about what type of organization our generation would like to build.
- Spend time getting to know one another and participating in common activity.
- Make room during the week for personal time, and for folks to self-organize study groups, cultural outings or other collective activities.
- Have fun!
Who is Invited?
The school is being built by and for younger Solidarity members. Our working interpretation of this has been comrades under forty years old (although that is not a hard and fast rule). Of this group, we are prioritizing folks who have been in the organization at least a year, although newer members are also welcome to attend.
How Much Does it Cost?
We are holding our summer school at the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO) in Oakland, CA. This is a fantastic facilty, and a great chance for us to spend time together grappling with the big questions we face as revolutionaries and as activists. However, in order to get this great space, and make sure that we don’t lose money on the event, we have set a fairly high registration fee of $250.
For those with limited means, some financial assistance will be available. Our priority with funding is to maximize the attendance of comrades of color, women, queer, and transgendered comrades. We are also actively fundraising from branches around the country, so please don’t hesitate to let us know if you need financial assistance.
For our Bay Area comrades who are not planning on staying at CTWO, we’re asking you to pay the same registration fee as folks from out of town. Ths is to help cross-subsidize comrades from out of town who need to pay for travel to Oakland.