Welcome to the information page about the Solidarity 2011 Cadre School. Please check back in the coming weeks as this page will be updated with the schedule, readings, and other information.
About the Cadre School
In August 2005, Solidarity organized its first cadre school in advance of the organization’s 20th anniversary. The school, held at the Center for Third World Organizing in Oakland provided an opportunity for younger members (at that time, defined as under 40) who had joined in the 1990s and 2000s to share political education and a create a more collective political vision for the group. The website for that cadre school is online here and includes readings and a schedule.
Since that time, many newer and younger Solidarity members have joined. We’ve been activists in the labor, student, antiwar, immigrants rights and other movements. But many of us have less connection to other members and to Solidarity as a national organization than we’d like. The 2011 cadre school is intended to strengthen these connections along with providing some deeper political education and skills building.
The school will take place January 6-9, 2011 at outside of Dahlonega, GA (about one hour north of Atlanta). We’ll all be staying together in dormitory style housing at the Sparrowwood Lodge which also has a large central room with a kitchen for all our cooking (menu under development).
The audience for this event is Solidarity members under 35 years old, and/or those who have joined in the past 3 years. Some very close contacts who have not joined for whatever reason could also be considered but this will not be an outreach or recruitment event!
The purpose of the retreat is to form a new generation of collective political leadership within Solidarity through intensive education, discussion and relationship building/strengthening. Because our normal schedule of yearly summer schoolshas been modified in the past few years, many newer members have little contact with Solidarity outside of their immediate branch. The cadre school would help prepare newer members for the 2011 convention and beyond by familiarizing them with political theory, historical and current debates within Solidarity and the broader left, and identify recent recruits who want to be (or should be) the next generation of commission and working group leaders, branch conveners, national committee members, and so on.
Register
Click here to register online.
If you’re able, please pay the $180 registration cost in advance by making a check out to “Center for Changes” and mailing to:
7012 Michigan Ave
Detroit, MI 48210
You can also pay with PayPal if that’s easier, but the cost is $185 to deal with PayPal fees:
Solidarity is currently in a budget squeeze so we are encouraging everyone to try and pay the full registration through their own means and fundraising (asking friends, family, other branch members). If necessary, there are lower registration costs. Please contact Giselda (glrendon@gmail.com) from the Outreach Committee if you need assistance. Everyone who is interested should plan on attending the school. Don’t let the registration cost deter you.