Black Seeds School: Cohort 6 Application

APPLY BY DECEMBER 26, 2022, at 11:59 pm PT.

  • TYPE: Training

  • CATEGORY: Movement Building

  • LOCATION: Kerns Neighborhood, Portland, Oregon

  • COST: Free

  • PARTICIPANT STIPEND: $1,500 total per participant. Payments can either be distributed directly to individuals or hosting organization. 

  • DATES:

    • Wednesday, January 18, 2023, 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM

    • Thursday. January 19, 2023, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

    • Friday, January 20, 2023, 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM

    • Saturday, January 21, 2023, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

    • Sunday, January 22, 2023, 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM  

OVERVIEW

The Black Seeds School is a five-day training cohort designed to build the capacity of Black movement organizers, activists, and strategists; and, most importantly, contribute to the critical mass required to sustain our movement. 

Black Seeds is a school within Imagine Black's Black Leadership Academy (BLA). The BLA has trained over 101 Black leaders and graduated five cohorts. Through the Black Leadership Academy, Imagine Black works to build a cohort of transformative Black leaders who see themselves as kin—a collective, critical mass fighting behind, for, and with one another.

WHO IS THIS school FOR?

  • The Black Seeds School is for people 21 and older who identify as Black or of the African Diaspora.

  • Our ideal participants can travel to the training location in kerns neighborhood, Portland, Oregon, within the above dates. Room and board are not available, but participation stipends are available. *Imagine Black will share the address upon acceptance into the school.

  • Unapologetic: Participants should be bold, progressive Black leaders who want to learn a framework rooted in Black radical imagination and with a Black Queer Feminist Lens.

  • Community Focused: Our ideal participants believe that Black people and families are experts in their lives and the solutions needed to build a better future for themselves and each other.

  • Involved in movement work: We seek to support Black organizers who are currently part of an organizing effort or are seeking to strengthen their organizing practice through base-building strategies.

  • Diverse: The Black Seeds School profoundly embraces diversity. We know that Oregon can be experienced and approached differently by Black folks based on one's culture, gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, or even how long one has lived here. We understand that these differences matter. There are as many ways of being Black as there are Black people, but the experience of being Black unites us. That is why we are committed to building a cohort that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills within the African diaspora. 

EXPECTATIONS

Our ideal participants will attend 100% of the sessions to reap the most benefit from the programming. However, we know that circumstances may require your attention during the training. We ask that each participant attend 80% of the sessions.

We expect each participant to arrive at each session on time, participate actively in activities, and display self-reliance in learning.

INSTRUCTORS

  • ESPERANZA TERVALON is a queer, Afro-Puerto Rican woman, and a native daughter of Oakland, California. She is the founder and Principal of Dancing Hearts Consulting, LLC, a progressive political consulting firm that curates innovative ideas, programs, and campaigns to challenge the status quo and test emerging strategies that change the political game to win long-term change for the people most impacted by systemic oppression. Born to Black activist parents and raised in the social justice movement, Esperanza has spent the last 17 years building political power for the working class, immigrants, and communities of color in Oakland, around the state of California and across the country.

    Esperanza was the first woman of color to lead a 501c3, 501c4 & PAC collaborative civic engagement formation focused on mobilizing progressive voters of color in the United States. Her ability to build grassroots power in neighborhoods, at the ballot box, and at City Hall has earned her a reputation as a savvy electoral strategist, a seasoned political organizer, and a power-building innovator among Social Justice activists and Philanthropic leaders.

    Esperanza is the Co-Chair of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation, a network of civic engagement institutions that move $170M to the field each year. She is also serving as the Statewide Campaign Manager for the Oregon Hard to Count Census Campaign that aims to engage 1.3M people.

  • EKUNDAYO IGELEKE (he/him) is a Popular educator, culture worker, national strategist, grassroots organizer and writer. He currently is Resource Generation's Multi Racial Basebuilding Strategist and the founding Creative-in-Chief of Culture Dream Lab. In 2013, he organized his first Freedom School site to address the needs of an entire community by using education as a tool for liberation.

    In 2014, Ekundayo became a member of the National Juvenile Justice Network through the Youth Justice Leadership program where he co-launched a Freedom School program inside of three youth correctional facilities in Ohio from 2014-2016 to decrease the re-entry rate and empower system-involved youth. In 2015, he was a part of the core team of The Peoples Justice Project focusing on base building and leadership development toward the decriminalization of the Black working class and the abolition of the prison industry.

    Additionally, he was the Executive Director for the University District Freedom School, focusing on youth activism/organizing, parent liberation, and organizing toward restorative practices in all learning spaces. Ekundayo is currently an executive board member of the Maroon Arts Group in Columbus, Ohio, is an adjunct trainer with re:power, and co lead organizer with Black Men Build Columbus.

  • IMAGINE BLACK (formerly known as PAALF Action Fund) helps our Black community imagine the alternatives we deserve and build our political participation and leadership to achieve those alternatives. Since our start in 2009, we have envisioned a world where people of African descent enjoy the rights, resources, and recognition to be a thriving, resilient, and connected community.

    At Imagine Black, we have strengthened our commitment to a Black Queer Feminist (BQF) theory and practice. BQF provides a more holistic understanding of our conditions and connectedness as Black people. As a result, we understand that liberation for all Black people can only be realized by lifting up the voices, experiences, and prioritizing the issues of historically silenced and vulnerable groups within Black communities – specifically, queer, trans and GNC, femme, poor, disabled, working, and undocumented people (adapted from BYP100).

    Imagine Black Futures is a 501(c)(3) multi-issue grassroots organization in partnership with our sibling 501(c)(4) organization, Imagine Black. More information about Imagine Black can be found at imagineblack.org.

APPLY NOW 

Applicants can either submit a written application or a video application. To be considered, applications must be submitted through this online portal by Monday, December 26, 2022, at 11:59 pm PT.

Questions? Don't hesitate to get in touch with us at info@imagineblack.org

written Application

Video Application:

Action AlertImagine Black