Friday, April 4th, is the DEADLINE to register for the JVP National Member Meeting, May 1-4 in Baltimore. This is the first time we’re coming together like this in eight years — and as the Trump regime pushes the U.S. to the brink of a full fascist takeover, it’s unclear when we’ll be able to next.
In this impossible time of escalating genocide in Palestine and rising authoritarianism in the U.S., coming to this convening will be grounding and fortifying in one way or another for all who come. With a program full of 85 workshops, full-conference plenaries where we’ll unpack the current political moment and JVP strategy together, and leaders from across our movements for justice — you won’t want to miss it.
Read on below to hear more about what you’ll find at the JVP NMM.
We’ll hear from leaders like Dr. Angela Davis, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Omar Barghouti, Naomi Klein, Noura Erakat and Robin D. G. Kelley on what time it is on the clock of the world, and deepen our political analysis of our time, place and conditions.
We’ll wrestle with the questions of what strategies make sense in a time where few strategies feel viable, and be rigorously honest about where it makes sense to put our energies.
We’ll discuss with JVP chapter leaders and leaders of organizations like Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Movement for Black Lives, Adalah Justice Project, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Palestinian Youth Movement and Rising Majority: How do we actually build the people power to carry out whichever strategies we think are most worthwhile?
We’ll gather strength from people like Cori Bush, Barbara Ransby, Linda Sarsour and many other Palestinian partners and movement elders who have faced state repression and will steel us for the repression that will be escalating now.
We’ll meet with people from our cities and towns, get to know one another better, and struggle with the questions of where our chapters and pods and networks can make the strongest contribution in this next period.
Eighty-five workshop options will give each of us the chance to gather the skills, information, and connections we most desire to be armed for the fights ahead. These range from topics of learning about anti-Zionist Jewish lineages, to charting out campaigns, to organizing across age and race, to diving deep into skills from facilitation to effective messaging to principled struggle.
The JVP Rabbinical Council and Havurah Network leaders will lead gorgeous Shabbat and religious offerings. We’ll have a Saturday night performance that will soothe and nourish weary spirits, a film screening of “The Night Wont End: Biden’s War on Gaza,” an art build, merch and books for sale, and so much time to connect with one another, just one block from the river.
In this dire moment, our organizing needs to be as bold, as smart, and as impactful as possible, and this convening is designed to allow us to do just that. It will be so grounding and meaningful to be there together.