Belonging, Dignity, Justice, and Joy Monthly Discussion Group Register

Date and Time:
Tue, May 27, 2025; 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM  (Eastern)

Organized By: District of Columbia Chapter

Location: Virtual

Event Organizers:
Makario Sarsozo
   dc.chapter@sierraclub.org
   4245662404

Join the DC Chapter’s Belonging, Dignity, Justice, and Joy Monthly Discussion Group!

Sierra Club DC Chapter is the largest environmental organization in Washington, DC. However, in our membership and leadership, the DC Chapter does not represent the diversity of the District. Our leaders raise this as an issue and an opportunity to address: we recognize that a more diverse and representative Chapter is the right thing to aspire to, and we acknowledge that a lack of diversity limits our effectiveness and power as an organization. Missing voices and perspectives at the table hurt our analysis and strategy, and campaigning on our issues without diverse leaders representing the Chapter weakens our work. We have built a powerful organization, and we must do the internal work to ensure people of color and of all backgrounds feel empowered, welcomed, and supported to come lead and win with us. In this second Trump era, and as American politics shift around us, we must lean even more into solidarity and organizing towards shared goals - which means centering the voices of those most impacted by harmful policies and showing up together, not despite of but in embrace of, our differences.

One step in that internal work is to invite the entire Chapter to join us in a discussion group where we will all explore with curiosity and open hearts the wealth of information, perspectives, and action ideas already published about these issues (including those under the headings of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access) both in and out of the environmental movement. This will be a monthly discussion group with pre-assigned articles, podcasts, videos, or presentations to read, watch, and listen to, and then we will convene with a trained facilitator to discuss what we have learned, what questions we have, and what action steps we can take over time. For new members, we hope this can be a way to bring your voice and ideas to the Chapter and help us learn and grow, as well as learn about the wealth of information on the intersection of environment, justice, and inclusion that already exists. For longtime members and Chapter leaders, we hope this can be a forum to prompt productive questioning like “Is there something I can tweak in my leadership to be more welcoming? Is there one more phone call I can make to solicit the ideas of someone who doesn’t speak up often? Is there someone I should ask to review a testimony who doesn’t usually weigh in but might have great ideas?” etc. If you yourself are a trained facilitator around potentially thorny topics of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, language barriers, or others, or if you would like to receive training as a facilitator and help guide these conversations, please let us know!

This discussion group, and any follow-on action steps may frequently take a little more time. Including new people often requires stepping back from shortcuts and established patterns, which means things may move slower for a while. That’s ok: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” We invite you to join us in this new initiative, together.

Pre-work for May's topic: Power and Privilege

• READ (or re-read): Peggy McIntosh's seminal article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" (4 pages)
  • Or watch/listen to this discussion of the article (15min)
• REVIEW this diagram: Intersectionality Wheel of Privilege
• READ: This modern review of how McIntosh's writing and the concept of White Privilege has held up over time, with an expansion on the core lessons (15-20min)