As Elders, we feel a moral responsibility to address the many challenges facing our communities and to discover ways in which to offer our resources, wisdom, and generativity in service of the preservation and protection of life for future generations. The purpose of the Elders for Social Justice (ESJ) Team is to educate and engage a movement of Elders with social justice issues so that together we can create a more just and thriving world for all.
Our mission is to educate ourselves, share our growing understanding of these issues, and encourage collaborative, active engagement to address these issues as we build the EASJ Team.
Some of the questions that we ask:
- How can we deepen and expand our understanding of issues of social justice and become allies to people who have been marginalized by our society?
- How do these underlying social justice issues – oppression, inequality, racism, white privilege – affect all of us?
- How do we explore the intersection of social, economic and environmental justice, which are each rooted in separation – the disconnection of individuals from each other, from our nurturing planet Earth, and from a source of spiritual guidance?
Our actions are divided between the study of social justice issues and coordinating effective responses to these issues within EAN, our local communities, and in our nation.
Join the ESJ mailing list
To receive email reminders for Elders for Social Justice (ESJ) meetings, monthly community conversations and workshops, please sign up here.
We meet on Zoom video conferencing twice monthly, first to hear presentations on current social justice issues, then to follow up with conversation and action related to the topic.
The first meeting each month – The Curious Listening Initiative – happens on the
third Thursday from 9:00 – 11:00 am PT / 12:00 – 2:00 pm ET.
The second, follow-up meeting – Community Conversation and Action – happens on each
fourth Thursday from 9:00 – 11:00 am PT / 12:00 – 2:00 pm ET.
We make time to deep dive into our topics using an Elder and social justice lens…always provocative, meaningful and community-oriented.
We began Elders for Social Justice in 2016 by looking at issues related to racism, white privilege, wealth inequality and Islamophobia. Since then we have studied and offered programs on issues on this growing list:
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We have created and regularly update an Antiracism Resource List, available to anyone interested in further education and information on that topic, updated Black, Indigenous and People-of-Color (BIPOC) history, “woke” culture and issue related to systemic racism.
resource listEach month’s Curious Listening and Conversation/Action topic grows from current events, previous programs and the interests of those attending.
From time to time we may post and email to members further resources and information about social justice topics including relevant readings, videos, articles, and introspective questions. Our meeting format is participatory, and everyone has a chance to interact and share. ALL ARE WELCOME.
Elders for Social Justice Curious Listening Initiative
Third Thursday of each month
9:00 – 10:30 am PT / 12:00 – 1:30 pm ET
Elders for Social Justice Community Conversation
Fourth Thursday of each month
9:00 – 10:30 am PT / 12:00 – 1:30 pm ET
Me and White Supremacy Workshop
ESJ offers a workshop called Me and White Supremacy, an intensive 28-day challenge that leads readers through a journey of understanding their white privilege and participation in white supremacy, so they can stop inflicting damage (often unconsciously) on black, indigenous and people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.
Next session:
Wednesdays: September 8 – October 13, 2021 at 9:00 – 11:00 am PT / 12:00 – 2:00 pm ET.
It’s 3:23 in the morning and I’m awake, because my great, great grandchildren…ask me in dreams, “What did you do while the planet was plundered?”
~ Drew Dellinger