Community Change, Inc
What We Do… (for more information, visit us at http://www.communitychangeinc.org) Community Change, Inc has kept its commitment to challenging institutional racism, urging whites to involve themselves and take responsibility by working with our multi-racial constituency to 1. Challenge institutional policies and actions which benefit whites at the expense of others 2. Organize white people to take action against racism 3. Support multi-racial groups taking action 4. Educate all people about how systemic racism functions Our Programs… 1. Forums & Events for Analysis and Action: educational, action-oriented forums and events focused on current issues related to systemic racism. 2. Organizing for Equity: CCI supports and engages with multi-racial groups taking action. 3. Resource Center & Yvonne Pappenheim Library on Racism: CCI manages an extensive library of print and video materials on racism in the U.S. 4. Civil Rights Internship: provides future leaders of the antiracist movement with action-oriented education and experience in community organizing. 5. Antiracist Training & Consulting: Multiracial teams of CCI staff conduct workshops on systemic racism for large and small non-profits, community organizations, churches, and schools. 6. Media Justice Advocacy: to support the Media Justice Movement in Boston and beyond and to work with the media reform groups in Boston to develop an antiracist agenda challenging corporate media

Consulting & Training
CONSULTING & TRAINING Since its inception in 1968, CCI has provided culture audits, coaching, training, workshops, arts dialogues, and conference presentations. Our Approach CCI focuses on the central importance of understanding, recognizing, and working to undo systemic and institutional racism. We consider it essential to place prejudice and bias in the context of structures of dominance and oppression. Through our training and consulting projects, we help people to move beyond person-to-person good will and respectful behavior; we teach people how to identify those less visible points where changes must be made and we help them build the skills to create power-sharing environments which include historically under-empowered and under-represented groups. We define racism as having more to do with white power and privilege than as individual attitudes and actions. Thus our anti-racism work is not solely about issues of people of color in a white dominated society, but rather about loosening the knots that entangle us all. This includes dynamics of sexism, homophobia, classism, ableism, ageism, and cross cultural relations. Examples of Our Work: • Center for Youth Development and Education (CYDE). In collaboration with Women’s Theological Center (WTC), CCI has undertaken a long-term consulting and training project with the goal to transform CYDE into an antiracist, intercultural, and inclusive organization. IMPACT: Our project with CYDE, which works throughout New England, New York, and California, demonstrates that antiracist training can greatly influence the understanding of institutional racism in the national field of education and youth development. • United Methodist Training: In collaboration with WTC, CCI organized and facilitated a three day retreat on racism and white privilege. This retreat was attended by 50 people, mostly ministers with some lay people. IMPACT: The workshop led to breakthroughs in how attendees interrogate and deal with power issues and issues of race and racism within the Board of Ordained Ministers and the denomination. These three days laid the groundwork for longer term consulting and training.

Forums & Events for Analysis & Action
FORUMS & SEMINARS FOR ANALYSIS & ACTION CCI coordinates educational, action oriented workshops on current issues related to institutional racism. BROWN BAGS: The CCI Brown Bag Lunch Antiracism Discussion Series provides 10-12 programs annually on current social justice issues viewed through the lens of systemic racism. Each noon session is brief and includes a presentation and opportunities for questions and discussion, networking and taking action. The Brown Bags bring together creative combinations of interests leading to new collaborations and action groups. Highlights from the Brown Bag Antiracism Discussion Series include: • The CORI System: Its Uses & Needed Reform: Presented by Fran Fajana, MA Law Reform Institute. October, 2006. • Breaking the Cycle of Youth Violence: presented by June Cooper, City Mission Society of Boston, October, 2006 • Help T-Riders Union STOP MBTA Fare Increases: Presented by T-Riders Union, a committee of Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE), September, 2006. • The Wealth Gap: What Does It Have to Do with Racism? Presented by Chaka A. K. Usondu, United for a Fair Economy. July, 2006. • Communication Discrimination Threatens Boston Communities: Presented by Hiram Scott of the Boston Neighborhood Producer’s Group. May 2006. • The Evolving Muslim-American Community – History of the Muslim Community, Developing an American Muslim Culture, What’s Going on in Boston’s Muslim community?: Presented by Salma Kazmi of the Islamic society of Boston. April 2006. • Challenges Faced by the Latino Community – Race Relations, Language Rights, Immigration Policies: Presented by Giovanna Negretti of ¿Oíste?. April 2006.

Media Justice Advocact
MEDIA JUSTICE ADVOCACY The Media Justice Movement & the Media Reform Movement: In 2003 people of color initiated and continue to lead the Media Justice Movement challenging institutional racism, and the white male power and privilege that control the ownership, access, structure, and representation in the media. The Media Reform Movement, which addresses corporate media ownership issues, is run by mostly white, mainstream groups emphasizing consumer rights and a traditionally “free press.” Why CCI is needed…CCI recognizes that, given the racist history and the white male supremacy culture dominating the United States, there never has been a “free press” for people of color, women, young people, gay, lesbian, and other underrepresented groups. In November, 2005, CCI initiated its MEDIA JUSTICE ADVOCACY PROGRAM with a DUAL PURPOSE: To support the Media Justice Movement in Boston and beyond. To work with the media reform groups in Boston to develop an antiracist agenda challenging corporate media. Our work so far… The Greater Boston Antiracism Media Watch Blog: This blog has been created as an oline activist tool to monitor and hold local media accountable for racist content and representation and to analyze how white power and privilege frame media content. http://www.antiracismwatch.blogspot.com. Organizing for Antiracist Media Policy Reform: In collaboration with ACMEBoston (www.acmeboston.org) and the Boston Neighborhood Producers Group (BNPG) (www.bnpg.org) CCI has been organizing petition campaigns, a rally and a press conference against the telephone companies’ lobbying efforts in Congress to rewrite our telecommunications laws. If passed in their current form, the two bills under consideration would • Open the doors for the telecommunications giants to discriminate against low-income communities and communities of color. • Undermine the ability for public access TV centers to receive adequate funding, negatively affecting thousands of access centers across the U.S. and reducing the diversity of voices, faces, and perspectives on public access TV. Create a two-tiered Internet: 1) a fast lane for those who can afford to ride on it, and 2) a dirt road for everybody else.

Organizing for Equity
ORGANIZING FOR EQUITY Supporting and working with multi-racial groups taking action are central to CCI’s mission. Through coalition building and joint efforts to address social justice issues in Boston and throughout New England, we focus on social systems that are particularly affected by racism – education, criminal justice, housing, employment, voters’ rights, and environmental justice, among others. Examples of our recent organizing for equity include RACISM & EMPLOYMENT Boston Society of VULCANS (organization of black and other minority men and women firefighters): Organizing in an effort to reform fire department’s racist policies in hiring and promotion, CCI initiated meetings and collaborations between the Vulcans, the Greater Boston Coalition for Civil Rights, and Kathy O’Toole, at that time the acting chief and Commissioner of Boston Fire Department. This led to the formation of the Coalition of Firefighters for Civil Rights. Massachusetts Alliance to Save Affirmative Action (MASAA): MASAA was organized by the Union of Minority Neighborhoods to challenge Governor Mitt Romney’s attack on Affirmative Action for state employees. Active throughout the history of MASSA, CCI played a major role organizing a public hearing in front of the Governor’s Commission on Affirmative Action in June 2004. Co-sponsored by the Black Congressional Caucus’s, this hearing was attended by more than 400 people, enough to pressure Romney to stop the process to change the AA policy. RACISM & HEALTH CARE The Angry Heart: CCI organized the Angry Heart Task Force to promote awareness and action surrounding racism in health care institutions. Community Change and Brigham and Women’s Hospital presented the “The Angry Heart,” a stirring documentary capturing the impact of racism on heart disease among African-Americans. This film exposes health care workers to institutional racism in health care organizations and alerts the community to the racism in our health care facilities. The Angry Heart Task force began as part of CCI’s monthly Brown Bag series of events designed to foster dialogue about the struggle against racism and to provide opportunities for networking and taking action. Angry Heart forums have been held throughout Massachusetts and the United States. RACISM IN THE CRIMINAL (in)JUSTICE SYSTEM Prison Advocates Strategy Session: in collaboration with American Friends Service Committee and the Campaign to Build Safer Communities, CCI worked to identify ways to influence the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission and to develop next steps for advocacy and action in order to help end the inhumane treatment of our fellow brothers and sisters in prison. CORI (Criminal Offenders Record Information) work: CCI is part of the MA Alliance to Reform CORI (MARC), which is organizing a two year campaign to influence and support legislation to reform CORI. On October 31, 2006, CCI will offer a Brown Bag Luncheon on “The CORI System: Its Uses & Needed Reform” an action-oriented presentation and discussion led Francisca D. (Fran) Frajana, staff attorney at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. RACISM AND THE MEDIA: In collaboration with the Boston Neighborhood Producers Group (BNPG) and the Action Coalition for Media Education/Boston Chapter (ACMEBoston), CCI organized a rally and press conference at the MA State House as part of the National Day of Out(R)age protesting the telephone companies’ lobbying efforts to rewrite our telecommunications laws.

The Civil Rights Internships
THE CIVIL RIGHTS INTERNSHIPS: Developing the Future Leaders of the Anti-Racist Movement HISTORY: In 1989, CCI created the Civil Rights Internship program to engage high school, college, and graduate students in summer-long anti-racist work. Since then, more than 30 young scholars and activists have participated in the Internship Program and over 200 students have applied for these opportunities. LIFE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS INTERNS: • Education: Organization-wide discussions facilitated by CCI staff and guest presenters immerse interns in topics such as affirmative action, racism in education and in health care, the death penalty, and immigrant rights. Print materials and videos from Community Change’s comprehensive Library on Racism are used extensively. • Networking/Community Connections: Interns become involved in learning-through-action by visiting and lending assistance to allied organizations and community activists. They build an understanding of the necessity for cooperation among social justice organizations and develop organizing and facilitation skills as they observe and practice collaboration. • Programming: Interns participate in planning meetings and help implement CCI’s goals. Interns develop skills in and practice the collaborative integration of theory and action. • Reflection: Through writing, discussion, and participation in assessment and evaluation of CCI programming, participants reflect on their activities, as well as on the impact and the implications of their work. • Operations: Interns gain essential knowledge and skill in the “nuts-and-bolts” of running a small nonprofit organization by preparing mailings, answering telephones, and responding to inquiries and requests. IMPACT: The impact of the Civil Rights Internship Program reaches far beyond the individual interns and the CCI constituency. We view the Civil Rights Internship Program as a pebble dropped into a pond that creates ever-widening circles of influence. On completion of the Civil Rights Internship Program, participants return to their campuses, their work, and their communities, spreading what they learned during their experience at CCI into the broader community. For more information on the Civil Rights Internships, contact Paul Marcus, pmarcus@communitychanginc.org Civil Rights Interns Describe their CCI Experience… • In my memories of CCI I know a place that was safe to learn in, but never would have allowed me to forsake this learning; I know a place that taught and led by example about how I intend to live my life; and I know a place that connected me to others who had chosen to make their life’s work what had already become my passion, which in turn, reconnected me to myself. • Ongoing discussions about current events pertaining to issues of racial disparity took place in the office on an informal basis. I was also encouraged to take advantage of the resources in the library and to read as much as possible through out the summer. I learned a great deal about myself and about the ways in which racism continues to plague our society. My beliefs about racial injustice and inequality have been strengthened and my confidence in speaking about and addressing these issues has increased. • I enjoyed preparing for the community hearing on affirmative action, including the meetings I attended with community and coalition leaders. One thing that made an impression on me was witnessing how much more constructive and effective it felt to be in a more multiracial coalition, following the leadership of people of color. • …I have learned more this summer than I realize yet, and that just being present with the affirmative action coalition will allow me to return to school knowing more deeply what needs to happen and how. • I helped to plan and facilitate two workshops. For one of these workshops, a number of girl scouts involved in a weeklong program about social justice came to CCI to learn about racism. The girls were fairly young, ranging in age from twelve to fifteen. Nearly all of the girls were white and had grown up in predominantly white neighborhoods. We began the workshop by asking the girls how race affected their lives. Each of them responded that race had never really impacted them, as they grew up in homogenous neighborhoods. We then spent much of the workshop discussing white privilege and disproving race as anything but a social construct. By the end of the session, it was obvious from the conversation that all the girls had realized the effect race plays in their lives on a daily basis. They were energized and begged us to explain to them how they could most effectively share this knowledge with their friends and families.

The Resource Center
RESOURCE CENTER The Yvonne Pappenheim Library on Racism In 1990, Yvonne Pappenheim began her volunteer work to maintain and develop the CCI library. In recognition of Yvonne’s inspiration and untiring efforts, CCI named the library after her in 1998. • Books: Our library contains approximately 2600 books covering a wide range of topics including (but not limited to) human and civil rights, slavery and abolitionism, social class, historical biography, and contemporary antiracism movements. We also have a large collection of children’s books. • Articles and Reports: Our collection includes articles and reports on a vast array of social issues and topics. In addition, we offer resources and materials for training and facilitation. • Journals: The library holds scholarly and political journals for readers to browse in the library. There are some back copies. Additionally, the library holds local community newspapers and journals to take free of charge. • Videos/DVDs: Our library contains 200+ videos and DVDs on race and racism in the United States. These are widely used by our patrons to enhance presentations and discussions and support diversity training and workplace programming. • Audio: Our collection contains famous speeches, lectures, books on tape and CD, as well as spoken word CDs. In addition, audio recordings of CCI Brown Bags are available online. Patrons can browse materials on-site or through searchable databases on our web site (www.communitychangeinc.org). Materials in the library are available on-site. Some materials are available online as well. We are currently in the process of expanding our library to include more online resources and materials in a greater variety of formats. We encourage those who cannot visit our library to contact us to discuss alternative methods for distribution of materials. Community Meeting Space The Library, conveniently located on Beacon Street, half way between the State House and City Hall in downtown Boston, is available to grassroots groups, small non-profit organizations and collaboratives as a meeting space. Contributions are welcome but the space is available at no cost. Our Website • Through our Web site and our electronic mailing list serving 1100+ subscribers, CCI disseminates information, provides links to other antiracist organizations, and offers opportunities for dialogue. You can sign up for the electronic mailing list on the CCI homepage at: http://www.communitychangeinc.org.