Interactive Forum to Explore Visioning as a Tool for Social Change in Holyoke

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AMHERST, Mass. – Activists, students and members of the public from across the Pioneer Valley will gather for “Plug In: Building Other Worlds Where We Are,” an evening of art, workshops and discussion around local visions for justice from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 28, in the Holyoke City Hall Ballroom.

More than two dozen students, faculty and community members contributed to the planning of this gathering, which will feature multiple rounds of workshops led by local grassroots organizations.

“This gathering is a chance to connect, collaborate and imagine together with local grassroots community organizers who are building local cooperative economies and a future of environmental justice for our region,” said Brennan Tierney, a facilitator with the UMass Alliance for Community Transformation in the UMass Department of Anthropology, which is hosting this event. “Parents and students from Holyoke will lead a workshop on strengthening the Ethnic Studies Program in the Holyoke Public Schools. A coalition of local organizations will lead a workshop on imagining – and creating – a western Massachusetts where local communities have the power to decide their own futures.”

This gathering is the culmination of this year’s Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series. Organized by the UMass Department of History, this series has included lectures and panels on the theme “Another World Is Possible: Revolutionary Visions, Past and Present.”

“After learning from visionary organizers and scholars from across the U.S. and world, this capstone event is an opportunity to ‘plug in’ and contribute to collective visions right here in western Massachusetts,” said Feinberg Series co-chair Jess Johnson.

This event is free and open to all, including youth, with dinner provided. A free public bus will leave from UMass Amherst and Dean Tech High School in Holyoke.