ABOUT
BUILDING POWER
Building Power (BP) is a free annual U-M School of Social Work student-organized conference designed to build collaboration within our school community’s work toward social justice and anti-racism. BP aims to center community knowledge in the fight against white extremism. This will be developed through challenging ourselves to explore how we have internalized the culture of white extremism so that we can embody love and wield power in our communities, institutions, and society at large. Building Power is open to all who wish to attend and is not exclusive to people of traditionally underrepresented populations.
This year's conference theme is Building Power Towards Sustainable Community and will be held on Saturday, October 22, 2022, at the U-M School of Social Work. This event will focus on the importance of understanding interconnected injustices as well as the movements towards collective liberation by centering issues related to housing disenfranchisement, land sovereignty, and sustainable living.
OUR SHARED HISTORY
In early 2018, a group of social work students came together to create an alternative event when a white extremist was expected on campus — the result was Building Power!
Building Power is a Black-led conference based around countering white supremacy through community organizing, direct action, and in everyday life. The event brings together members of the University of Michigan and broader Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti communities and beyond. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from action-driven leaders in social justice, participate in small and large group discussions, and develop action plans for adopting social justice lifestyles deeply rooted in community.
Topics have previously included building intersectional coalitions, language as a tool of oppression and liberation, intergenerational organizing, oppression in education, and the Black action movement.
OUR 2022 SPONSORS
Work as important as Building Power cannot be done alone, which is why we rely on our sponsors from the University of Michigan and beyond for funding and logistical support!
Check back soon for an updated list as 2022 Sponsors are still being confirmed!
Want to sponsor the conference? Send us an email at BuildingPowerUM@gmail.com
Let us know if you'll be attending!
Registration is open from 9/28/2022 to 10/19/2022. To register later, please email BuildingPowerUM@gmail.com