Racial Equity Circle
It is urgent that Black communities—as survivors of anti-blackness, white supremacy, and state-sanctioned violence—claim space to heal. The Racial Equity Circle’s Black Love program is a place to break bread, form new relationships, and build community. There is also a pressing demand for institutions and organizations to challenge their culture of white supremacy. The Black Learning Exchange trains Black folks to become racial equity facilitators and use their lived experiences, shared wisdom, and collected resources to develop a curriculum around racial equity.
Popular Education Circle
CPC believes in Popular Education, a collective learning process in which communities identify shared truths and come together to generate change. CPC also believes in integrating youth voices and centering youth leadership. Through Seeds of Hope/Semillas de Esperanza, the Popular Education Circle trains youth workers and educators—primarily immigrants, people of color, and single parents—to become popular educators, contract with local organizations, and provide relevant youth programming in movement spaces.
Language Justice Circle
CPC believes it’s essential to create multilingual spaces where everyone can participate in community organizing. CPC’s Language Justice Circle provides interpretation training through a social justice lens. LJC also provides gathering spaces for Spanish speakers, youth interpreters, and speakers of native languages to discuss language loss and reclamation, build relationships, and heal together.
History of Our Work
CPC opened its doors in 2000 to support grassroots groups working towards racial or economic justice—including African American, Latinx, Appalachian, Cherokee, Hmong, and multi-racial groups—with community organizing, leadership development, training, technical assistance, networking, coalition building, and micro-grants. CPC hosted annual gatherings for these organizations as an intentional effort to build bridges across race, cultural, and geographic lines. Working alongside community allowed CPC to shift its focus towards the priorities of community: language justice, racial equity, and popular education.