Navigating Uncertainty, Backlash and Loneliness: a training for Appalachian organizers searching for new tools and frameworks in an era of upheaval

Dates: October 27-29

Location: Weston, WV

The deadline to apply is next Friday, September 15th. We'd love to have you there.

The last several years have been upending.

Many of us spent months behind closed doors, masked, apart from one another.  We lost people, from our days and from our lives. And as the specter of COVID lingered and shifted, political conditions and crises intensified. The creep of fascism, the threat of war, mass shootings, inflation, wildfire smoke, the mystery of AI – dislodging and disorienting news was everywhere.

And while all this unfolded, we faced acute challenges at home. Backlash against poor people, people who use drugs, folks seeking abortions, and trans people escalated, all while many of our meetings became smaller, our groups more fragile, our strategies fuzzier.  

Some of us responded by doubling down, submerging ourselves in work. We met, we marched, we posted. We said to each other, “We must. Now, more than ever.” Others stepped back in big ways. Some moved. Most are just doing their best to maintain. 

This training is offered as an acknowledgement of all of this. It’s offered as a place to take stock of what has unfolded, to open fully to what we’re seeing, to notice how the conditions impact us, move through us, and shape our behavior, groups, and plans. And it’s offered as a place to notice the choices we have in the midst of it all, for the sake of nurturing movements able to hold more complexity of this moment and the moments to come.

If you’re an Appalachian organizer who wants to gain new tools and frameworks for these times, this workshop is for you.

Spots are limited. I hope we get an application from you.

In love, 

Katey Lauer

WV Can't Wait 

WV Can't Wait is a movement to win a people's government in the Mountain State. For more information, visit wvcantwait.com.