July 27 RRI Mailing: Stories about trainings

Across the country, educators are finding ways to spread the word about the damage runaway inequality is doing to our country. Check out the stories below from New York and Texas and some upcoming events in California and North Carolina.

  • Staten Island, NY
  • Austin, TX
  • Oakland, CA: Train-the-trainer, Sept. 10
  • Wilmington, NC: “What Happened to the American Dream?” Sept. 19-20
  • Learn more about being a runaway inequality trainer.

Staten Island, NY

June 23, 2017

“We use the runaway inequality workshop as a recruitment tool in the community. So far we have educated 75 people, organized a panel discussion as a follow up, and used the runaway inequality “roadshow” and at the local festival to find new participants for the next class.

“At the La Isla Bonita community festival, we set up a timeline where festival goers could post different social movements in U.S. history. We also posted several of the graphs from the workbook and asked people to reflect on them. People loved the activity and it opened conversations around the graphs. Our table was a hotspot of activity at the festival!”

In solidarity,
Steve Lawton
Communications Workers of America Local 1102
Sustainable Staten Island

At the La Isla Bonita community festival on Staten Island, festivalgoers added social movements in U.S. history to a timeline and reflected on charts showing the depth and causes of runaway inequality.


Austin, TX

July 8, 2017

Activists representing Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Texas State Employees Union, Our Revolution, 350 Austin, and the Travis County Green Party came to a day-long Reversing Runaway Inequality workshop. They dug deep into the causes of runaway inequality and the effects that financial strip-mining has on our lives.

One of the workshop activities is to reflect on value statements that we often hear (like “family values” and “free trade”) and offer statements to describe the world we want to live in. Here are some that they came up with:

  • Care for every family
  • An economy for all
  • FWNW – Fund Workers, Not War
  • Vote unto others as you would have them vote unto you
  • Ain’t no such thing as a “free” market

About half of the participants plan to partner up and lead their own workshops.

In solidarity,
Kris Raab
Communications Workers of America

Workshop participants
in Austin dug
deep into the
causes and
effects of
runaway inequality


Upcoming in Oakland, CA

Sept. 10, 2017

Train-the-trainer
The RunawayInequality.org educational network runs full-day workshops called Reversing Runaway Inequality. You’re invited to attend a version of the workshop that will also include discussion of the Small Group Activity Method the workshop uses.

Sliding scale registration fee: $20-$60 to cover materials and lunch.

The curriculum is designed for a full-day workshop for 20-25 people, though the material can be adapted for different size groups and shorter amounts of time.


Upcoming in Wilmington, NC

Sept. 19 & 20, 2017

“What Happened to the American Dream?”

Les Leopold will discuss Runaway Inequality: An Activist’s Guide to Economic Justice and what we might do to address runaway inequality.

Tuesday, Sept. 19 @ 7pm
ILA Union Hall
1305 South 5th Ave.

Wednesday, Sept. 20 @ 5:30pm
UNCW campus
DeLoach Hall, Room 114
5148 Randall Dr.

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