Root Social Justice Center 6th Anniversary 9/22/18

The Root Social Justice Center, located at 28 Williams Street, provides a physically and financially accessible space in southern Vermont for social justice groups to meet, and is a hub for racial justice organizing. In 2017 and 2018, The Root started six programs:

– Youth 4 Change – focusing on art and education as a tool for organizing our youth;

– Soul Food Sundays – providing a place for self-identified people of color to come together to break bread, heal and spend time with one another;

– I AM VT Too – a photo journalism traveling art show that highlights racial microaggressions towards people of color in Vermont.

– Families United – a peer support group focusing on the impact of Department of Children & Families and other harmful systems on families;

– Black, Indigenous & People of Color (BIPOC) Caucus – a network of black, indigenous and people of color coming together to organize collectively to build relationships, power, and systemic change for the lives of people of color; and The Root Feeder – a people of color-led, multilingual, multimedia (video & audio) distribution of local, regional and global stories focused on racial and environmental justice.

The Root also hosts "Social Justice Forums" to explore issues affecting communities, such as mass incarceration, immigrant rights, domestic violence, racism, and decolonization.

As well as these programs and forums, The Root is available for the public to host social justice organizing events, such as workshops, potlucks, film screenings, and meetings. Since opening the doors in September 2013, more than 500 events have been hosted at The Root, the majority of which have been open to the public.

The Root's fifth birthday party is a celebration. Organizers say they are celebrating the beautiful resiliency of communities and individuals of color; the work done to solidify The Root as an organization in the town and region; programs for bringing so many new faces to The Root and empowering the community to organize for racial justice; and community members that make all of this happen.