Synapses go off like fireworks every time I attend a RYSE event or workshop. RYSE consistently approaches trauma-informed work from a structural, systems lens; then shares the fruits of their learning in workshops available to the public. Each session attracts participants from all over the Bay Area, and have included participants driving from Stockton and Sacramento in order to access RYSE's unique perspective.
On their website, RYSE references their "theory of liberation", a practice that intellectually connects their work to that of Paulo Freire and Ignacio Martin-Baro, each of whom in their respective fields of education and psychology, wrote about the healing potential of empowerment. This healing potential can only be obtained by acknowledging and understanding the role of oppression in creating systemic traumatization.
RYSE Center has been doing this liberation focused youth work since 2008. I first encountered their work starting with the RacingACEs forum in 2016, from which this thought-forwarding memo emerged. This past fall, I attended all three sessions of the Trauma and Healing Learning series, which highlighted the RYSE conceptual framework titled, "Interacting Layers of Trauma and Healing" (see below).
Session 1 (October 20) introduced RYSE, its praxis and practice, a topic also described in a post early in 2017 by Associate Director Kanwarpal Dhaliwal. The session was chronicled in rich detail by ACEs Connection Network journalist Laurie Udesky, in this post.
Session 2 (November 16) was a smaller, more focused workshop exploring nonviolent communication skills, fundamental to establishing healthy, non-exploitative relationships within and across communities and stakeholders.
And Session 3 (November 28) included exercises that brought participants into "beloved community" with one another, while taking a deeper dive into the "interacting layers" framework.
The next session in this series will be held on January 26, and will focus on "Stopping the School to Prison Pipeline", presented by a featured guest, Tia Martinez. Registration details will be posted when available.
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