Taking Donald Trump's election in the United States as a call to action, 'Build Bridges, Not Walls' is a newly-formed collective of Kingstonians whose goals include working on building community, encouraging a culture of resistance (as opposed to acquiescence), and developing skills around having difficult conversations with folks outside people's subcultural 'bubbles'. We want to work on strengthening local organizations and their important work by building capacity and bringing in new members.

We are currently planning two events! These are:

1) February 2, 2017- A panel and community discussion on Trump and the rise of authoritarians: There will be a brief panel discussion, after which people will have the opportunity to strategize about local action in break-out groups and will be able to connect to representatives of different local political groups for long-term local involvement. Speakers include Burcu Baba, Brea Hutchinson, and Aric McBay, with fourth panel spot- maybe David Pugh, maybe someone else.

2) February 28, 2017- A workshop: Having tough conversation across the political spectrum: There will be an opening activity/warm-up, then breakout skill-building groups. People can select to join one of three groups- understanding bias & logical fallacies, role-playing across political spectrums, strategies around self-care. Facilitators may include (pending) Barb Danielewski, Kayley Marsh, and one other spot to be filled.