Dual Power Gathering Midwest

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Dual Power Gathering Midwest is a three day event that will take place August 17th - 20th at a campsite just outside of Chicago. This gathering will take place on the traditional lands of the Miami, Potawatomi, and Kickapoo. The event will be held at a campsite approximately 30 minutes south of downtown Chicago, accessible by both car and train. DPG Midwest is a follow-up to the national Dual Power Gathering at the Indiana Dunes in 2022, but is more regionally focused in an attempt to bring people from the midwest together to meet, spend time together, and discuss dual power strategies (but those beyond this region are also very welcome!). Similar to DPG 2022, the event will be structured using an unconference model, and will be an experiment in collective learning and relationship building. During the event, we hope to foster an atmosphere of generative co-learning and co-creativity. We want to connect people and bring them together around shared work. We seek to create a space where ideas are exchanged, stories are told, and futures are imagined, especially in the context of building dual power. With a few exceptions, the gathering won’t have a solid schedule going into it. Rather, we’ll collectively create the spaces we want and need to see throughout the weekend. Some ideas around what we would like to see included: -Mapping and growing Dual Power in your area -Crafting stories and narratives around our movements and building utopian visions -Workshops and skill-shares on: trauma, healing, collective grieving, food growing and preservation, community self-defense, hands-on skills for mutual aid groups, medic training, etc. -Workshops and conversations about how white supremacy, ableism, transphobia, and other forms of hierarchical power arise in social movement spaces -Learning about and analyzing specific theories and strategies for liberation -Building connections for local food sovereignty and food justice -Collective strategies for ecological disaster and ecosystem collapse -Regionally-focused conversations, like building resource-sharing networks, growing the capacity to act in regional solidarity, discovering our shared struggles In addition to the self-organized unconference sessions, you can also expect many shared meals and collaborative art making :) ADA accessible cabins/camping space, ADA compliant bathrooms + showers, a limited shuttling service, and vegan food will be available to all participants. Participation in the gathering is open to everyone, not just those camping: feel free to participate on any day in any activity or session that you choose to! We want the event to be as accessible as possible. If you have any access needs that you would like to share or any questions about the accessibility of the event, please feel free to get in touch with us at midwestdualpower@protonmail.com.