Community Training Registration Now Open!
Save the Date!
Join REP for our Black August celebration. We will have a day of offerings grounded in our core value of Black love & liberation. This event will be a day of community gathering rooted in joy, collective care, creativity, and abolitionist imagination.
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
OPENING CEREMONY
Speakers from the REP team will open the space by grounding in the values of Black August and solidarity with political prisoners. This will be followed by an Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony, and then transition to the first session of offerings.
11:00 AM - 02:00 PM
ZINES WITH BAKIBAKIBAKI
BakiBakiBaki is Black Native artist whose work is based in poetry, chanting, collaging, zine making and multimedia projects. They see art as a radical way of life and utilize their teaching art skills to strengthen community ties and contribute to the legacy of QTPOC art and resilience. They have hosted zine workshops for over a decade and have a personal mission to get all of their communities into self-publishing. They have been performing poetry for over ten years and have been chanting since 2020.
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
WRITER'S WORKSHOP
This Writing Workshop facilitated by Mabuya will explore the layers of cultural, racial and embodied lessons that can be learned from the Twin Cities in the aftermath of Operation Metro Surge.
12:00 PM - 02:00 PM
DE-ESCALATION & ORGANIZER'S HALL
New Justice Project will host a workshop on de-escalation, followed by an Organizers Hall for folks to connect and discuss the new traditions of Black organizing.
02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
HEALING JUSTICE STUDIO
Join REP trainers Destiny and Imagine Joy in a healing justice studio! This experience will empower individuals to think and talk about the importance of radical self-care. The offerings include guided conversations, breathwork, somatic grounding, and creative movement. No prior experience is required.
03:30 PM - 06:00 PM
LUNCH & DOUBLE DUTCH
We will close out the day with a shared meal in the cafeteria and then Double Dutch outside, hosted by Rondo Double Dutch with music by a local DJ.
LIBERATION LOVE LETTERS
Ground in the values of Black August by writing letters to incarcerated folks. REP will mail out your letters after the event. You can check this station out in the cafeteria at any point during the day!
PLAYGROUND HAND GAMES
Find a buddy and (re)learn playground hand games from childhood. You can check this station out in the cafeteria at any point during the day!
04:00 PM - 04:30 PM
COMMUNITY TRAINING INFO SESSION
Join Yordi from REP for an information session about the upcoming Community Trainings, a 3-day skill intensive this October 2026, including the application process. Attending an info session is required to receive an application.
Agenda
Loving you to your next step.
REP is a network made up of dedicated community members showing up to support others in moments of crisis or urgency, with care and respect for the full dignity and autonomy of the people in crisis.
Our Mission
The mission of REP stems from Black love and liberation, with a vision that all communities thrive when our needs are met. We are grounded in the belief that as a community we have the ability and capacity to love and protect each other without giving our agency to systems that were built to destroy, consume, or commodify us. Relationships Evolving Possibilities is the foundational pedagogy for our approach to community safety.
REP is an engagement strategy that facilitates the formation of localized pods for mutual aid and reinforces transformative crisis support within community networks. Our programs promote wellness and create safer and thriving communities.
Our Values
REP stems from Black love and liberation, with a vision that all communities thrive when our needs are met. We are grounded in the belief that as a community we have the ability and capacity to love and protect each other without giving our agency to systems that were built to destroy, consume, or commodify us. We are guided by our core values:
Black Love and Liberation
Ancestral Knowledge
Radical Consent
Our programs promotes community safety and wellness, and empowers neighbors to solve problems without calling the police.
Radical Ecosystem Pods
Having a well-connected and skilled network of neighbors minimizes the need to reach beyond our own community for crisis support. Radical Ecosystem Pods hosts studios to practice skills relationship-building, collective care and sustainability in the face of burnout, individualism & isolation.
We can look to our ancestors to understand the artistry of taking care of others and being taken care of. Many of us already have the skills to assist our neighbors and loved ones in navigating minor incidents that arise in our lives. What’s lacking is often connection, consistency, coordination and support.
This training was first envisioned in early 2020, in the midst of the Twin Cities uprising after the murder of George Floyd. It began as a way to prepare community members to run a community hotline, and in the last five years it has grown and deepened. Yet the central practice remains the same: when we are supported to turn toward each other in moments of crisis, the likelihood of state violence is minimized.
Upcoming Offerings
Black August 2026
Saturday, August 29th,10 AM-5 PM
Location: First Universalist Church (3400 DuPont Ave S Minneapolis, MN 55408)
Register: bit.ly/REP_BlackAugust
Who is this for?: by and for Black community members.
Community Training FALL 2026 Info Session Registration Now Open!
Attending an information session is required to receive an application!
Connect With Us
Thanks for wanting to stay connected and learn more about REP’s offerings and additional work we are supporting in community! We are happy to hear from you.
