Recognition

Country Dancing has a history and reality of white people stealing land, culture, creativity, and livelihood from Indigenous and Black communities. Many of the dances were initially choreographed to songs that revel in and revere these stories of abuse. 

This weekend will be happening on the unceded territory of the Coastal Miwok people. 

Resistance

During this time of blatant attacks on trans dignity, queer + trans country dance is resistance. Building community for queer people to connect and have fun is radical and necessary. 

At the same time, we need to do more to recognize the role white supremacy plays in our community. Our community is very white and we are two white people organizing this event

Prioritizing and subsidizing dancers of color 

In this vein, we want to actively welcome and support BIPOC dancers in the community. We are setting aside a block of spots for BIPOC dancers and providing a 50% subsidized rate for BIPOC dancers. We would also love for our BIPOC dancers to lead things during the weekend. Email dirtydancingweekend@gmail.com if you want to help out. 

Redistribution

All money we gather after meeting our costs will be redistributed to rent mutual aid in Oakland. 

Culture

The politics of this event are free Palestine, abolish ICE, and fuck Morgan Wallen. We will do our best to avoid music by fascists, racists, and abusers. 

Looking ahead 

Part of the purpose of this weekend is to figure out how we can build a stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient kind of line dancing community when so much is set up to divide us.

There is immeasurable potential for mutual aid, radical resistance, and regenerative joy if we build a community that helps support itself and the world it exists in. We are looking forward to more conversations about this and hearing from you all. 

Transparency

Making this happen requires money, labor, and volunteer power. 

Thank you for contributing to making this possible. 

Projected Budget

30% going to venue 

17% going to food and materials 

53% going to labor 

Our two organizers (Hank + Kayla) will be compensated at a flat amount for their labor. They are expecting to contribute both paid labor and volunteer labor. 

Anything gathered beyond our initial projections will be redistributed to rent mutual aid in Oakland.