All Power to the Imagination! holds conference

With the approach of thesis deadlines and finals comes the eighth annual All Power to the Imagination (API) conference, a weekend full of workshops, speakers, shows and projects.

Held yearly in April since 2008, the API conference is the culmination of a year’s worth of planning on the part of API’s members.

“The goal of API has always been to bridge radical leftist theory and action, translating social criticism and thought to reality by actualizing a working vision for the future,” alum Julianne Ohanian (‘11) said in an email interview. “We try to do this by practicing what we preach: organizing an inclusive conference that welcomes a diversity of causes, and doing so in a way that is non-hierarchical in nature.”

API held fundraisers and workshops, as well as published a zine, to lead up to the annual conference. The weekend will begin with orientation followed by workshops, dinner and a show at the Bike Shop featuring local and visiting acts. Saturday, April 18, the main day of the event, is packed full with lectures and workshops, such as a dance workshop taught by Professor of Sociology Queen Zabriskie. There will be hourly events occurring on the residential side of campus.

On Sunday, April 19, the final action will be a March to the Park with a march and bike ride to Payne Park where there will be a speak-out. This is an opportunity for people to speak about institutional racism, abuse of officer discretion and renewing the accountability of city government. Trained student facilitators will then lead smaller group discussion focused on creating a list of demands for local government and the Sarasota Police Department. “We plan for the ideas shared at this event to evolve into a White Paper, similar to the one we made at NCF to address student-police tensions,” Ohanian said.

 

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