🌈 RevCon ☄️ FAQs 🤔❓
Questions and answers composed by multiple members of The Revolution School
Listen to Entangler, Splash and Tectonic talk about RevCon plans on our Thinky Feely Tank Radio Hour on KCHUNG: Archive mp3
The “ambitions of the Revolution People’s Constitutional Convention (RPCC), organized by the Black Panther Party (BPP) in 1970”, is referenced in the RevCon 2026 press release. Is the plan to draft a new version of the U.S. Constitution at RevCon 2026, similar to the goals of the RPCC?
No, but you can if you want to! We are evoking and invoking the inspiring and ambitious energies of the BPP and RPCC to radically script and perform alternatives to naturalized systems, infrastructures, beliefs, actions, worldviews, ways of being, and relationships that do not support ongoing liberation for ALL. For some, this revolution or liberation work may be located in the U.S. Constitution or with/in policy and various institutions. For others, it may be more underground and fugitive, choosing to work with/in The Undercommons (Fred Moten and Stefano Harney). Some may focus on revolutionizing "personal" relationships with self/mind-body, family, lovers, friends, animal companions, ancestors, etc. while others are drawn to liberate "public" arenas like how ontological beliefs are constituted and integrated or how our neighborhoods can work together to challenge and dismantle border politics and national security logics. Revolution and liberation for ALL needs to happen in ALL areas of life and we want RevCon to invite, encourage, and support all of it.
Another aspiration of the RPCC was to bring together and unify factions of radical activists working across various movements, lived experiences, and issues with/in the U.S. We acknowledge and honor the long histories and generations of work from grassroots movements and organizations as well as from the more established and resourced and the newly formed and curious. We similarly envision RevCon to become an annual gathering that brings together the many existing and newly formed revolutionary factions and individuals working towards a shared goal of liberation for all.
The BPP reported 15,000 people in attendance at the RPCC!! We are also citing BPP's and RPCC's capacity to bring together a staggering number of revolutionaries as motivation for what could be possible with an annual 🌈 RevCon ☄️.
What kinds of sessions can I attend or propose to facilitate? Do I have to propose a session?
You do not have to propose sessions in order to participate in RevCon. You could instead choose to attend sessions others propose and facilitate. Though, you may find yourself inspired to propose a session and we will encourage you to do so! In terms of what kinds of sessions you will attend and can propose, that will entirely depend on you and the people present the day of the unconference. RevCon is emergent: participants co-create the event in real time and we are excited to say we cannot predict or dictate what those sessions might be.
With that said, 🌈 RevCon ☄️ is an annual Open Space (un)Conference on Revolution and this year's theme is "Liberation for All," so we do hope and anticipate the sessions will focus on revolution and liberation for all (however you and others interpret, engage with, and perform revolution and liberation for all). For example, maybe you'd like to present on a community project (local mutual aid group, community defense group, etc.), workshop a pressing issue (external or internal to the group—how to get money or how to self-govern, etc.), facilitate a discussion on a topic (pros & cons of non-profits, the role of love in revolution, the history of policing, etc.), lead a somatic movement practice for regulation before or after engaging with/in conflict, and/or host a work session to craft revolutionary memes or code a liberation app that you release into the world, etc. etc. The variety and options are truly endless and envisioned and activated by you!
For more ideas and inspo, members of The Revolution School made a list of session ideas we'd like to propose at RevCon and then come to the Meet & Greet Friday night to get more info, context, and inspo!
What form can the sessions take?
The unconference schedule board will consist of 30-minute time slots, though a session can be as short as a minute to as long as the entire day. The possible forms a session can take are similarly unconstrained. Examples include: workshops, discussion groups, lectures, activities, demos, a study group, a reading group, a screening, a debate, a roundtable, a cuddle pile, a movement practice, a choir, improv theater, etc. etc. We will have stations set up to support a variety of session forms. For example, a station with tables and chairs to help with making things, a station with a circle of chairs for discussion groups, a station with a projector for lectures and screenings, a station with no furniture/equipment for movement practices, etc.
Do I need to bring anything?
If you plan to facilitate a session that requires materials and supplies, you will need to bring those materials and supplies.
You may also want to bring something to take notes on/with. We will have giant pads of paper at each station for collective notes for each session. There will also be a "newsroom" where participants can share their individual notes to compile into an archive/document of RevCon 2026 that we will share with all RevCon 2026 participants.
If you have zines, pamphlets, flyers, business cards, etc. that you'd like to share, bring those too! We will have a table dedicated for networking and outreach materials.
Who is this Unconference for Revolution meant for?
This is meant for both those already working towards revolution and those curious about it; it's for those with tons of skills to share and those with tons of skills to build; we all have something to learn from one another; maybe you're a veteran of movement building who might feel inspired by an artist's ideas on how to counter surveillance; maybe you're an artist who wants to integrate more concrete approaches into your ideas on revolution; or maybe you are polyamorous and want to workshop how to have shared babies; or maybe you are a teacher and want to learn different, non-hierarchical ways of being in the classroom. Perhaps you play "devil's advocate" and pose oppositional arguments in every session you attend or a cheerleader who chants words of encouragement, etc., etc., etc.
🌈 RevCon ☄️ is *not* an academic conference, with preconfigured panels and speakers that privileges those with institutional affiliation and charges a heavy fee to attend. Come as you are, including academics and institutions!
This is a space to learn new things—ever want to learn something specific but haven't had the opportunity to? You can post a session on what you'd like to learn as a way to invite others to attend and share their knowledge and experiences. If you know about the subject someone is asking to learn, you can go to that session and share (or choose not to go)!
This is a space to test, rehearse, share, or transform things you already know.
This is a space to meet and connect with more people interested in all the ways that we enact collective, interpersonal, individual, and planetary change—a radical reshaping of the world to benefit all.
It's a great way to recruit people for something you're working on, meet people doing similar projects, and learn new ways to do your revolutionary work.
Why Open Space Technology (OST)?
The first Open Space Convention was held in 1985 by Harrison Owen. The format embraces emergence, takes advantage of collective intelligence, allows for concurrent discussions, holds the possibility of generating rapid momentum; its non-heirarchical format spans differences, understands the idea that there is not one right answer for complex issues and that spontaneity spurs creativity.
What are the 4 Principles of Open Space?
Whoever shows up are the right people.
Whenever it starts is the right time.
Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
When it's over, it's over.
What is the 1 Law of Open Space?
The Law of Agency (aka The Law of Mobility): We are responsible for our own learnings and contributions. If at any point during a session you find yourself neither learning nor contributing, you have the agency to move somewhere you can.
Is this an art project or an art event? Why is it supported with arts funding?
As Toni Cade Bambara said, the role of the artist is to make revolution irresistible (original quote: “As a culture worker who belongs to an oppressed people my job is to make revolution irresistible.”). There are members of The Revolution School who are artists and, through that, we received the 2025 Jacki Apple Award, administered by LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), to specifically organize and launch 🌈 RevCon ☄️. We then partnered with LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) and was awarded a WeHo Arts Grant to support 2 years of 🌈 RevCon ☄️. We are grateful for the support from arts funding (and who else would finance this??)! So, is it an art project or an art event? Only if you want it to be and it's helpful or generative to think of RevCon as an art project/event. If not, it's not an art project/event; it's an unconference on revolution!
Why do you have an Instagram?
It's one way to reach people. Meta sucks and the revolution will not & should not be organized on a surveillance-capitalist platform. But there are also lots of people on there posting and reading about how to work toward the world we want, and we hope that 🌈 RevCon ☄️ might support them in coming back to active comradeship. And the revolution we want is liberation for ALL and that includes IG too.
Oh also lol follow us on IG 😄, especially if you want important updates on venues for the Meet & Greet, Drinks & Decompress, and Brunch + Next Steps: @revolution_unconference
Your idea of revolution doesn't sound like my idea of revolution.
That's great! Please come and tell us more about your idea of revolution.