Fitness Against Fascism (FAF) is a workout event series and fundraiser curated by and benefiting SoapBox Productions and Organizing. It pairs an anti-oppressive, liberatory-minded high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout and trauma-informed yoga session with a community conversation about real holistic health, the impact of structural -isms in our everyday lives, and how to challenge them all while getting a well-rounded workout! FAF decolonizes the notion that fitness is apolitical as the event curates a space for sweat and solidarity in order to breakdown systems and institutions of oppression that affect every industry, including (and especially) the allied healthcare continuum. We can talk about nutrition, fitness, and self care all day but if we are not centering holistic environmental, social, political, cultural, and economic factors into our analysis, we are not only doing ourselves a disservice but harming others. With a radical social justice mandate, SoapBox’s unapologetic event series resists, reimagines, and rebuilds a more equitable world in fitness and beyond in an intentional and participatory manner. Let’s do the work, in every sense.
September 15, 2019
Fitness Against Fascism 3:
Prison-industrial Complex & Healthy Communities (FAF3)
Fitness Against Fascism 3 (FAF3), hosted at Studio Three - River North, featured a bodyweight HIIT workout led by Coss Marte of Conbody, yoga flow by Mel Phillips, and a panel-led conversation with activists, community organizers, and formerly incarcerated citizens on the effect of the prison-industrial complex on healthy communities. Our third event in the series (FAF3) focused on the prison-industrial complex, mainstream views on police/prison reform, and abolition of those systems. In addition to the workouts, we discussed the pros/cons of the current narrative-shift, important personal experiences, and the physical/mental health effects mass racialized incarceration has at the individual, familial, and community level, all through an abolitionist framework.
Featured Instructors
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The founder of CONBODY, Coss Marte developed his bodyweight training style when he was incarcerated for four years at Rikers Island Jail on drug charges. Coss lost 70 pounds in 6 months and found his calling, ready for a new path. He founded CONBODY fitness studio in New York City, where he hires other formerly incarcerated folks who have turned their lives around through fitness. Listen to Coss’ story on FAF3 sponsor aSweatLife’s podcast #WeGotGoals Episode 94! He has also been featured in The New York Times, Buzz Feed, Elle, Vice, The Startup podcast, and more. (Bio sources: aSweatLife and CONBODY)
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Mel Phillips was born and raised in the Carolinas and became a certified yoga instructor in 2018. She graduated from East Carolina University in 2014 with a Bachelors in Communication and a Bachelors in Merchandising. Mel escaped the South after graduation and moved to Chicago. She spends the majority of her “free” time teaching yoga for special communities and organizations like I Grow Chicago in Englewood and Yoga for Recovery, an organization that brings the practice of yoga and mindfulness to women in Cook County Corrections. Mel has specialty training in trauma-informed yoga and yoga for youth and actively pursues bringing mind and body practice to those with limited access. Mel is currently studying to becoming a full-spectrum doula. (Bio by Mel)
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Community Panelists |
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Vendors & Sponsors
The event also included raffle prizes, dope giveaways, pre/post-workout nourishment from health conscious, mission-driven, and community-minded vendors and supportive sponsors.
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Previous FAF Events
The first two FAF events were hosted at CrossTown Fitness where SoapBox paired an anti-oppressive, liberatory-minded high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout led by SoapBox and CrossTown’s Caullen Hudson and trauma-informed yoga session led by Mel Phillips. Participants learned more about SoapBox's work, holistic health and self care, how systems of oppression impact our everyday and how to challenge them, all while getting a well-rounded workout! The events also included post-workout meals and juices from community-minded and community-focused Kitchfix, Conscious Plates, and Eenji Juice as well as discussions lead by SoapBox team members and collaborators such as Judges Matter and American Constitution Society. Participants also received a 14-day unlimited pass to all CrossTown Fitness locations.
