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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20221101T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20221127T233000
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SUMMARY:Photovoice challenge
DESCRIPTION:This November 2022 photovoice challenge is open to young adults who are Black\, Indigenous and People of Color and who live in Burlington and Winooski\, Vermont. Learn more about the contest\, enter and upload your photos and videos here by November 27\, 2022. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nQuestions? Not sure how to participate? Learn more about how our partners at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation work on issues affecting our air\, climate\, land\, waste\, and water at their A to Z topics page. And contact us\, using the information at the bottom of the contest flier\, below. \n\n\n\n(cover photo credit: Yusuf Abdi\, July 2022) \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCenter for Whole Communities exists to cultivate transformative leadership that weaves together and strengthens movements for justice and the environment. \n\n\n\nOur leadership practices and frameworks build capacity at the individual\, organizational\, and community level to deepen awareness\, embrace differences\, and value relationships\, making change possible.
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/photovoice/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20220407T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220407T170000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20220509T212550Z
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SUMMARY:Spring embodied practice
DESCRIPTION:Celebrate Spring by stepping into the warmth of Spring embodied practice with Kavitha Rao\, via this recording from Spring 2021. Please practice at your leisure! We hope it brings you ease. \n\n\n\n\nSpring embodied practice RECORDING \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nKavitha’s invitation to practice last Spring still resonates\, so we’ve excerpted it here: \n\n\n\nDear ones\, \n\n\n\nHow are you? Yes\, You. \n\n\n\nHow is your body\, your spirit\, your resolve? For most of us it has been a year unlike any we’ve ever known. Most of us have hugged less and juggled more. Whether you’ve grappled with mental health\, parenting\, uncertainty\, loss\, rage\, fear… I want you to know how glad I am that you’ve made it this far. That we’ve made it this far.   \n\n\n\nWe are resilient and capable of adaptation and care.   \n\n\n\nIn Ayurveda\, the transition from winter to spring is governed by Kapha.  Kapha is earth and water.  Kapha is protection.  In balance Kapha can support stability\, compassion\, and forgiveness.  Out of balance\, Kapha can produce dullness and a sense of – “I don’t want to deal with this”.  Kapha is the principle that holds things together. How are you holding things together? \n\n\n\nI invite you to join me for Spring embodied practice. Drawing from qi-gong\, yoga\, and ayurveda\, I’ll offer basic practices that support stimulation and letting go of any stuck-ness or congestion that can accumulate in the winter. Like the classes I offered last year\, we’ll continue to work with emotions like grief and rage while also turning towards the quality of contentment that bringing Kapha in balance can support. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe class is meant to be accessible to beginners as well as seasoned yogis\, and my hope is that there are aspects of this practice that you can adapt easily for your own practice. \n\n\n\nLet’s honor all the ways we’ve held it together to make it thru this winter\, this year. Let’s turn to the growing light and the quickening pulse we feel outside and around us to invigorate our practice.  \n\n\n\nWith love\, \n\n\n\nKavitha 
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/spring-embodied-practice-2022/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211110T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211110T110000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20211102T223202Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220126T180421Z
UID:4107-1636542000-1636542000@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Fall embodied practice
DESCRIPTION:Kavitha Rao writes\,  \n\n\n\n“This year has been a LOT\, y’all\, and it’s not over!  I’m grateful to have a chance to practice together again. \n\n\n\nWe’re deep into fall\, the season of change and wind… please join me for practice and prayer\, for gratitude\, for giving and receiving\, for centering amidst all the changes\, all the transitions in our bodies\, our families\, our communities\, our movements.   \n\n\n\nAs with previous embodied practice series\, we’ll draw from qi-gong\, yoga\, and ayurveda. I’ll focus on strengthening lungs and working with emotions like grief\, anxiety\, fear and rage.” \n\n\n\nThis series has ended\, but you can carry out the practice following this recording: \n\n\n\n\nVIEW An embodied practice Recording from Kavitha’s Fall series\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMy intention is for the class to be accessible to beginners as well as seasoned yogis\, and my hope is that there are aspects of this practice that you can repeat and create rhythms and routines that can help you to build resilience to face change with grace and creativity.  Join me for one day or every day\, as it fits your schedules and needs.  \n\n\n\nI’ll start with 3 days next week (Tuesday November 9 / Wednesday November 10 / Thursday November 11)\, and then we’ll move to weekly on Wednesday mornings at 10AM ET / 9AM CT / 8AM MT / 7AM PT through December 8\, 2021.” \n\n\n\n\nregister here\n\n\n\n\nKavitha Rao’s understanding of the possibility of change and healing is deeply influenced by her training in yoga therapy\, cranio-sacral therapy\, ayurveda\, and mindfulness.  She brings these tools to her leadership and facilitation work recognizing how important knowing ourselves and personal healing is in our efforts to heal our planet and build community. \n\n\n\nShe has worked with CWC since 2006 as a facilitator\, trainer and consultant\, and is excited to bring more embodied practice to our offerings and our understanding of the many ways to support change.
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/fall-practice/2021-11-10/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210914T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210914T193000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210826T155919Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211103T020003Z
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SUMMARY:The Properties of Perpetual Light
DESCRIPTION:The Properties of Perpetual Light: Julian Aguon and Chantilly Mers in poetry\, practice and prayer\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThank you for joining us September 14\, 2021 at 6:30 pm ET for an evening of story-telling\, poetry and practice with Guam-born indigenous rights/environmental lawyer and poet/author Julian Aguon and Pasifika minister\, justice educator\, and Indigenous circle-keeper\, Chantilly Mers. Watch the recording\, here\, and read “To Hell With Drowning“\, an article Julian wrote in The Atlantic that he calls “the most important things I’ve ever written”. “For people living in Oceania\,” he begins\, “climate change is the fight of our lives\, and we need more than science to win. We need stories.” \n\n\n\nSee Bonitu\, the music video by Microchild Julian played to welcome us\, here. \n\n\n\nChantilly and Kavitha Rao led practice sessions grounded in Julian’s book\, The Practice of Perpetual Light\, over three Fall Fridays (September 24 / October 1 / October 8\, 2021 from 3-4 pm ET.  \n\n\n\nThe struggles for self determination of the native and non-self governing peoples of the Pacific islands as a result of US colonial and military expansion are intimately linked to our reckoning around the climate and  other catastrophes of our time. As we carve out time to share poetry and prayer\, we offer a call\, as Junot Diaz says\, “not only for justice but for a brand-new covenant with our world”. \n\n\n\n\n\nRev. Chantilly Mers (L) and Julian Aguon\, Esq. (R)\n\n\n\n Read more about Julian’s latest book\, The Properties of Perpetual Light\, here. \n\n\n\nA breathtaking book and I mean it—this book took my breath away. The Properties of Perpetual Light is so alive with passion\, wisdom and heart\, you can almost feel its pulse. A call not only for justice but for a brand-new covenant with our world.  —Junot Díaz\, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao\, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction \n\n\n\nContinue in practice with us!\n\n\n\nFor three Fridays beginning September 24\, 2021\, from 3:00-4:00 pm ET (September 24 / October 1 / October 8 / 2021)\, we will pause to ponder and practice what author Julian Aguon calls the role of the activist-writer\, which is “the work of bearing witness\, wrestling with the questions of one’s day\, [and] telling children the truth.”  \n\n\n\nEach week we will listen to the quiet poetry and prose of his book\, The Properties of Perpetual Light\, feel the heartbreak and enchantment of Micronesia\, and bear witness to the quiet truth within ourselves and Earth.  \n\n\n\nKavitha Rao and Chantilly Mers will guide us in gentle practices and openhearted conversation.  Getting a copy of the book is wonderful but not necessary to join. \n\n\n\nregister here\n\n\n\n“I did not know I needed this book until it had me in its embrace like the oldest and dearest of friends\, from the very first page. Overflowing with warmth and wisdom and defying all categorization\, The Properties of Perpetual Light is philosophy\, poetry\, memoir\, history and self-help for humanity. With bottomless love for his people and place\, Aguon guides us through a portal to the Pacific\, sharing deep insights earned from life on the existential knife’s edge.” —Naomi Klein\, Senior Correspondent at The Intercept and author of The Shock Doctrine and This Changes Everything  \n\n\n\nA powerful\, beautiful book. Its fierce love—of the land\, the ocean\, the elders and the ancestors—warms the heart and moves the spirit.”  —Alice Walker\, author of The Color Purple\, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction \n\n\n\nBios:\n\n\n\nJulian Aguon is an indigenous human rights lawyer and writer from Guam and the author of the acclaimed new book\, The Properties of Perpetual Light. He is the visionary behind Blue Ocean Law\, a progressive firm that works at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice. He serves on the  Global Advisory Council of Progressive International—a global collective that launched in May 2020 to mobilize progressive forces around the world behind a shared vision of social justice. Julian is a lover of the sea and people with sea secrets in their eyes.  \n\n\n\nChantilly Mers-Pickett is a Pasifka minister\, justice educator\, and Indigenous circle-keeper. Born and raised in Maui\, Hawaii\, a daughter of immigrants\, she moved to New York City to study Theology and the Arts at Union Theological Seminary. Today she co-leads a gentle faith community\, Common Ground Church\, in Manhattan and collaborates with What’s Next Now? a team of racial equity consultants. She is passionate about reclaiming ordinary spaces for emergence and radical togetherness. A learner of living systems\, permaculture\, and Indigenous wisdom\, Chantilly lives and tends a garden in Bloomfield\, NJ (Lenape Land) with her multigenerational ‘ohana made up of her parents\, spouse\, two daughters\, and their 7 tropical plants. 
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/perpetual-light/2021-09-14/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210729T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210729T210000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210607T013013Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210804T232250Z
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SUMMARY:Karma and Carving
DESCRIPTION:Karma & Carving: Spoon-carving and talk story sessions with Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey \n\n\n\n\n\nThis series met on Thursday evenings in July\, 2021\, and may repeat in a few months. We will let you know! \n\n\n\nParticipants joined CWC faculty member and Vipassana meditation teacher Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey for a 4-session exploration of the mysteries of labor\, value\, ownership\, generosity\, and identity – through the practice of wooden spoon-carving.  \n\n\n\n\nREgister here\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJesse offered basic guidance on the practice of spoon-carving and invited participants into conversation about the spiritual and social dynamics that impact our understanding of the nature of work and the nature of self. Specific details follow. \n\n\n\nAll materials (tools and wood) must be acquired by participants themselves. Guidance on materials can be found below.   \n\n\n\nParticipants were invited to join a Slack ‘workspace’ as soon as they registered. Slack is a communications platform that we used leading up to the session for support with carving and tools\, and between sessions to share updates\, photos of our work(s) in progress\, articles\, and generally keep the community conversation going between our online sessions. (Joining Slack is completely optional.) \n\n\n\nREAD MORE ABOUT JESSE HERE\nJesse Maceo Vega-Frey is a teacher of Vipassana (insight) meditation within the broader context of Theravadan Buddhism. His offerings aim to inspire the skills\, determination\, and faith necessary to realize the deepest human freedom.  \n\n\n\nJesse first learned spoon-carving from Peter Forbes at Knoll Farm and the Center for Whole Communities\, when it was based in Fayston\, VT. Over the years he has benefited from the influence of many others\, including folks on social media. (follow #spooncarving or #greenwoodworking hashtags on Instagram for a peek)   \n\n\n\nHis training of these issues of labor\, value\, self\, and ownership come from an often ill-fitting collision of Karl Marx’ Labor Theory of Value and the Buddha’s notion of dependent origination. Spoon-carving has provided him with a powerful medium by which to explore these issues in the most momentary internal ways – as mental intention creates physical action – to the broadest social importance – can we create an economy of non-exploitation and non-ownership\, based purely on generosity and need?  \n\n\n\n\nDuring our time together\, expect to:  \n\n\n\nLearn the basics or improve your skills in carving wooden spoons Explore ideas about doing and being\, about accomplishment and exploitation\, about labor and love. Develop a deeper appreciation of your own ability to create and to augment the goodness that can come from that creation. Join a community of practice committed to learning and growing around these ideas and methods. \n\n\n\n\n\nBasic Rules of Karma and Carving:  \n\n\n\nDon’t be mean. Please talk! Please carve! But don’t do both at the same time. Don’t sell what you work on during our time together. Keep it for yourself or give it away. \n\n\n\n\nregister here\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMaterials \n\n\n\nAll participants will be expected to acquire the basic materials needed for spoon-carving before the first session. This means: a straight knife\, a crooked knife\, and a piece of wood. These are specialized materials (you cannot use a traditional pocket-knife) that can be found very affordably or highly priced at many places online.  \n\n\n\nFor beginners\, we recommend that participants purchase a “spoon blank” (an already roughed-out piece of wood\, shaped generally) from one of the suppliers listed below.  \n\n\n\nREAD MORE ABOUT MATERIALS \nKnives: \n\n\n\nYou can now find spoon-carving tools all over the place online. Typing in “spoon-carving knives” into Amazon will give you a ton of options. \n\n\n\nBasically\, you need 2 knives to start: a “straight” or “sloyd” knife and a “crooked” or “hook” knife. The straight knife cannot be any old pocket knife because the blades are too thin and the tang not long enough. Here are some examples of carving knives and kits on Etsy: \n\n\n\nhttps://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodCarvingTools?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=917894420 \n\n\n\n\nForgedsteeltools spoon-carving Tool set\n\n\n\nDeepwoods Ventures Carving tools\n\n\n\n\nMora brand knives can be found on amazon and elsewhere. They are the most well-known\, well-made mass-produced Swedish company: \n\n\n\nhttps://morakniv.se/en/usagearea/woodcarving/ \n\n\n\n\nMora complete spooncarving set\n\n\n\n\nIf you have already learned some spoon-carving through the Center for Whole Communities\, you might remember these tools: \n\n\n\nhttps://warrencutlery.com/ \n\n\n\nSpecialty ($$): \n\n\n\nThere are now dozens of people in the US and UK making incredible tools for spoon carving. Here are some excellent craftspeople who make pricey but life-long tools: \n\n\n\nhttp://www.kestreltool.com/https://pinewoodforge.com/ \n\n\n\nhttps://www.templemtnwoodcraft.com/ \n\n\n\nhttps://www.facebook.com/GaryHackettTools/ \n\n\n\nWooden Spoon Blanks: \n\n\n\nYou can go to a local lumber yard and usually buy scraps of hardwoods of all kinds for pretty cheap. You don’t need anything fancy. Not pine. You can pick up a stick off the ground and go with that. Prune a tree you have permission to cut. These folks below get the basic shape cut for you on a bandsaw\, which can be helpful before you invest in a hatchet or drawknife and shaving mule\, etc. But there is something to be said about starting from a raw piece of wood – just takes more time and patience. One thing to remember is that for an eating spoon\, the bowl does not need to be very deep at all so don’t give yourself a ton of extra work starting with a super thick chunk of wood. \n\n\n\nhttps://www.etsy.com/shop/honeysuckleandmud?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=959262938 \n\n\n\nhttps://www.etsy.com/shop/HandMadeWoodMiracle?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=910985179 \n\n\n\nhttps://www.etsy.com/shop/ButternutSpoonCarver?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=585578729 \n\n\n\nhttps://www.etsy.com/shop/KingcraftShop?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=713754080 \n\n\n\n\nOther Resources Searching for various hashtags on Instagram is a great way to get inspired for your spoon-carving\, and also a place where you can connect with tool-makers of all kinds (and eventually spend a lot of money on archaic tools from bygone eras…) \n\n\n\nREAD MORE ABOUT OTHER RESOURCES\nIf you are not on IG\, you can google these same words and find a bunch of cool stuff. \n\n\n\n#spooncarving \n\n\n\nhttps://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/spooncarving/ \n\n\n\n#greenwoodworking (refers to using freshly cut wood rather than cured dry wood) \n\n\n\nhttps://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/greenwoodworking/ \n\n\n\n#sloyd (refers to the Swedish school that some of these lineages are rooted in… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloyd) \n\n\n\nhttps://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/sloyd/ \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nFeel free to reach out to Jesse with ANY questions about your materials before you purchase them!! You can email him at jesse [at] dolessforpeace.org \n\n\n\nAgain\, our series ran over 4 Thursdays in July (8\, 15\, 22\, 29)\, 2021  \n\n\n\n2pm Hawaii / 5pm Pacific / 6pm Mountain/ 7pm Central / 8pm East   \n\n\n\n\nregister here\n\n\n\n\nThese sessions were offered freely by Jesse. You can support the ongoing work of CWC by offering donations here:  \n\n\n\n\nDonate
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/karma-and-carving/2021-07-29/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210519T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210519T130000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210427T222943Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210827T155330Z
UID:3274-1621425600-1621429200@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Beyond Solidarity
DESCRIPTION:Beyond Solidarity: Brenda Salgado and Bayo Akomolafe\n\n\n\n\nwatch the recording here\n\n\n\n\nWe welcomed allies\, ritualists and cultural healer-teachers Brenda Salgado and Bayo Akomolafe to riff on solidarity and what lies beyond. Together\, these two brilliant and powerful guides shared wisdom and insights with our community.  \n\n\n\nOn May 19th\, these two gifted teachers offered reflections on caregiving\, and new frameworks and rituals for this time of disturbance.“Disturbance is an opportunity [for] …experimentation. Experimentation calls for humility. Humility is the condition for shapeshift and transformation”\, says Bayo.Brenda reflects\,“I could feel the ancestors saying\, ‘thank you\, ’cause we needed to be unburdened from that\, and we need you to be freed to do what you came here to do right now.'” \n\n\n\nAs the world continues to reveal fractures and possibilities\, we welcome you to join a space of blessing. \n\n\n\n\nwatch the recording here\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBased in the Bay Area\, Brenda Salgado is a curandera and founder of Nepantla Consulting. She is in the process of establishing the Nepantla Land Trust\, and the Nepantla Center for Healing and Renewal. She holds degrees in Biology (BA)\, Developmental Psychology (BA)\, and Animal Behavior (MS). Brenda is an author\, public speaker\, facilitator\, teacher\, healer\, and organizational consultant. She has over 20 years of experience in transformative leadership development\, nonprofit management\, spiritual teaching\, movement building\, women’s health\, and environmental and social justice. Brenda’s first edited book is titled Real World Mindfulness for Beginners: Navigate Daily Life One Practice at a Time. \n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT BRENDA\nBrenda has received training from indigenous elders in traditional medicine and healing ceremony. Trained by teachers in the Purepecha\, Xochimilco Toltec and other indigenous lineages\, Brenda draws on the healing powers of the natural world to guide her work. \n\n\n\nHer book\, Real World Mindfulness for Beginners: Navigate Daily Life One Practice at a Time\, was written particularly for those who are new to mindfulness. It includes a collection of short mindfulness practices guidance from 10 of the most trusted mindfulness teachers in the country that will help you navigate anxiety and stress\, anger and hurt\, grief and loss\, and more. As she was working on this book\, Brenda expressed her committed to including diverse chapter authors\, and authors serving and bringing mindfulness into diverse and social justice communities. \n\n\n\nIn the past\, she has served as the Director of the East Bay Meditation Center\, considered by many to be one of the most diverse Buddhist Sanghas in the country and a model of gift economy and collective leadership. She has also served as Associate Director at Wisdom & Money\, and as a Senior Fellow at the Movement Strategy Center\, and on the boards of Movement Strategy Center\, Lion’s Roar Foundation\, and Unity San Leandro. She is also the founder of Moons Rising Women’s Circle\, and has taught\, facilitated and led ceremony at numerous gatherings\, including Bioneers\, Mindful Life Conference\, The Future of Religion and Interspirituality\, Science and Nonduality Conference on Dying and Living\, We Will Dance with Mountains\, WisdomWomen\, and many more. She has also brought her teachings and ceremony to organizations such as California Institute of Integral Studies\, SF Department of Public Health\, Genentech\, The Ford Foundation and the Latino Community Foundation\, among others. \n\n\n\nHer current projects are focused on transformational leadership\, sacred economics\, reconnecting others to ceremony and relationship with the land\, mindfulness practices that draw from multiple traditions\, ceremony for collective healing and transformation\, and the weaving of mindfulness and indigenous teachings for our times. She is committed to co-creating a society filled with wholeness and beauty. Brenda is grateful to her ancestors for the values that have led her to spirituality\, healing\, and transformative leadership development. \n\n\n\n\nBayo Akomolafe (Ph.D.) is the Chief Curator of The Emergence Network\, a speaker\, author\, fugitive neo-materialist com-post-activist public intellectual and Yoruba poet.  \n\n\n\nBayo\, who lives primarily in India\, provocatively riffs on themes of postactivism and transraciality. Rooted with the Yoruba people in a more-than-human world\, he is the father to Alethea and Kyah\, the grateful life-partner to Ije\, son and brother. A widely celebrated international speaker\, posthumanist thinker\, poet\, teacher\, public intellectual\, essayist\, and author of two books\, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak.   \n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT BAYO\nBayo Akomolafe (PhD) was born in 1983 into a Christian home\, and to Yoruba parents in western Nigeria. Losing his diplomat father to a sudden heart complication\, Bayo became a reclusive teenager\, seeking to get to the “heart of the matter” as a response to his painful loss. After meeting with traditional healers as part of his quest to understand trauma\, mental wellbeing and healing in new ways\, his deep questions and concerns for decolonized landscapes congealed into a life devoted to exploring the nuances of a “magical” world “too promiscuous to fit neatly into our fondest notions of it.” \n\n\n\nNow living between India and the United States\, Bayo is a father of Alethea Aanya and Kyah Jayden Abayomi. He is married to EJ\, his dear life-partner of Indian descent.  \n\n\n\nIn 2014\, Dr. Akomolafe was invited to be the Special Envoy of the International Alliance for Localization\, a project of Ancient Futures (USA). He left his lecturing position in Covenant University\, Nigeria to help build this Alliance. Bayo has been Visiting Professor at Middlebury College\, where he taught on his own formulated concepts of ‘transraciality’ and postactivism. He has also taught at Sonoma State University (CA\, USA)\, Simon Fraser University (Vancouver\, Canada)\, and Schumacher College (Totnes\, England) – among other universities around the world. He currently lectures at Pacifica Graduate Institute\, California and University of Vermont\, Burlington\, Vermont. He sits on the Board of many organizations including Science and Non-Duality.  \n\n\n\nThe convener of the concepts of ‘postactivism’\, ‘transraciality’ and ‘ontofugitivity’\, Bayo is a widely celebrated international speaker\, teacher\, public intellectual\, essayist and author of two books\, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak. He is also the Executive Director and Chief Curator for The Emergence Network and host of the online postactivist course\, ‘We Will dance with Mountains’. 
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/beyond-solidarity/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210428T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210428T110000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210310T144342Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210915T153900Z
UID:2983-1619604000-1619607600@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Spring Embodied Practice
DESCRIPTION:This practice series began 3/15\, 3/17 and 3/19/21 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am EDT\, and concludes Wednesday 4/28/21 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am EDT. The class is free\, and you are welcome to join any and all classes during the series. \n\n\n\n\nView a recording of the 4.14.2021 practice session\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nDear ones\, \n\n\n\nHow are you? Yes\, You. \n\n\n\nHow is your body\, your spirit\, your resolve? For most of us it has been a year unlike any we’ve ever known. Most of us have hugged less and juggled more. Whether you’ve grappled with mental health\, parenting\, uncertainty\, loss\, rage\, fear… I want you to know how glad I am that you’ve made it this far. That we’ve made it this far.   \n\n\n\nWe are resilient and capable of adaptation and care.   \n\n\n\nIn Ayurveda\, the transition from winter to spring is governed by Kapha.  Kapha is earth and water.  Kapha is protection.  In balance Kapha can support stability\, compassion\, and forgiveness.  Out of balance\, Kapha can produce dullness and a sense of – “I don’t want to deal with this”.  Kapha is the principle that holds things together. How are you holding things together? \n\n\n\n\n\nI invite you to join me for Spring embodied practice. Drawing from qi-gong\, yoga\, and ayurveda\, I’ll offer basic practices that support stimulation and letting go of any stuck-ness or congestion that can accumulate in the winter. Like the classes I offered last year\, we’ll continue to work with emotions like grief and rage while also turning towards the quality of contentment that bringing Kapha in balance can support. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe class is meant to be accessible to beginners as well as seasoned yogis\, and my hope is that there are aspects of this practice that you can adapt easily for your own practice. Join me for one day or every day\, as it fits your schedules and needs.  \n\n\n\nI’ll start with three days the week of March 15 to mark our pandemic/quarantinniversary and the Spring Equinox (Monday\, 3/15 / Wednesday\, 3/17 / Friday\, 3/19) and then we’ll move to weekly classes on Wednesday mornings\, with all classes at 10:00am ET / 9:00am CT / 8:00am MT / 7:00am PT\, from 3/24 until 4/28. \n\n\n\nLet’s honor all the ways we’ve held it together to make it thru this winter\, this year. Let’s turn to the growing light and the quickening pulse we feel outside and around us to invigorate our practice.  \n\n\n\nWith love\, \n\n\n\nKavitha  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nREgister here\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSenior Fellow Kavitha Rao has worked with CWC since 2006 as a facilitator\, trainer and consultant. She is excited to bring more embodied practice to our offerings and our understanding of the many ways to support change. Read more about Kavitha here.
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/spring-embodied-practice-2021/
LOCATION:via Zoom
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210421T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210421T203000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210402T043559Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210915T155201Z
UID:3188-1619031600-1619037000@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:
DESCRIPTION:What does race have to do with it? Barriers to civic engagement and equity in Vermont\n\n\n\nDelma Jackson\, Senior Fellow at the Center for Whole Communities\, and Vermont State Senator Kesha Ram talked race\, civic engagement\, and the humanities. The speakers reflected on how our history and policies have contributed to creating\, maintaining–and disrupting–systems of oppression\, and considered how entrenched ideas and practices continue to interfere with full civic engagement within global majority communities. Finally\, they discussed specific efforts to remove barriers to engaging BIPOC Vermonters. Parts of that conversation appear in the Vermont Humanities Council podcast episode linked below. \n\n\n\n\nListen to the poDcast episode\n\n\n\n\nThis conversation is part of the 2020-2021 Vermont Civics Collaborative initiative of the Vermont Humanities Council. \n\n\n\nSpeakers Delma Jackson III and Senator Kesha Ram\n\n\n\nDELMA JACKSON is an activist\, facilitator\, writer\, counselor\, and lecturer with the Center for Whole Communities. \n\n\n\nREAD MORE ABOUT DELMA HERE\nDelma writes\, “I’ve spent years engaging in historical analysis and social justice work–watching myself transform from someone singularly focused on racial justice into an ever larger “tent” focusing on the ways in which history bears out the way oppression mimics itself across a variety of social identities. With each new realization\, I’m constantly being challenged and challenging others to see our interconnectedness. My goal is always to bring history into the present and demonstrate the ways in which El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) was correct in arguing that\, “of all our studies\, history is in the best position to reward our research.”   \n\n\n\nDelma’s bio can be found on our team page. \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nKESHA RAM is a Vermont State Senator serving Chittenden County\, where she is the first woman of color and youngest woman in history to have a seat in the State Senate.  \n\n\n\nREAD MORE ABOUT KESHA HERE\nRam received a BS in Natural Resource Planning and a BA in Political Science from the University of Vermont in 2008\, where she was Student Government Association President and graduated magna cum laude. Kesha earned her Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2018. Her career in Vermont has spanned preschool education\, legal advocacy for victims of domestic violence\, and municipal civic engagement. She currently works to build social equity and inclusion in non-profit organizations\, businesses\, school districts\, and municipalities.  \n\n\n\nKesha served in the Vermont House of Representatives on behalf of Burlington\, Chittenden District 6-4 from 2008 to 2016\, where she sat on the House General\, Housing & Military Affairs and Ways & Means Committees\, and as Vice Chair of the House Natural Resources & Energy Committee. She has also served as Co-Chair of the Vermont Attorney General’s Immigration Task Force\, and as a member of the boards of Emerge Vermont\, the Main Street Alliance of Vermont\, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England\, the Regenerative Food Network\, and the Vermont Natural Resources Council. This year\, she was honored to be one of Vermont’s three electors in the Electoral College\, casting a vote for 46th President Joseph R. Biden and history-making Vice President Kamala D. Harris.  \n\n\n\nKesha lives with her fiancé\, Jacob Hinsdale\, who grew up on Country Cedars Farm in Charlotte\, and their dog\, Miso. \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nAnd finally\, some notes on what’s informing our thinking on civics and the humanities\, from an early conversation of the Vermont Civics Collaborative\, facilitated by Meg Mott. \n\n\n\nREAD MORE\nHere’s a collage of our discussion on civics without the humanities. Many of you spoke about the need to understand history\, not just any history but one that offered a “complex picture\,” or that followed the Highlander grass-roots approach. Any civics effort that did not “know the background”  or made “decisions without context.” was suffering from a humanities deficiency. We also heard that language that is “unconscious” of its colonial/racist origins drains civics of its humanity. But how would we know if language could ever be redeemed? The words “civics” and “humanities” were interrogated and found to come up short. No matter what we do\, our public efforts will always “look the same.”Many of the comments spoke to the inner life: When there is a “lack of reflection\,” “when we don’t understand who we are\,” when there is a “disconnection of head and heart\,” when “base emotions” are in charge\, so that “individual need and self-interest” override broader concerns\, that’s when we know that we have lost our way. No wonder that we feel “impoverished” with this type of civics! A poem that captures the lack of humanity so often in our public life was offered:  \n\n\n\n“It is difficult\nto get the news from poems\nyet men die miserably every day\nfor lack\nof what is found there.” \n\nWilliam Carlos Williams\n\n\n\nAnd an image: “a pile of bodies with one victor at the top.”  \n\n\n\n… use the language that aligns with your inner compass.… a civics that is conscious of language\, self-reflective\, aware of the many histories that populate this land\, aligns heads and hearts\, and can offer a poem or a visual image\, is the kind of civics worth fighting for.”   \n\n\n\n\nFeatured image used under Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 4.0)
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/what-does-race-have-to-do-with-it/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210226T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210226T160000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210211T234714Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210915T155817Z
UID:2682-1614351600-1614355200@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Imperative dreaming: white identity and healthy solidarity
DESCRIPTION:Recording not available. \n\n\n\nFor the last several months\, CWC has been hosting virtual community conversations exploring Black/Indigenous solidarity. \n\n\n\nAs we prepared to transition into a new series of community conversations AND launch the Dive-In-Justice Podcast\, we wanted to mark this occasion by inviting back Shadiin Garcia\, to join Delma Jackson (co-hosts of the new podcast)\, Ginny McGinn and Kristin Rothballer\, in an exploration of whiteness\, white supremacy\, and white allyship.  \n\n\n\nIn light of Black History Month\, our series on Black/Indigenous solidarity\, and the recent attempt at political insurrection\, white identity politics has rarely been rendered more visible. 2021 could be a unique year of accountability and healing\, or\, without a clear vision forward\, usher in years of progressive complacency and more radicalized white violence.  \n\n\n\nParticipants joined us Friday\, February 26th at 12pmPT/3pmET in this timely and important exploration of white identity\, healthy solidarity\, and imperative dreaming.
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/imperative-dreaming-white-identity-and-healthy-solidarity/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210122T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210122T130000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210119T022941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210915T161016Z
UID:1327-1611316800-1611320400@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Braided Legacies\, Sovereign Futures
DESCRIPTION:We welcomed in the new year with a grief-transformation ceremony\, led by two holders of tremendous visionary work being done to address reparations\, rematriation\, and sovereignty on land.  We are so grateful to have been held in that space by Stephanie Morningstar and Leah Penniman! Listen to the recording here. \n\n\n\nCarrying on the legacy of our ancestral grandmothers\, who braided seeds in their hair before boarding transatlantic slave ships\, believing against odds in a future of sovereignty on land.” Leah Penniman\, Farming While Black\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nStephanie Morningstar (Oneida Nation\, She/Her\, They/Them) is an herbalist\, soil and seed steward\, scholar\, student\, and Earth Worker. Stephanie is dedicated to decolonizing and liberating minds\, hearts\, and land- one plant\, person\, ecosystem\, and non-human being at a time. Stephanie is the Executive Director and Resources\, Relationships\, and Reciprocity Co-Director of the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust; grows medicines and food for her community at Sky World Apothecary & Farm; and teaches QTBIPOC about the wonders of plant medicine at Seed\, Soil\, + Spirit School. \n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT STEPHANIE\nStephanie carries with her over a decade of community-driven systems change work in the healthcare\, legal\, and academic research spaces where she cut her teeth on speaking Truth to Power. Her work advancing sovereignty in the Healthcare\, Child Welfare\, and legal systems with and for Indigenous communities has resulted in mandating Indigenous Cultural Safety training to service providers; Indigenous Dispute Transformation frameworks; and meaningful and ethical Indigenous-driven research in climate change. She serves BIPOC land stewards and farmers in the Northeast as the Executive Director and Resources\, Relationships\, and Reciprocity Co-Director at the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust. \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nLeah Penniman (li/she/ya/elle) is a Black Kreyol farmer/peyizan\, mother\, soil nerd\, author\, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton\, NY. She co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to end racism in the food system and reclaim our ancestral connection to land. As Co-Director and Farm Manager\, Leah is part of a team that facilitates powerful food sovereignty programs – including farmer training for Black & Brown people\, a subsidized farm food distribution program for communities living under food apartheid\, and domestic and international organizing toward equity in the food system. \n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT LEAH\nLeah has been farming since 1996\, holds an MA in Science Education and a BA in Environmental Science and International Development from Clark University\, and is a Manye (Queen Mother) in Vodun. Leah trained at Many Hands Organic Farm\, Farm School MA\, and internationally with farmers in Ghana\, Haiti\, and Mexico. She also served as a high school biology and environmental science teacher for 17 years. The work of Leah and Soul Fire Farm has been recognized by the Soros Racial Justice Fellowship\, Fulbright Program\, Grist 50\, and James Beard Leadership Award\, among others. Her book\, Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land is a love song for the land and her people.   \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nBraided Legacies\, Sovereign Futures with Stephanie Morningstar and Leah Penniman took place on January 21\, 2021\, 12pmPT/3pmET.
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/braided-legacies-sovereign-futures/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201211T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201211T110000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210124T012749Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210915T161300Z
UID:1426-1607680800-1607684400@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Whiskey\, Tango\, Foxtrot — a Year in Review: Black/Indigenous solidarity\, COVID-19\, Presidential Politics\, and Mass Movements
DESCRIPTION:Fall series host Delma Jackson\, III and Dr. Shadiin Garcia returned in conversation\, connecting Black/Indigenous solidarity to the broader events and movements of 2020. We held space for folks to reflect on this year we’ve had\, and Delma and Shadiin introduced their upcoming podcast\, Dive-In Justice. You can find Delma’s latest blog post here.
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/whiskey-tango-foxtrot-a-year-in-review-black-indigenous-solidarity-covid-19-presidential-politics-and-mass-movements/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201120T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201120T110000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210126T042444Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210915T162445Z
UID:1503-1605866400-1605870000@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Poetry & Possibility
DESCRIPTION:We welcomed San Francisco-based poets Kim Shuck and Maurisa Thompson\, hosted by Delma Jackson as a part of our ongoing Fall series on Black/Indigenous solidarity. Kim and Maurisa shared their art\, honoring where we’ve been and imagining where we could go in relationship to our planet\, our country\, our communities\, and ourselves. Their friendship\, love for their natal city\, and respect for each other’s work shone through their conversation\, creating a memorable hour of poetry\, art\, and solidarity. Watch the recording here! \n\n\n\n\nPoets Kim Shuck (photo credit Douglas A. Salin\, 2019)\, and Maurisa Thompson (courtesy photo)\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nKim Shuck is the 7th poet laureate of San Francisco. Shuck is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and was born and raised primarily in San Francisco. Shuck is widely anthologized and her work appears in many journals. Kim is also solo author of seven\, soon to be eight books. Shuck has all kinds of awards\, some degrees\, all of the expected accomplishments\, but these days spends most of her time deciding on day or night pajamas and building a book fort in her imagination. \n\n\n\nDoug Salin\, 2020 for Kim ShuckDetail\, verso of Kim Shuck’s business card\, showcasing her bead and regalia work. Photo credit Doug Salin\, 2020\n\n\n\nMaurisa Thompson was born and raised in San Francisco\, and is a proud alum of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in The Pedestal\, Cosmonauts Avenue\, Poems for Our Children\, En Vuelo: In Celebration of el Tecolote\, and The Haight-Ashbury Journal\, which nominated her for a Pushcart Prize. She is proud to have worked with various organizations and actions\, including Librotraficante Bay Area Califas and Richmond’s RAW Talent. She is currently working on her first poetry manuscript\, which combines history and folklore with her grandparents’ stories from Louisiana and San Francisco\, and a middle-grade novel exploring police brutality\, which won the support of a Walter Grant from We Need Diverse Books.
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/poetry-possibility-kim-shuck-maurisa-thompson/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201030T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201030T120000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210126T093750Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210204T215037Z
UID:1527-1604055600-1604059200@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Healing\, Self-care and Ceremony
DESCRIPTION:Pat McCabe (Weyakpa Najin Win\, Woman Stands Shining) and Enroue ‘Awo Onigbonna’ Halfkenny\, in conversation with Delma Jackson. We rejoined Pat McCabe and welcomed Enroue Halfkenny to our ongoing fall series. In the spirit of Black/Indigenous solidarity\, CWC invited participants to practice the power of self care\, healing\, ceremony\, and wholeness with our renowned guest practitioners. Pat and Enroue guided us through a practice for health\, calm\, and peace in the midst of tumultuous times. \n\n\n\nRecording available to the CWC community by request.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPat McCabe (Weyakpa Najin Win\, Woman Stands Shining) is a Diné (Navajo) mother\, grandmother\, activist\, artist\, writer\, ceremonial leader\, and international speaker. She is a voice for global peace\, and her paintings are created as tools for individual\, earth and global healing. She draws upon the Indigenous sciences of Thriving Life to reframe questions about sustainability and balance\, and she is devoted to supporting the next generations\, Women’s Nation and Men’s Nation\, in being functional members of the “Hoop of Life” and upholding the honor of being human. \n\n\n\nEnroue ‘Awo Onigbonna’ Halfkenny is a Boston born\, black\, cisgendered male of African\, Irish\, Swedish\, Mi’kmaq and Cherokee descent. He is an Awo (priest of Ifa) within the traditional Yoruba religion from West Africa and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker\, an artist\, a father/son/husband/brother\, and a Healing Justice Activist.  Through his consulting\, healing and private therapy practice\, Healing and Liberation Counseling\, he addresses emotional\, mental\, systemic\, and spiritual well being issues for individuals\, families\, groups\, communities and organizations. \n\n\n\nTogether\, these two brilliant and powerful healers guided our community through a series of practices designed to restore our sense of well-being and right relationship to ourselves and one another. In the midst of the 2020 election cycle\, we welcomed participants into a space to reground\, repurpose\, and reimagine our futures together regardless of the election outcome.  
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/healing-self-care-and-ceremony/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200925T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200925T120000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210126T212644Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210201T092123Z
UID:1538-1601031600-1601035200@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Somewhere Between Lenape and Wakanda
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Shadiin Garcia and Dr. Claudia Ford joined our ongoing series of conversations\, hosted by Delma Jackson\, III\, exploring the promises and challenges of justice\, solidarity\, and community building among Black/Indigenous populations. Together\, these two brilliant and powerful women discussed where we’ve been\, where we are\, and where we might go. Opening with adrienne marie brown’s  “Radical Gratitude Spell“\, they also spoke about strategies for self-care and balance within activism and scholarship. Watch the recording here! \n\n\n\nDr. Shadiin Garcia\, at left\, and Dr. Claudia Ford (Photo credit Tracey Eller for Cosmic Sister)\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nShadiin Garcia is Chicana and Laguna Pueblo\, and has lived in Oregon for 16 years. She has worked for over 20 years as a teacher\, as a public school administrator\, researcher\, a policy analyst\, Indigenous education leader\, and as a consultant. Shadiin has a huge extended family including high school and elementary aged children\, 59 first cousins\, and 19 aunts and uncles.    \n\n\n\nRead more about Shadiin\nShadiin’s work centers on organizational change; culturally relevant and sustaining curriculum; diversity\, equity\, and belonging; educational and systemic equity; culturally appropriate research; and community driven systemic change. She served as the Deputy Director of Policy and Research at Oregon’s Chief Education Office where she helped develop a research agenda driven by culturally appropriate practices and Indigenous methodologies for improving key educational outcomes. She served as the Director of TeachOregon at the Chalkboard Project leading initiatives to diversify the educator workforce and improve teacher educator systems. With funding from Meyer Memorial Trust\, she facilitates Oregon’s statewide American Indian/Alaska Native Educational Professional Learning Community. Dr. Garcia is board chair of the Women’s Foundation of Oregon. \n\n\n\nThrough her work both professionally and personally\, she has cultivated a network of amazing people who navigate across multiple systems and spaces – public\, private\, sovereign nations/tribes\, non-profit\, government\, P-20\, higher education and more. She often collaborates within these networks of experts\, thinkers\, and advocates which bring multiple minds and approaches to bear on complex topics. Shadiin believies in co-constructing solutions grounded in equity and local context.  \n\n\n\n–from thinkshorelines.com \n\n\n\n\nDr. Claudia J. Ford’s career in international management\, development\, and women’s health spans three decades and all continents. She is an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at SUNY-Potsdam in addition to teaching ethnobotany\, indigenous knowledge\, gender studies\, international business\, environmental justice\, and environmental literature in classrooms and workshops around the globe.  \n\n\n\nRead more about Claudia\nDr. Ford’s course for the Biodynamic Association\, “The Wisdom of Sophia: Agriculture and the Sacred Feminine\,” examines practices and beliefs that brought communities and the environment to the brink of catastrophic change and how spiritual agriculture and other sacred paradigms can help us move away from that brink. She has taught at the International Herb Symposium\, Spirit Plant Medicine Conference\, New England Women’s Herbal Conference\, and The Biodynamic Conference – Cultivating Relationships\, all of which she says are\, “much needed exercises in decolonization and transformation.” \n\n\n\nClaudia serves on the boards of directors of the Soul Fire Farm Institute\, committed to ending racism and injustice in the food system\, and Biodynamic Association\, awakening and enlivening co-creative relationships between humans and the earth. Claudia was awarded both the John R. Frazier Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and the Environmental Excellence Alumna Award at Antioch University New England (AUNE) in 2018. “I enjoy being in the classroom where I get to work alongside students investigating complex environmental and social justice issues\, and then exploring how to make a difference for ourselves\, our families\, our communities\, and in the world.” \n\n\n\nClaudia has a BA in Biology from Columbia University\, an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts\, an MA in Health Administration and a PhD in Environmental Studies from Antioch University. Her doctoral thesis was titled\, “Weed Women\, All Night Vigils\, and the Secret Life of Plants.” She moved to New England after a career in international development and public health and worked with international students and study-abroad programs before joining the faculty at RISD. Claudia is also a midwife\, a published author and poet\, and a visual artist and she has shared decades of global work and travel with her four children. \n\n\n\n“My background is in health\, and I always want to explore the topic of the healing of trauma for individuals and communities\,” Claudia says. “I consider that the humanities are at the heart of all of the topics I have the fortune to teach\, as I am interested in promoting the power of stories—arts\, literature\, and poetics—in relationship to our greatest social justice challenges.” \n\n\n\n–from zoehelene.com \n\n\n\n\nThe title of this session comes from Delma’s blog post\, Somewhere Between Lenape and Wakanda: Reservations\, Reparations\, & Afro-Indigenous Futurism. 
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/somewhere-between-lenape-and-wakanda/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200821T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200821T120000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210126T220058Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210212T001608Z
UID:1550-1598007600-1598011200@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Community Dialogue - Barriers to Black/Indigenous Solidarity
DESCRIPTION:Pat McCabe (Weyakpa Najin Win\, Woman Stands Shining) and Delma Jackson. launched our 2020 Fall Series. Pat\, a Diné (Navajo) mother\, grandmother\, activist\, artist\, writer\, ceremonial leader\, and international speaker\, joined Delma to explore the need\, opportunities and barriers to Black/Indigenous solidarity. Watch the recording here! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTheir conversation invoked story\, analysis and big-picture questions about efforts to not only strengthen the bonds between these two social categories\, but also to explore the implications for solidarity across multiple communities. \n\n\n\nRead more about Woman Stands Shining (Pat McCabe)\nFor Thriving Life\, Light and Love \n\n\n\nPat McCabe (Weyakpa Najin Win\, Woman Stands Shining) is a Diné (Navajo) mother\, grandmother\, activist\, artist\, writer\, ceremonial leader\, and international speaker. She is a voice for global peace\, and her paintings are created as tools for individual\, earth and global healing. She draws upon the Indigenous sciences of Thriving Life to reframe questions about sustainability and balance\, and she is devoted to supporting the next generations\, Women’s Nation and Men’s Nation\, in being functional members of the “Hoop of Life” and upholding the honor of being human. \n\n\n\nHer primary work at the moment is: \n\n\n\n• The reconciliation between the masculine and feminine\, Men’s Nation and Women’s Nation \n\n\n\n• Remembering\, recreating or creating anew a narrative for the Sacred Masculine \n\n\n\n• Addressing the Archetypal Wounding that occurred in our misunderstanding and abuse of technology in prayer\, ceremony and science. \n\n\n\n–from patmccabe.net
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/community-dialogue-barriers-to-black-indigenous-solidarity/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200717T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200717T120000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234021
CREATED:20210127T003635Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210201T092555Z
UID:1577-1594983600-1594987200@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Sound Healing
DESCRIPTION:Our July community Zoom featured gina Breedlove\, medicine woman\, vocalist\, composer\, & sound healer from Brooklyn\, NY. gina is an abolitionist for the lost parts of the self; a grief doula who uses sound and ritual to release stagnant energy\, creating opportunity for embodiment and soul retrieval. Together\, gina wrote\, “we will share the potent and powerful medicine of sound and vibration\, moving our awareness and intention for ease through our own bodies\, and then sharing this intention with all who gather.”  \n\n\n\nLearn more about gina’s work: www.vibrationofgrace.com\n\n\n\ngina tours the world with her music she calls folksoul\, holding sound healing circles in every city she visits. From Rwanda to the Bay Area\, she guides folk into deeper knowing of the power of the human voice\, and the inexhaustible presence that is Grace. \n\n\n\ngina Breedlove’s Sound Healing is magical\, profound\, wonderful\, and yes\, healing – Alice Walker
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/sound-healing/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200619T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200619T160000
DTSTAMP:20260728T234022
CREATED:20210308T211720Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210308T220206Z
UID:3057-1592578800-1592582400@wholecommunities.org
SUMMARY:Community Dialogue – Liberation
DESCRIPTION:Watch the recording here! \n\n\n\n\nlib·er·a·tion (noun) /libəˈrāSH(ə)n/  \n\n\n\nthe act of setting someone free from imprisonment\, slavery\, or oppression; release.freedom from limits on thought or behavior.\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nJoin us for a Community Dialogue and Story Session with Lillie Pearl Allen and Delma Jackson III\, about liberation: dreamed and realized\, internal and structural\, for black lives and beyond.\, Held Juneteenth\, June 19\, 2020 at 3pm EDT/ 12pm PDT. \n\n\n\n\n\nIn 1983\, Lillie Pearl Allen led the “Black & Female: What is the Reality” workshop at the first Black Women’s Health Conference. Over a thousand Black women and girls participated in this workshop. This gathering marked the beginning of a social movement\, created a legacy of leadership for justice that is inclusive of all people\, and laid the foundation for the 1992 incorporation of Be Present\, Inc. \n\n\n\n\n\n“I am that seed that has come free from oppression. As a black woman\, I want to speak to other black women\, but I’m asking all of us to listen because it’s about all of us.”\n\n\n\n\n\nBlack & Female: What is the Reality workshop at the first Black Women’s Health Conference\, 1983. (photo courtesy Lillie Allen)\n\n\n\n\n\nDelma Jackson is a CWC senior fellow and has spent the last several decades scrutinizing both his own internal biases and how they show up in social movements across history. This combination has led to an ever-broadening scope of what liberation can look like for all people through an intersectional lens and a value-based movement. \n\n\n\n\n\nDelma’s June 2020 blog post is titled\, Cut the Check or Count Me Out: “Good Whites\,” Diversity Diversions & A New Look at an Old Idea.\n\n\n\n\n\nFor both storytellers\, a desire for personal liberation\, led to a desire for Black liberation\, which led them both to the same conclusion. As Malcolm X asserted\, \n\n\n\nIt’s freedom for everybody or it’s freedom for nobody. \n\n\n\nWhile the whole country yet again grapples with the reality of structural violence against Black people\, we offered a space for these two to share their journey and their dream–for us all.
URL:https://wholecommunities.org/virtual-community-series/community-dialogue-liberation/
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