UMOJA(OO-M-JAH) Peer Mentoring Program's
E L B U O R T GOOD
SOCIAL JUSTICE INSTITUTE
20 21
HEALING Conference
MAY 22, 2021 • 10AM • VIRTUAL EVENT
HEALING
20 21
Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare. Audre Lorde (Lorde)
Healing
is part of the process to move in
a direction that is fair, just, and equitable for all regardless of their identity. This day will focus on providing tools and resources to practice self-care and advocacy work at the intersections of race, gender, and disability.
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20 21
HEALING Our Day
Healing Keynote Speaker: Demarrius Lamont Young, Jr. Demarrius Lamont Young Jr (he/him) is a proud Black man with a disability, born with albinism of the skin, hair, and eyes. Mr. Young was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, where he developed a keen interest in both science and service, leading him to pursue a career in medicine.
He
recently
graduated
from
Hampton
University
with
a
Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences degree. He is currently a laboratory technician in the Outcomes Lab of the Neuro-Oncology Branch (NOB) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In Fall 2021, he will
enroll
as
an
incoming
first-year
medical
student
at
Howard
University School of Medicine.
Unlearning Keynote Speaker (May 8) and Facilitator: Daphne Frias Daphne
Frias
(she/her)
is
a
23-year-old
youth
organizer.
She
is
unapologetically Latina. Daphne has Cerebral Palsy and uses a wheelchair to ambulate. She is fiercely proud to be a loud champion for the disabled community. She got her start shortly after the Parkland shooting by busing 100+ students from her college campus to the nearest March For Our Lives (MFOL) event. In July of 2019, she was appointed as the NY State Director for March For Our Lives and completed her one-year tenure there in June of 2020. Soon after, she created her own non-profit, Box the Ballot, which aims to harness the power of the absentee ballot. Her efforts also extend to creating sustainable climate change. Daphne has been featured in publications
like
Teen
Vogue
and,
most
recently,
featured
on
Ms.
Magazine's 25 Under 25: Women of Color to Watch list.
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HEALING
20 21
Our Day Habari Gani 10:10 10:20 10:30 10:45
Community Libations Community Soundboard Student Poetry Reading Keynote Speaker
Sound Therapy: Freedom Vibes 11:10-11:40 AM Kheperah is the Director of Therapeutic Wellness Services at LIFE Camp Inc, a leading non-profit organization under the NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, designed to help transform communities impacted by the trauma of violence, economic disparity, and systemic racism. A former music industry executive for more than a decade, Kheperah integrates these skills to deliver culturally relevant wellness experiences that help people discover their own pathway to healing. Nationally, Kheperah conducts motivational speaking engagements and online platforms
targeted
specifically
to
holistic
health
and
wellness
for
Black
and
Brown communities. She is a mother of two and a native of Brooklyn, New York.
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20 21
HEALING Our Day Yoga Instructor Jaime Brown is a New Jersey native, currently serving as the Associate Director of the Center for Student Engagement at Georgetown University. In addition to helping students tap into resources to engage and enjoy their college experience across co-curricular programming, she advocates for the university community on several D&I and belonging committees. Outside of work, Jaime is an MBA student at Georgetown and wellness advocate as a Registered Yoga Teacher. Jaime has been practicing yoga since 2009 and became certified in 2019 at CorePower Yoga. She has led flows for many trauma-informed groups and in her Central NJ and DMV communities.
Lunch (1:00-1:30pm) Our Workshop Facilitators monét cooper (she/her) is a second-year doctoral student, poet, and abolitionist in the Joint Program in English and Education at the University of Michigan. Before joining the academy, she spent 11 joyous years serving students and families in middle and high school English classrooms in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. A Georgia Peach, she enjoys naps and eating German chocolate cake and misses live theater and hugging her people back home.
Dr. Torres (he/him) identifies as a cisgender AfroBoricua from the Bronx who is a proud father, husband, social justice educator, spoken word artist, scholar, and workshop facilitator. He has worked as a middle school and high school teacher for the last eight years. Recently, Dr. Torres completed his Ph.D. in Social Justice Education, and his research focused on trauma and performance arts. Dr. Torres currently resides in East Harlem and works as a 10th-grade social justice teacher.
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20 21
HEALING Our Day Healing Workshops 1:45-3:15pm Little Deaths: Memory as Method of Being and Becoming "I can't lie like I don't rap about killing and dope, but I'm telling my youngins vote/I did what I did 'cause I didn't have no choice or no hope, I was forced to just jump in and go” — Lil Baby, The Bigger Picture. What do you pledge allegiance to? Yourself? Money? Your family? How do these allegiances push us to “jump in and go?" Using Lil Baby’s words as a point of departure, we’ll use him and other musical artists and poets of color to write about: what lies we have been told about ourselves, what we believe, and what we must keep and allow to die in order to survive. Whether you consider yourself a poet or writer, a rapper or musician, or simply someone who is curious about what words do, pull up!
Phoenix in Progress The power of storytelling is one of our greatest tools to propel change. On the path to justice, society has the habit of promoting non-Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) voices to the front. BIPOC voices and stories are often taken advantage of for the overall benefit of gaining mass support, i.e., tokenization. During the first workshop, students will learn to embraces their difference, how their differences make them powerful, and tools to combat tokenization and embrace their voice.
Reimagining School Since compulsory education was required for all students, schools were never really designed to meet the needs of all students they served. The pandemic highlighted the gross inequities everyone in education already knew: students of color are not getting the best education possible, and it doesn't have to be that way. Reimagining school will look at all the things that are not working in our school system. The workshop will focus on ways we can advocate for ourselves while dismantling whiteness and white supremacy.
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HEALING
20 21
Our Day Community Reflection 3:20
Student Poetry Reading
3:25
Community Soundboard
3:45
Until Next Time by M.Payton
Ashay. Ashay. Ashay Event Creator/Director Madison Payton is a culturally relevant curriculum specialist, restorative justice practitioner, and diversity, equity, and inclusion enthusiast. He joins the DC Special Education Cooperative as a consultant to develop the UMOJA Peer Mentoring program and The Good Trouble Social Justice Institute. Madison has worked as an English Language Arts instructor for nine years in the New York City Department of Education. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Education Leadership and Policy at Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University.
Special thanks to Mr. David Fridie and the entire DC3C team.
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