HAPPENINGS
Upcoming Workshops
Somatic Abolitionism Livestream Workshops and Intensives
Register for a workshop or intensive and learn how to begin to build resilience, discernment, and the ability to tolerate discomfort that comes with confronting the brutality of race.
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS AND INTENSIVES
NEWS
Open Hands: Rise in the Alignment of Truth
Somatic Abolitionism requires action and repeated individual and communal practice. On this platform, we collectively build resilience, discernment, and the ability to tolerate discomfort that comes with confronting the brutality of race.
Here are important happenings:
What's About to Happen:
October 11, 2024
6:00 - 7:30
Book signing with Resmaa
Come to Sister’s Uptown Bookstore located at:
1942 Amsterdam Ave
New York NY 10032.
October 12, 2024
11am - 4pm
Mental Wealth Expo Featuring Dr. Resmaa Menakem
Join Resmaa on October 12th, 2024 at the Mental Wealth Expo in Times Square, NY, hosted by Charlamagne tha God and the Mental Wealth Alliance. This FREE event is all about mental health education, healing, and building resilience. Together, we’ll explore themes like navigating fame, breaking toxic cycles, and building generational wellness.
October
Listen to Dr. Resmaa Menakem on The Breakfast Club with Charlamagne tha God
What happened recently:
NEWS
The Stories From My Grandmother's Hands hits a #1 category new release on Amazon
December 21, 2024
T. Mychael Rambo adds children’s book author to his resume
T. Mychael Rambo is enjoying the fruits of a long and successful career. With 40 years of experience as an educator and theater professional, he currently does motivational speaking, works on staff development in schools, and helps organizations create conversations for mediation and conflict resolution.
October 31, 2024
Watch Resmaa on KARE 11 news
MINNEAPOLIS — How much do you know about your grandma’s upbringing?
“The Stories From My Grandmother’s Hands” is a book that aims to show young Black children how their grandmas lived through beautiful illustrations and descriptions.”
KARE 11 News at Noon shared more about the impact that this book will have.
October 11, 2024
Dr. Resmaa appears on The Breakfast Club
Catch the conversation on The Breakfast Club! T. Mychael Rambo and Resmaa sat down to discuss their new children’s book The Stories from Our Grandmothers’ Hands and how it helps families heal from racialized trauma.
They dive deep into the importance of intergenerational healing, honoring our grandmothers’ wisdom, and how this book blends storytelling, music, and art to guide both adults and kids on their healing journey.
September 7-10, 2024
Resmaa teams up with teacher Rev. angel Kyodo williams in “Being Black, Healing Black"
Buddhist teacher Rev. angel Kyodo williams describes her “final project,” titled “Healing Race Portal,” which will begin with an inaugural experiential event, “Being Black, Healing Black”. It will take place at The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, offering a “powerful, immersive journey through America’s history of racial injustice.”
July 1, 2024
Resmaa was featured on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast
The Embodied Path to Healing Trauma
Dr. Resmaa Menakem discusses the concepts of somatic abolitionism, and the importance of embodied anti-racist practices. Discover:
- The difference between clean and dirty pain;
- What white people need to do in order to help create an anti-racist society; and
- Why we should shift from looking at the personal to looking at the historical to heal our traumas.
August 14, 2024
In Ghana, a Gathering for Black Joy, Pain, and Reconnection
In the clearing of the garden of the Nubuke Foundation in Accra, Ghana, Resmaa Menakem, Bayo Akomolafe, and Orland Bishop settled their bodies into plush, wide chairs, their faces slick with anticipation and evening sweat. The subtitle for their gathering was “trauma, ritual and the promise of the monstrous,” and their audience, spread out on mats and chairs in a semicircle around them, was about to find out what that meant. Trays of pork and beef skewers and samosas were passed around, and cups were topped off with pineapple-ginger juice. As the sky darkened and the birds quieted, the moon began to peek down through the canopy of leaves above us….
August 14, 2024
Bayo Akomolafe on How to Make Sanctuary in Times of Loss
For the most part, we were silent on the long bus ride back to our hotel. There wasn’t much to be said. There wasn’t much that could be said. In the silence, we seemed to have left the business of saying things to the vast, undulating fields that frolicked and yawned and stretched outside our windows. To the elderly buildings, curious glances, and inexplicably garlanded red-black poles that dotted the roadside of the Cape Coast. To the jarring and busy traffic noises that marked the beginnings of the sweltering city of Accra. To the dancing spirits of memory that accompanied us along the journey, stitching their tunes to the white of our clothes, playing their drums, urging us never to forget the White of the Cape Coast Castle and the Black of the bodies she ate and spat out from her dungeons…
This month's Promotions:
White Affinity Group Facilitator’s Course
We are now accepting registrations for the next virtual series, beginning on February 3, 2025. Details below:
In your antiracism efforts, have you considered starting, sponsoring, or moving forward with a White Affinity Group? It’s a foundational but challenging process.
That’s why my colleague Amy Burtaine and I have designed an online training course to support both new and seasoned facilitators. It’s based on our new book:
Facilitator’s Guide Book Cover
An effective white affinity group deepens awareness and prepares white people to engage constructively across race by building the skills to address:
- lack of education
- harmful racial patterns
- internalized white superiority and anti-Blackness
- difficult emotions such as guilt, confusion, and resentment
- immobilization and passivity
Importantly, affinity groups address these issues without being observed by or impacting other groups, allowing for more authenticity and risk-taking.
Seals Family Farm
A few years back, as a young family with open hearts and big dreams, we stood in the midst of a grocery store chaos caused by an EBT system glitch. That moment of uncertainty revealed to us the delicate threads holding our food system together. It was a turning point, igniting a deep-seated desire within us to tread a path of self-reliance and sustainability.Now,
This year is ripe with promise, and we’re thrilled to unfold new layers of our journey with you:our family’s haven in Riverdale, GA, blossoms with life. From our initial foray into gardening to cultivating an abundant food forest, and nurturing our beloved sheep, quail, rabbits, and chickens, we’ve woven a tapestry of sustainability that enriches not just our soil, but our souls.
Fresh from the Field to Your TableDive into the heart of Riverdale, GA, with Seals Family Farm’s diverse offerings. Our commitment to hyperlocal food systems means every product we offer is a testament to the quality, sustainability, and community effort. From crisp vegetables to succulent fruits, every item in our selection not only feeds your family but also supports collective sustainability within our community. Community Initiatives and Events
Seals Family Farm is more than just a farm; it’s a vibrant community hub dedicated to collectively sustainable community building.
Black Farmers Index
Black Farmers Index (The Index), addresses food insecurity, food system failures and inequities in agricultural in our commitment to ensure that Black farmers and growers thrive. This is done by providing a more successful consumer-to-Black farmer pipeline, as well as, connecting agriculturalists to agencies, institutions, and salient resources that build their overall business through creative marketing, educational services, outreach and intentional community building.
The Index employs four pillars of focus: 1. Increase marketing towards the Black AG ecosystem that includes growers, ranchers, fisherfolk, beekeepers, foragers and foresters; 2. Collect, assess and distribute more accurate information on Black growers; 3. Provide resources on pathways for harvesters’ access to capital; and 4. Advocate and inform Black agriculturalists on how to acquire farmland.
The Index drives exposure to Black farmers in the following ways: a comprehensive online directory; social media promotion and short narratives; educational workshops for farmers; food-centered virtual and in-person events; curated farmer lists for individuals and institutions; carefully selected gift box highlighting food-items of growers; feature stories in news or other media outlets; data gathering and reporting; sharing stories through our farm visits; connecting farmers with business opportunities and resources; creating a robust ecosystem for farmers to connect with each other; and collaborations with organizations and companies on initiatives.
Where Do I Belong?
An Embodied Exploration of Identity & Belonging for Bi/Multicultural Bodies—2025 is the Global Nepantla
We are thrilled to announce the return of Where Do I Belong?, a transformative program for bi/multicultural individuals exploring identity, belonging, the in-between spaces we inhabit, and the disruption to the colonial project of race it can offer.
Starting February 2025, we are opening the portal to the Global Nepantla experience. This 5-month virtual program is an invitation to step into what scholar Gloria Anzaldúa calls Nepantla—a liminal space where multiple realities and experiences converge, fostering new perspectives and transformation.
Having hosted four iterations of this program across two continents, we are deeply inspired by how each unique group co-creates a living, evolving experience. This time, we’re welcoming a global cohort, bridging perspectives from the Global North and South to enrich our collective learning.
Dates: February–June 2025
Location: Online (global participation encouraged)
We are offering a 20% discount to join through January 5th, which can be applied at checkout, the codes are:
Full payment: BEL-2025
Payment plans: BEL-PLAN-2025
Best Tasting Premium Vegan Supplements – Just Move Supplements
Just Move Supplements is a Black-owned, family-run vegan supplement brand based in Houston, Texas. We create flavor-packed, high-quality products that support your wellness journey. Our carefully curated plant-based ingredients and unique, nostalgic flavors make our supplements a delicious and ethical choice. Join us in moving towards better health today.
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JoAnna Hardy Insight Meditation
JoAnna Hardy is an insight meditation (Vipassanā) practitioner and teacher; She teaches silent meditation retreats, social justice based meditation classes and workshops, youth work, online courses, and works with private students.
Thomasina’s Cashew Brittle
Thomasina’s Cashew Brittle is based in Minneapolis, MN and is a family-owned business started by sisters, Thomasina and Leslie. They began in church basements and school craft fairs and spent years on a private front yard OUTSIDE the MN State Fair. Shortly after, they were invited to be a vendor INSIDE and was recognized as one of the “Best New Foods” the following year, earning 4/4 stars by the Star Tribune!
Be Still Tea
Our mission is to help people create space to Be Still, connect with their true selves, and embrace their emotions. We’re here to support you on your journey to self-acceptance, one cup of tea at a time. Our hope is that our teas will help you illuminate your inner light, letting it shine brightly in the world.
Being still with tea has made me more present, kind, and intentional in my life. Will you join me on this transformative journey to stillness, one cup of tea at a time?
BLACK LIBERATION LAB
In the Twin Ports region of Minnesota, there are many Black artists, organizers, and organizations building better futures for Black people.
Black Liberation Lab is just one piece of the puzzle.
We are not the solution. We are only one part of the solution.
We are a platform to gather resources, knowledge, energy, and power that Black folks can utilize to build our collective movements.
Minnesota Black Collective Foundation
The Black Collective Foundation MN believes Black-led change is genius. As Minnesota’s first Black community foundation and a pioneer of culturally specific philanthropy nationwide, The Collective partners with individuals and institutions to boldly invest in organizations, leaders, systems, and ideas. Together, we are realizing a more just Minnesota where all Black people are holistically well, living in dignity and prosperity.
New Justice Project
The New Justice Project MN is a Black-led organization dedicated to creating equitable job opportunities, advocating for housing justice, reimagining community safety, and building power amongst Black Minnesotans.
Our mission is to empower those directly affected by systemic racism and drive collective liberation. We build multi-racial, multi-generational, and multi-faith coalitions, collaborating with Brown, Indigenous, and immigrant organizations to achieve meaningful and transformative change.
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