Sharing space
March 26-27, 2011 marked an extraordinary time in my professional career.
Highlights:
* Diverse group of youth leaders sharing knowledge, energy, and space to unpack how they ‘do’ their work
*Identifying key concerns-dealing with limited wellness; burn out; lack of respect for work being done by youth for youth; need for ongoing training and professional development; addressing role of allies and the expectations attached to being an ally; need to create communities of support to deal with professional/personal stress and stigma; need to address and create strategies for sustainable embodied practices; ongoing training related to wellness, and professional development; taking the fear out of discussing and taking action against intersecting forms of oppression, and systemic discrimination.
Post-training successes and socially responsible outcomes:
Participants have continued the energy of the training series by launching a series of personal and collective projects:
*Black women youth leaders peer support group
*Diverse group of queer youth activists and leaders think tank
*Mental health and wellness initiatives focused on youth leaders in GTA
*Embodied Activism Learning Series creator, Tomee Sojourner has launched “Embodied Facilitation:Sustaining Self & Creating Spaces of Support.” This learning series focuses on folks who facilitate workshops, meetings, events, support groups, and other learning spaces/forums. The content is a blend of mindfulness/sustainability practices, organizational/community/capacity building theories, action-focused activities, reflection, and narrative sharing.
Tomee Sojourner Consulting Embodied Activism: Unpacking Our Practice & Building Our Power-Youth Leadership Series™
Description of Sessions
Day 1- Unpacking Our Practice:
· Unpacking Our Practice – In this session, we will take a critical exploration of our practices as activists, advocates, educators, workers, entrepreneurs, business owners, and community members. We will deal with complex questions that disrupt our existing understandings of how we do our ‘work’.
· Dealing with Difficult Conversations – In this session, we will go through a series of activities and creative forms of expression to open up space in order to look at strategies to engage and deal with difficult conversations.
· Role of Allies – In this session, we will explore how the role of ‘ally’ functions within our lived realities as activists, advocates, workers (i.e. staff, Board of Directors, managers), and community members.
Day 2 – Building Our Power, Re-visioning Our Movement & Moving Forward:
· Creative Interventions – In this session, we will discuss some of the processes involved in developing creative socio-political interventions, grassroots community-based projects, and ‘bring it to the streets’ educationals.
· Self-Awareness & Self-Care – In this session, we will go into an initial reflective sojourn of self-awareness by exploring why and how we live out our activism on and through our bodies. We will start the crucial conversation about self-care and mindfulness.
· Moving Forward: Building Our Power-During this final session, creative projects and actions will be shared. Folks will be asked to put together their ideas about how we build our power through conscious self-engagement.
