Being Black, Healing Black

Facilitators
Called “one of the wisest voices on social evolution” by On Being’s Krista Tippett, Rev. angel Kyodo williams is a maverick spiritual teacher, master trainer, activist and author of the critically-acclaimed “classic” Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace.

A deft communicator, she has produced a far-reaching body of work that touches every aspect of embodied liberation from Belonging to an institutional Framework for Liberation, all centered in the profound potential of returning to ourselves. She developed pOint as a simple yet profound praxis of meditation for people that aren’t monks, and is CEO of MNDFL. Her co-authored book, Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation catalyzed insights that led to a commitment to "transform race in 12 1/2 years," and now the seeding of her final project toward this end, Healing Race Portal.

Resmaa Menakem is a healer, New York Times best-selling author, therapist, and leading expert in racialized trauma and healing. Best known for his New York Times bestseller, My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies, Resmaa specializes in communal healing and cultural first aid. He is a Senior Fellow with The Meadows Behavioral Healthcare, founder of Justice Leadership Solutions, and creator of the Cultural Somatics Institute. Resmaa pioneers Somatic Abolitionism, an anti-racist practice focused on embodied healing and cultural transformation. His impactful work as a public speaker and educator addresses critical issues of racial justice, making him a vital resource during this era of global reckoning.

Support
BBHB and HRP are self-funded, bootstrapped and being incubated within Transformative Change, the small team of which is providing essential operations and logistic support. We are joined by jaz Hines as lead Organizer and Ambassador and Anastasia Higginbotham working on Storytelling and Donor Engagement.

Being Black, Healing Black will be held September 7-10th, 2024

The timing coincides with the 25th anniversary of Rev. angel’s seminal work, Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace, which initiated her intense exploration of race and commitment to the possibility of healing.

You can submit nominations for as long as the large button on the page says Nominate.

Nominations formally close at end of day July 30th, but because acceptances have specific requirements, some candidates might not confirm which will release a space.

That said, we encourage nominations soonest for the best chance for consideration. Once selections are secured, the nomination portal will close without further notice.

June 19: Pre-Announcement
July 1: Nominations Open
July 30: Nominations Closed
July 31: Acceptance Begins (rolling nominations possible)
August 7: Acceptance Closed

Nominations are now open.

We invite the public to engage with a robust referral process to help locate the 50 individuals who will have the opportunity to engage with this singular experience, which includes contributing to the final vision for the Healing Race Portal.

Sept 7: Arrival & Welcome
Sept 8: Priming + Legacy Museum Walk & Visit
Sept 9: beta Healing Race Portal Experiential
Sept 10: Closing & Departure

Nominations are possible to be initiated by anyone in one of three forms:

• self-nominations (nominate yourself)
• sponsored nominations (you are willing to provide reparative or other financial support)
• connected nominations (you wish to nominate someone else for their suitability that you have full reason to believe is resourced or can be by the deadline of August 15 and you will make a direct connection to invite them. these are accountability-based nominations)

Nominations will be for Black people, whether born in the United States or not, who have lived within and contended with the experience of racialization that is a direct result of colonial enslavement of African peoples in North America. 

The selections will be comprised of people who are seen as leaders and titans within their respective fields and bodies of work, including artists, founders, dreamers, captains of industry, scholars, foundation leads, entertainers, athletes, design thinkers, influencers, strategists, movers of money, minds and hearts.

• Selected Attendees will be publicly announced by the 2nd week of August.
• Nominees must be able to contribute, have support for or raise $3,750  by August 15, 2024. They will secure their place with a $500 deposit August 8th.
• Nominees must be able to book their own travel to and from Montgomery for the dates of the event.

  
Use the large gold button to initiate a nomination.

In addition to supported nominations, contributions are welcome to support the project which will endeavor to fully provide an expansive experience, support documentation, research, follow-up and scaffolding of the Healing Race Portal.

White-led institutions,  groups, collectives and individuals are especially invited to support in several ways with financial contributions whether deemed reparative or otherwise.

While these can be communicated about in public to support pooling of resources, by design, no entity will be publicly recognized as we step away from the social capitalization of repair in the form or traditional name-based sponsorships.

Sign up to make reparative or financial contributions in  here: https://www.revan.gl/healingblack-contribute-tf 

Nominations now open. Register above to receive key information and the link to the nomination form.

You can also use this link to help us find the Black leaders and titans that are deserving of this historic, extraordinary experience.

Your word-of-mouth referrals will add voices that will help shape the most far-reaching, cohesive contribution to healing race in the United States thus far.

Thank you for your interest in supporting this embodied praxis experience.

Being Black, Healing Black is an extraordinary gathering that will bring together Black Leaders & Titans through a public nomination process to experience a radically reimagined approach to confronting the legacy of, contending with, and ultimately, healing race.

Being Black, Healing Black is one of three seed events planned toward the creation of the Healing Race Portal.

Offer reparative or other financial support here: https://www.revan.gl/healingblack-contribute-tf 

BBHB and HRP are self-funded and bootstrapped because Healing Race is something that most of us are not willing, able or will give ourselves permission to imagine. That is by design and what we intend to disrupt.

We welcome individual, institutional, corporate and foundation support of all kinds.

We prioritize race-conscious, trust-based, imagination-ignited and relational funding that honors one's own intuition of possibilities for paradigm-altering this endeavor is pointing towards. 

In the short term, we are most available to quick-moving, light touch funding, contributions of connections, brain trust and offering of resources.

More traditional processes for funding by way of extensive proposals and requirements are on our timeline and we welcome inquiries.

First off, congratulations. Looking forward to seeing you in Montgomery.

You would have received your nomination acceptance notification via email. Important: Please check your spam as we were experiencing email delivery issues. 

1. Please make sure you have completed your Pre-Arrival Survey
2. Submit your payment, or have your Sponsor submit your payment on your behalf, no later than Thursday, August 8th at 12:00pm PT
3. Book transportation to Montgomery, AL as soon as possible
   • Arrive in Montgomery before 4pm CDT on Saturday, September 7th
   • Room, entry to museums, & select group meals are covered with your stay

Questions? Reach out to [email protected]