Awareness, Healing, & Liberation
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Welcome to our Radical Refuge 8-9:30 [w]
Cycle 1: 9:30-10:30 [s]
Cycle 2: 10:30-11:30 [s]
Debrief and Decompress 11:30-12:00 [w]
Cycle 3: 12:00-1:00 [s]
Lunch 1:00-2:00 [w]
Cycle 4: 2:00-3:00 [s]
Closing the Circle 3:00-4:00 [w]
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[w] whole group [s] small group
Whole group sessions will happen in the central location of our Radical Refuge. The four small group sessions will happen simultaneously, with educators cycling through each one throughout the day. All sessions are thoughtfully supported by our facilitators.
Welcome
We’ll start the day as a whole group in our central Radical Refuge space, nourishing ourselves with community conversations and breakfast. We begin by honoring you, thanking you, and asking – How would you like to be seen today? – Our host will share vulnerably with the whole group answering the same question. You’ll also mingle with all of our extraordinary facilitators who will be excited to get to know you.
Journey Mapping
In small groups, educators will create and discuss maps of their journeys throughout learning with the support of a 20-year veteran NYC teacher. Using her expertise with journey mapping, Marsha will guide us through intentional conversations. We’ll consider the ways in which our journeys align and where we’ve taken different paths. Our collective journey highlights the hidden identities of Latina and Black women educators.
Debrief and Decompress
Time to think, heal and process in community is critical -- but it’s also exhausting! So, we’ll take a break from small groups to catch our breath back in our Radical Refuge space. With our educator wellness and mental health professionals, it’s a time to all lean into our identity awareness. Come together to reflect and pause, shake it off and even laugh. Doesn’t hurt to also re-energize with some snacks!
Lunch
We will sit and indulge in deliciously crafted cultural food and beverages honoring Latina and Black women. Food is a core value in how we identify. We will talk, dance, laugh, breathe and exist all our glorious identities.
Identity Buttons
Educators will gather in small groups to discuss the identity buttons they created during breakfast. How do you see yourself, how do you want others to see you? Doris is a veteran NYC teacher, with her teaching roots in Nebraska! Together you'll explore your varied beautiful identities. We looking forward to learning the many ways in which you identify.
Healing Circle
Honoring our small group, we will explore our healing together with Isabel in a safe and accepting space. With open minds and the support of mental health professionals from the Harlem Brain we’ll listen with compassion and curiosity to process challenges and heal together. As we sit in the beautiful outdoor space we’ll consider how we access our collective strength to deepen our capacity to heal from a place of identity awareness.
Radical Rest
Together, we will take some time to slow down, to rest, to breathe out our exhaustion from a lifetime of sexist and racial trauma. Denise is a social worker devoted to supporting educators. Together you will explore the tensions in a society that exploits Black and Latina women as caregivers. We will honor our minds, bodies and souls by giving them permission to rest. We will consider the fear and struggle in resting and the joy and power in practicing radical rest.
Closing the Circle
We’ll gather one last time in our Radical Refuge space to consider our day devoted to identity awareness, healing and liberation. Our host and facilitators will highlight the history of Latina and Black women in service as caregivers to a white male dominant society. As we consider our journeys through a deepened identity awareness and communal healing, we call each other to action. How do we lean in together for a better future?