May 2012 News - Deep Thoughts

 join my CSA to support racial justice! learn more here.

 

 

Hello Good People!

 

As I sat down to write this month's newsletter, I found myself in a posture that I am often in these days: leaning over the table, head in my hands, struggling to sum up the vastness and complexity of the transition I find myself in, struggling to put words to something I am not yet used to articulating - because I am still in it - and in the end, coming up short. Sound bites feel most comfortable: "I am going thru puberty. Again." Or "Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes." Or "Whew, saturn is Re.Turn.Ing."

 

I have reached a turning point in my life and my work, a point of profound reflection and evaluation of what my work has been, and frighteningly open expansion on all that it could be. In this oceanic and emotional process, it is my core sense of self that is struggling to remain afloat. I feel like a woman trying to remember herself (I welcome love notes as reminders), grasping onto one-liners and deep thoughts to give meaning to the chaos. And reading my horoscope. A lot.

 

My sister Adrienne, who is dope and brilliant and has a blog, recently wrote to me that she has remembered that she is more valuable than her work, and that the most important thing to the people who love her is her happiness. I sobbed like a little baby when she shared that with me because I realized that in my machinations about what I should be doing with myself, I had forgotten my actual SELF. Before I was ever a facilitator, an organizer, a theologian, a musician, a writer, an actress, a dancer, a mother, a partner, a producer of monthly newsletters and deep thoughts, I was a valuable person. And if I left off of any of those identities tomorrow - by force or by choice - I would still be a valuable person.

 

So as I move into and through this process of deep re-evaluation, I do it from the place of protecting this thing I now understand as true: I am the thing that is valuable, and yet I cannot attach a value to myself. But if I see myself only through the lens of my work, attaching value to myself is exactly what I do. Who do I want to be working with? What do I need in order to sustain my practice and be happy? What do I deserve in a friendship, a collaboration, a political framework? These are essential questions for me, believe it or not. Like most organizers, I talk a big game about sustainability and still find myself on verge of burnout half of the time. I teach my students to trust the process and let go of ego, while I am scrambling to retain control of my own experience. How often are we working counter to our own wisdom? 

 

So this spring and summer, I plan to plant a lot of vegetables and water them and watch them grow. I plan to write a short story once a week, so that my wild dreams can find a home and my mind can get some creative exercise. I plan to take a real break from some of my burdens. I will remember myself. I will remember. 

 

In this edition of Iambrown:

• Medicine is Media! An Herbal Medicine Fundraiser for the 2012 AMC Healing Justice Practice Space (EVERYWHERE)
• Basic Midwifery Skills Practicum - May 5-6 (NEW YORK CITY)
• Spreading the Health Conference - May 4 - 13th (CHICAGO)
• Refocus the Frame: Turning the Lens on Race and Racism - May 10 (MINNEAPOLIS)
• The Great Republic of Rough and Ready at Union Hall - May 10 (NEW YORK CITY)
• Apply to Volunteer in the 2012 Allied Media Conference Healing Justice Practice Space (DETROIT)

-----

Medicine is Media! An Herbal Medicine Fundraiser for the 2012 AMC Healing Justice Practice Space

Support Healers Traveling to the 2012 AMC by purchasing Immune Power Powders! For an exciting limited time only, donate $40 or more and receive a unique, handmade “Immune Power Powder” Gift Pack from Good Fight Herb Co. There are only 30 gift packs available, so order yours now! Your donation will directly support travel scholarships for healers and health practitioners who are attending the 2012 Allied Media Conference to offer their gifts and services in the Healing Justice Practice Space (more on the Practice Space below).

The Immune Power Powders Gift Pack includes 3 custom crafted medicinal formulas packaged in beautiful glass corked vials complete with instructions and containing about 20 servings each. The Immune Power Powders Contain :

• Immune Builder Powder. A daily use powder to deeply strengthen your body’s defense mechanisms against everything that brings your immune system down, including : viruses & bacteria, emotional, physical and environmental stressors.
• Vitamin C Powder. Like Emergen-C without the fizz, this delicious powder supplies your body with apower punch of immune boosting vitamin C.
• Immunity Enricher. Made with yellow dock, molasses, and nettle, this powder is packed with iron, potassium, calcium and other nourishing vitamins and minerals your body needs to maintain a hard-working immune system.

Donation details: To make your donation and receive one of these unique, handmade medicinal gift packs, visit https://store.alliedmedia.org/amc2012-immunity-boost. Shipping is included in the price of the package. Additional donations are welcome and appreciated. You can make a donation of any amount to the Practice Space, but only a donation of $40 or more will earn you an Immune Powder Power Pack!

What is the Healing Justice Practice Space?
The Healing Justice Practice Space is an all-gender, all-bodied, inclusive and accessible space for practicing and receiving healing.  We will offer the AMC community massage therapy, energy work, community acupuncture, herbal therapy, counseling, first aid, art therapy, dance, yoga, and more!  The HJPS will also provide skill-sharing, creative documentation of our process, and 101 workshops on health and healing justice and its intersections with media-based organizing. Together we will build an in-house and online Resource Center to hold the incredible wealth of information and strategies developed by fierce healers and activists around the country.  Our work uplifts and politicizes the role of health and healing in our movements as a critical part of the world we are building. We recognize that medicine is media, that how we heal ourselves is directly related to how we engage in individual and collective transformation.

For more information about this fundraiser, contact Autumn Brown: autumnmeghan@gmail.com

Information about the medicine maker, Lauren Giambrone: http://goodfightherbco.com/?page_id=2.
Good Fight Herb Co: http://www.goodfightherbco.com/

-----

Basic Midwifery Skills Practicum - May 5-6

This two day hands-on training will introduce doulas and aspiring midwives to the art of the prenatal exam, basic assessment of vitals, palpation of the pregnant belly, practitioner-client relationship skills, and gentle gynecological exams.
 
When: May 5-6th Saturday & Sunday 10am-6pm
Cost: $250
Location: Park Slope, Brooklyn

Registration:
Payment can be made via paypal at chantiajoy@gmail.com. Payment plans available, call for more information.

Questions?
Contact either Alyssa DeConto: 508-737-9520 or Siena Butler: 612-723-5552      
 
About Chanti:
Chanti is a certified professional midwife, pre and perinatal birth therapist, hypnobirthing instructor, prenatal yoga and embodied anatomy yoga teacher, massage therapist specializing in biodynamic craniosacral therapy, acupressure, and chi nei tsang, infant massage instructor, lactation specialist, and western trained herbalist. Chanti has recently relocated to Brooklyn from the west coast and is delighted to be sharing her passions with the birth community. For more information about her offerings visit her website: www.embodiedbeginnings.com

-----

Spreading the Health Conference - May 4 - 13th

spreadingthehealth.org 

Street medics and wellness workers from Chicago and across the U.S. invite you to attend a conference -- *Spreading the Health* – to help build a grassroots health and wellness movement for social changes! 

Healthcare workers and wellness workers provide critical support to direct action and social change movements – keeping people well so they can stay involved. From acting as street medics in large mobilizations to providing more continuous care at long-term encampments, such as Occupy, there is a growing movement of wellness work with a healing justice lens, a movement that includes healthcare professionals, community activists, alternative practitioners and others. 

*Workshops and events from May 4th to May 13th*
 
*Location: First Lutheran Church of the Trinity in Bridgeport and other Chicago venues
 
Workshops Include: 
-  advanced first aid skills
-  setting up
- running improvised clinics
- crisis management
-  public health at long-term actions
-  herbal medicine and acupressure
- radical mental health perspectives
- preventing and responding to mental health crisis, sexual assault and substance abuse
- healing burnout and managing stress and trauma.

This is conference is for:
- new and experienced street medics
- Community Based Organizations, Activists, organizers and healers of all modalities and all walks of life who wish to build skills and community around health and healing justice
- people with or without healthcare backgrounds interested in developing skills related to medical support, health and wellness care in social change work
 - people who have stepped up to run medical support at Occupy actions across the country
 - people who want to support the Chicago Spring / NATO protests actions
 
Come to the whole conference or select the workshops and events that
interest you.
  
Trainings offered will include:
- a complete 20-hour street medic training
- an 8-hour bridge training for healthcare professionals
- a first aid training for affinity groups
 
Check out spreadingthehealth.org for registration and updated information on workshop schedules, or to get involved.
  
This conference is being organized by health activists from Chicago Action Medical (Chicago’s collective of street medics), the Chicago Healing
Justice Network and street medic collectives throughout the country.

 

-----

Refocus the Frame: Turning the Lens on Race and Racism - May 10

 

The Facilitating Racial Equity Collaborative kicks off new Film & Discussion series on May 10!

Refocus the Frame: Turning the Lens on Race and Racism 
A series of powerful film screenings followed by facilitated discussion, to stimulate insight and and thoughtful dialogue. The films will be free and open to the public. Popcorn and door prizes, too!

9500 Liberty documents the first time in U.S. history that an Arizona-style immigration law was actually implemented—and the surprising grassroots opposition that led to its repeal. 
May 10, 2012, 7-9 pm (Doors open at 6:45) 
Location: Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave. S. in Minneapolis

 

-----

The Great Republic of Rough and Ready at Union Hall - May 10

 

GRRR will perform at Union Hall to celebrate the release of a brand new (and gorgeous) record by their friends Racing Heart. This is a big venue and a big show conveniently located in Park Slope, so come listen to what they have to say, play some bocci upstairs, and enjoy. This might be your only chance to see GRRR perform this spring! It will be a memorable night. 

THE GREAT REPUBLIC OF ROUGH AND READY
Union Hall
702 Union Street at 5th Avenue (Brooklyn)

8:00 pm The Great Republic of Rough and Ready
9:00 pm In One Wind
10:00 pm  Racing Heart 
Tell your friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/355184027850363/
Buy tickets in advance: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=4380325
$10 (tell them you're there to see GRRR)

 

-----

Apply to Volunteer in the 2012 Allied Media Conference Healing Justice Practice Space

 

We are still seeking volunteers to be "Space Keepers" for the Healing Justice Practice Space. Space keepers will manage the sign up sheet and maintain a safe space, support the healers in their practice, ensure access to the space for attendees, and help to troubleshoot other issues as they arise. They will also need to be able to answer questions about different healing modalities and other offerings of the space.

 

If you are interested, please fill out an application here:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFlpSm9aR0g3TmRKbk1lV1FER210Unc6MQ#gid=0 

 

What is the Healing Justice Practice Space?

The Healing Justice Practice Space will provide individual and collective healing, with the goal of creating and sustaining an environment of wellness and safety for conference participants. The space will welcome the contributions of volunteers who are interested in or are practitioners of various medicine and healing arts, including (but not limited to): crisis counseling, herbalism, reiki, massage, acupuncture, yoga, energy and bodywork, dance/movement, art therapies, etc.

 join my CSA to support racial justice! learn more here.

 

 

Hello Good People!

 

As I sat down to write this month's newsletter, I found myself in a posture that I am often in these days: leaning over the table, head in my hands, struggling to sum up the vastness and complexity of the transition I find myself in, struggling to put words to something I am not yet used to articulating - because I am still in it - and in the end, coming up short. Sound bites feel most comfortable: "I am going thru puberty. Again." Or "Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes." Or "Whew, saturn is Re.Turn.Ing."

 

I have reached a turning point in my life and my work, a point of profound reflection and evaluation of what my work has been, and frighteningly open expansion on all that it could be. In this oceanic and emotional process, it is my core sense of self that is struggling to remain afloat. I feel like a woman trying to remember herself (I welcome love notes as reminders), grasping onto one-liners and deep thoughts to give meaning to the chaos. And reading my horoscope. A lot.

 

My sister Adrienne, who is dope and brilliant and has a blog, recently wrote to me that she has remembered that she is more valuable than her work, and that the most important thing to the people who love her is her happiness. I sobbed like a little baby when she shared that with me because I realized that in my machinations about what I should be doing with myself, I had forgotten my actual SELF. Before I was ever a facilitator, an organizer, a theologian, a musician, a writer, an actress, a dancer, a mother, a partner, a producer of monthly newsletters and deep thoughts, I was a valuable person. And if I left off of any of those identities tomorrow - by force or by choice - I would still be a valuable person.

 

So as I move into and through this process of deep re-evaluation, I do it from the place of protecting this thing I now understand as true: I am the thing that is valuable, and yet I cannot attach a value to myself. But if I see myself only through the lens of my work, attaching value to myself is exactly what I do. Who do I want to be working with? What do I need in order to sustain my practice and be happy? What do I deserve in a friendship, a collaboration, a political framework? These are essential questions for me, believe it or not. Like most organizers, I talk a big game about sustainability and still find myself on verge of burnout half of the time. I teach my students to trust the process and let go of ego, while I am scrambling to retain control of my own experience. How often are we working counter to our own wisdom? 

 

So this spring and summer, I plan to plant a lot of vegetables and water them and watch them grow. I plan to write a short story once a week, so that my wild dreams can find a home and my mind can get some creative exercise. I plan to take a real break from some of my burdens. I will remember myself. I will remember. 

 

In this edition of Iambrown:

• Medicine is Media! An Herbal Medicine Fundraiser for the 2012 AMC Healing Justice Practice Space (EVERYWHERE)
• Basic Midwifery Skills Practicum - May 5-6 (NEW YORK CITY)
• Spreading the Health Conference - May 4 - 13th (CHICAGO)
• Refocus the Frame: Turning the Lens on Race and Racism - May 10 (MINNEAPOLIS)
• The Great Republic of Rough and Ready at Union Hall - May 10 (NEW YORK CITY)
• Apply to Volunteer in the 2012 Allied Media Conference Healing Justice Practice Space (DETROIT)

-----

Medicine is Media! An Herbal Medicine Fundraiser for the 2012 AMC Healing Justice Practice Space

Support Healers Traveling to the 2012 AMC by purchasing Immune Power Powders! For an exciting limited time only, donate $40 or more and receive a unique, handmade “Immune Power Powder” Gift Pack from Good Fight Herb Co. There are only 30 gift packs available, so order yours now! Your donation will directly support travel scholarships for healers and health practitioners who are attending the 2012 Allied Media Conference to offer their gifts and services in the Healing Justice Practice Space (more on the Practice Space below).

The Immune Power Powders Gift Pack includes 3 custom crafted medicinal formulas packaged in beautiful glass corked vials complete with instructions and containing about 20 servings each. The Immune Power Powders Contain :

• Immune Builder Powder. A daily use powder to deeply strengthen your body’s defense mechanisms against everything that brings your immune system down, including : viruses & bacteria, emotional, physical and environmental stressors.
• Vitamin C Powder. Like Emergen-C without the fizz, this delicious powder supplies your body with apower punch of immune boosting vitamin C.
• Immunity Enricher. Made with yellow dock, molasses, and nettle, this powder is packed with iron, potassium, calcium and other nourishing vitamins and minerals your body needs to maintain a hard-working immune system.

Donation details: To make your donation and receive one of these unique, handmade medicinal gift packs, visit https://store.alliedmedia.org/amc2012-immunity-boost. Shipping is included in the price of the package. Additional donations are welcome and appreciated. You can make a donation of any amount to the Practice Space, but only a donation of $40 or more will earn you an Immune Powder Power Pack!

What is the Healing Justice Practice Space?
The Healing Justice Practice Space is an all-gender, all-bodied, inclusive and accessible space for practicing and receiving healing.  We will offer the AMC community massage therapy, energy work, community acupuncture, herbal therapy, counseling, first aid, art therapy, dance, yoga, and more!  The HJPS will also provide skill-sharing, creative documentation of our process, and 101 workshops on health and healing justice and its intersections with media-based organizing. Together we will build an in-house and online Resource Center to hold the incredible wealth of information and strategies developed by fierce healers and activists around the country.  Our work uplifts and politicizes the role of health and healing in our movements as a critical part of the world we are building. We recognize that medicine is media, that how we heal ourselves is directly related to how we engage in individual and collective transformation.

For more information about this fundraiser, contact Autumn Brown: autumnmeghan@gmail.com

Information about the medicine maker, Lauren Giambrone: http://goodfightherbco.com/?page_id=2.
Good Fight Herb Co: http://www.goodfightherbco.com/

-----

Basic Midwifery Skills Practicum - May 5-6

This two day hands-on training will introduce doulas and aspiring midwives to the art of the prenatal exam, basic assessment of vitals, palpation of the pregnant belly, practitioner-client relationship skills, and gentle gynecological exams.
 
When: May 5-6th Saturday & Sunday 10am-6pm
Cost: $250
Location: Park Slope, Brooklyn

Registration:
Payment can be made via paypal at chantiajoy@gmail.com. Payment plans available, call for more information.

Questions?
Contact either Alyssa DeConto: 508-737-9520 or Siena Butler: 612-723-5552      
 
About Chanti:
Chanti is a certified professional midwife, pre and perinatal birth therapist, hypnobirthing instructor, prenatal yoga and embodied anatomy yoga teacher, massage therapist specializing in biodynamic craniosacral therapy, acupressure, and chi nei tsang, infant massage instructor, lactation specialist, and western trained herbalist. Chanti has recently relocated to Brooklyn from the west coast and is delighted to be sharing her passions with the birth community. For more information about her offerings visit her website: www.embodiedbeginnings.com

-----

Spreading the Health Conference - May 4 - 13th

spreadingthehealth.org 

Street medics and wellness workers from Chicago and across the U.S. invite you to attend a conference -- *Spreading the Health* – to help build a grassroots health and wellness movement for social changes! 

Healthcare workers and wellness workers provide critical support to direct action and social change movements – keeping people well so they can stay involved. From acting as street medics in large mobilizations to providing more continuous care at long-term encampments, such as Occupy, there is a growing movement of wellness work with a healing justice lens, a movement that includes healthcare professionals, community activists, alternative practitioners and others. 

*Workshops and events from May 4th to May 13th*
 
*Location: First Lutheran Church of the Trinity in Bridgeport and other Chicago venues
 
Workshops Include: 
-  advanced first aid skills
-  setting up
- running improvised clinics
- crisis management
-  public health at long-term actions
-  herbal medicine and acupressure
- radical mental health perspectives
- preventing and responding to mental health crisis, sexual assault and substance abuse
- healing burnout and managing stress and trauma.

This is conference is for:
- new and experienced street medics
- Community Based Organizations, Activists, organizers and healers of all modalities and all walks of life who wish to build skills and community around health and healing justice
- people with or without healthcare backgrounds interested in developing skills related to medical support, health and wellness care in social change work
 - people who have stepped up to run medical support at Occupy actions across the country
 - people who want to support the Chicago Spring / NATO protests actions
 
Come to the whole conference or select the workshops and events that
interest you.
  
Trainings offered will include:
- a complete 20-hour street medic training
- an 8-hour bridge training for healthcare professionals
- a first aid training for affinity groups
 
Check out spreadingthehealth.org for registration and updated information on workshop schedules, or to get involved.
  
This conference is being organized by health activists from Chicago Action Medical (Chicago’s collective of street medics), the Chicago Healing
Justice Network and street medic collectives throughout the country.

 

-----

Refocus the Frame: Turning the Lens on Race and Racism - May 10

 

The Facilitating Racial Equity Collaborative kicks off new Film & Discussion series on May 10!

Refocus the Frame: Turning the Lens on Race and Racism 
A series of powerful film screenings followed by facilitated discussion, to stimulate insight and and thoughtful dialogue. The films will be free and open to the public. Popcorn and door prizes, too!

9500 Liberty documents the first time in U.S. history that an Arizona-style immigration law was actually implemented—and the surprising grassroots opposition that led to its repeal. 
May 10, 2012, 7-9 pm (Doors open at 6:45) 
Location: Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave. S. in Minneapolis

 

-----

The Great Republic of Rough and Ready at Union Hall - May 10

 

GRRR will perform at Union Hall to celebrate the release of a brand new (and gorgeous) record by their friends Racing Heart. This is a big venue and a big show conveniently located in Park Slope, so come listen to what they have to say, play some bocci upstairs, and enjoy. This might be your only chance to see GRRR perform this spring! It will be a memorable night. 

THE GREAT REPUBLIC OF ROUGH AND READY
Union Hall
702 Union Street at 5th Avenue (Brooklyn)

8:00 pm The Great Republic of Rough and Ready
9:00 pm In One Wind
10:00 pm  Racing Heart 
Tell your friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/355184027850363/
Buy tickets in advance: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=4380325
$10 (tell them you're there to see GRRR)

 

-----

Apply to Volunteer in the 2012 Allied Media Conference Healing Justice Practice Space

 

We are still seeking volunteers to be "Space Keepers" for the Healing Justice Practice Space. Space keepers will manage the sign up sheet and maintain a safe space, support the healers in their practice, ensure access to the space for attendees, and help to troubleshoot other issues as they arise. They will also need to be able to answer questions about different healing modalities and other offerings of the space.

 

If you are interested, please fill out an application here:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFlpSm9aR0g3TmRKbk1lV1FER210Unc6MQ#gid=0 

 

What is the Healing Justice Practice Space?

The Healing Justice Practice Space will provide individual and collective healing, with the goal of creating and sustaining an environment of wellness and safety for conference participants. The space will welcome the contributions of volunteers who are interested in or are practitioners of various medicine and healing arts, including (but not limited to): crisis counseling, herbalism, reiki, massage, acupuncture, yoga, energy and bodywork, dance/movement, art therapies, etc.