2013 BLACK MEN HEALING CONFERENCE

June 21, 2013 Day One

Morning Workshops (The order is subject to change)

"You told Harpo to beat Me!!!" LaDonna Redmond, community activist/writer/motivational speaker.     She will explore the legacy of historical trauma through an examination of “The Color Purple”.  A 1982 novel by American author Alice Walker that took place mostly in rural Georgia, the story focuses on female black life in the 1930s in the American southern. She won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction for the novel. The novel was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name.

“Healing the Loss of Our Most Vulnerable” Joyce Dickerson West, Project Specialist with Parents As Teachers National Center William Scott with Parents As Teachers National Center   Create an awareness of infant mortality among African Americans. Discuss the role Black men as catalyst for healing the loss of a child before his/her first birthday. Brainstorm solutions to reducing infant mortality. click here to download Handout

“Fathering with Reflective Parenting” Harry G. Ford, MS LMFT, Associate Clinical Director joined by Shelly Callais, MA LPCC and Linnelle Clark, MA MFT with Thad Wilderson & Associates   This presentation will focus on changing the paradigm of parenting.  Most clients we serve believe in the adage of “do as I say, not as I do.”  The goal of this workshop is to reflect parenting through the lens of, “do as I do”.  The facilitators will explore how increased awareness of how parenting is done can provide parents with strategies and skills to develop intimate parent child relationships.

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Lunch

Optional film and discussion with Sam Simmons Doing work with African American men.   “The Family Story”

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Afternoon Workshops (The order is subject to change)

“Proven Strategies for Giving Offenders a Second Chance” Lee Buckley, M.A., Community Reentry Coordinator   This workshop will provide highlights of the MN Department of Corrections (MNDOC) Transition from Prison to Community (TPC) model, what works in MN DOC to reduce recidivism and the MNDOC Second Chance Act High-Risk Revocation Reduction Grant.  Attendees will learn how individualized case management, targeted interventions, including the use of evidence based practices and engaging the offender along with stakeholders in transition planning can increase his or her chance for a successful transition into community.

“The Picked Heart” Andre Koen, MA COO/Chief Facilitator with AM Horizons Training Group  Why don't people smile? Hello seems to fall on deaf ears. Why does it seem as though people are so callous? In this session we will explore why hurt people seem to hurt people. Our discussion will include methods of creating space in our wounded heart to be picked by something beautiful or to be touched by the generosity of another; we will talk about how to nurture a healing heart for yourself and others. click here to download Handout

“The Unspoken Language: the Art of Counseling African American Men and the struggles / paradoxes they face in the relationships with their mothers” John G. Taylor, Clinical/Christian Therapist, MA   This workshop will also focus on the relationship between single mothers and their oldest sons and the paradoxical relationship. The mixed message "you’re the man of the house" but not really and the struggle this brings into the lives of AA men when they are told this but then treated like a child.     Also, workshop will offer for the AA men the tools, strategies and coping skills needed to heal from the shame, loss and disappointment in their lives and learn how to live again, become empowered for greatness and courage to live the life they were meant to live. click here to download Handout

“Fathering with Reflective Parenting” Harry G. Ford, MS LMFT, Associate Clinical Director joined by Shelly Callais, MA LPCC and Linnelle Clark, MA MFT with Thad Wilderson & Associates   This presentation will focus on changing the paradigm of parenting.  Most clients we serve believe in the adage of “do as I say, not as I do.”  The goal of this workshop is to reflect parenting through the lens of, “do as I do”.  The facilitators will explore how increased awareness of how parenting is done can provide parents with strategies and skills to develop intimate parent child relationships.

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