Events
November 19, 2023
Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Transgender Remembrance Sunday
Matthew 22:34-40
"Sacred Bonds"
Rev. Dr. Joanne Braxton
Mother Delk, as she is respectfully known, was first Black woman ordained in the United Church of Christ, and the second woman to hold a national leadership role in the denomination.
You are invited to attend “Black Genealogy and Reparative Justice: Honoring the Ancestors, Restoring Our Families,” the first of this year’s ongoing Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving. Black History Month is a season for remembering, and bringing back together parts of ourselves and our stories that may have been scattered or lost.
March 30, 2021 TREE OF LIFE BLACK FAITH MATTERS SEMINAR
Prayer and Ritual: Deepening Understanding of Our Diverse African American Identities and Spiritualities
Rev. Michelle Freeman—Senior Pastor, First Congregational Church UCC of Riverside, CA
Venerable Ayesha Ali—Heartwidth Sangha, Buddhist Dharma teacher
Sheikh Issa Chisty—Sufi Spiritual leader
Richael Faithful—Black folk healer and shamanic practitioner from southern conjure
Dr. Chenzira Davis Kehina—Ordained Chief High Priestess of Per Ankh M Smai Tawi Ministries (Kemetic)
Rehema Kutua, M.D. – Pediatrician, Medical School Professor and Chief Wellness Consultant for “Tree of Life: Black Faith Matters”
PAST EVENT
TREE OF LIFE: BLACK FAITH MATTERS IN A TIME OF DUAL PANDEMICS SEMINARS
Seminar 2: Identifying the Sources of Our Spiritual Wellbeing in the Face of Trauma and Disruption. Focus: Black Faith Matters for Our Children
Prof. Omiyemi Artisia Green – Mother, Scholar, Playwright, Ifa Priestb.
Dr. Warrenetta Mann, Psy.D. – Psychologist, Mother, Educational Specialist
Rehema Kutua, M.D. – Pediatrician, Medical School Professor and Chief Wellness Consultant for “Tree of Life: Black Faith Matters”
February 23rd, 2021, 6:30-8:30pm EST
TREE OF LIFE: BLACK FAITH MATTERS IN A TIME OF DUAL PANDEMICS SEMINARS
Seminar 1: “God of Our Silent Tears”: Breaking Through Silence to Name our Suffering
Dr. Derrick McQueen—Associate Director, Columbia University Center on African American Religion, Sexual Politics and Social Justice, University Professor & Pastor
Dr. Nigel Hatton—University Professor, Human Rights Activist and Narrative Medicine Specialist
Dr. Faith Fletcher—University of Alabama at Birmingham Bioethicist
January 26, 2021
PAST EVENT
Join Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, counter-oppression theologian and educator, and Richael Faithful, a healer and strategist, in a deep thinking and feeling discussion on moving through your limits toward meaningful action at this critical moment. All are welcome. This event is free.
The practice of medicine is inherently stressful. However, for physicians who also belong to historically underrepresented groups in medicine, these inherent stressors can often be magnified. Add on a pandemic, especially one that disproportionately affects the very communities to which these physicians belong, and we may have the perfect storm for a crisis in wellness. Join us for a conversation about physician well-being in the time of COVID19 with Dr. Rehema Kutua, M.D. and Dr. Qadira Huff, M.D, two black women physicians who are endeavoring to serve and to thrive during these difficult times. This second webinar in the 2020 Braxton Institute for Sustainability, Resiliency and Joy Community Dialogue series is facilitated by Rev. Joanne M. Braxton, Ph.D.
This webinar, hosted by the Braxton Institute for Sustainability, Resiliency, and Joy, will offer a variety of informed perspectives on how COVID-19 has affected criminal law and incarceration—and what we can learn from the experience.
Featuring panelists Rachel Barkow, Alice Marie Johnson, and Mark Osler, and moderated by Dr. Joanne Braxton
May 20, 2020
Past Event
In this half-day Contemplative Practices retreat, led by Rev. Abhi Janamanchi and Rev. Joanne Braxton, and facilitated by Sophia Bouwsma, a certified therapeutic music practitioner, we will engage in the practices of sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindful eating, prayer, ritual and silence, and explore other modes of spiritual reflection known to facilitate compassion, well-being and exquisite self-care. This event is sponsored jointly by Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church and the Braxton Institute for Sustainability, Resiliency and Joy.
Registration is limited. Cost: $20.
Biographies
The Rev. Abhi Janamanchi serves as Senior Minister of Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, MD. Born and raised in Southern India, Abhi is a third-generation member of the Brahmo Samaj, a Unitarian Hindu reform movement with ties to Unitarian Universalism. Abhi has been actively involved in international interfaith and multicultural work for over two decades. His Unitarian Universalist-Hindu faith, his Indian heritage, and his American citizenship inspire and guide him in his life and ministry. Abhi currently serves as the UUA’s Ambassador to the Unitarian Union of Northeast India and Chennai Unitarian Christian Church. He is the co-editor and co-contributor of two Skinner House books: Falling Into The Sky: A Meditation Anthology and Katha Sagar, Ocean of Stories.
The Rev. Joanne M. Braxton, Ph.D., who is also known by her spiritual name, “Sage,” holds a doctorate in American Studies from Yale and degrees in Spirituality and Ministry from the Pacific School of Religion and Virginia Union University. She learned to meditate in an abandoned plum grove as a child and began her formal study of meditation in 1972. An African American elder and healer, a poet and a scholar and a former David B. Larson Fellow in Spirituality and Health at the Library of Congress, she has written or edited several books and contributed “Daily Practices” to the United Church of Christ online “Honoring the Body” online curriculum. She has also taught “Writing for Resiliency” at the National Institutes of Health and served as a consulting minister at All Souls Church Unitarian, Washington, D.C. Dr. Braxton serves as CEO and lead creative for the Braxton Institute for Sustainability, Resiliency and Joy, a non-profit founded with a group of her former students in 2012.
Sophia Bouwsma, M.A., is a broad-minded young professional engaged in collaborative peace and justice work through cultivating partnerships, program development, training design and facilitation, and compassionate relationship-building. Sophia holds a master’s degree in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation from the School for International Training and is a Certified Therapeutic Music Practitioner. She serves as a program officer and facilitator for the Braxton Institute for Sustainability, Resiliency and Joy.
To apply, contact Rev. Janamanchi at ajanamanchi@cedarlane.org
Come home to Virginia and join us for RESILIENCE: a celebration of Three Rivers Customs, Cultures & Cuisines including phenomenal food, performances, art, archaeology, wine/beer and exhibits along the riverfront. Stay tuned for the detailed itinerary/ticket information. Visit https://www.americanevolution2019.com and follow 2019 Commemoration to learn more about all of the amazing events scheduled throughout Virginia in the next several months.
You will not want to miss a moment throughout the year so also follow the Three Rivers Cultural Festival Coalition Grant Partner and sponsor pages including The Fairfield Foundation, Arts Alive, Inc., Pamunkey Indian Museum and Cultural Center, Gloucester Parks, Recreation & Tourism, #WestPointPublicSchools, #MiddlePeninsulaAlliance, Friends of the Library - West Point, Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society of VA, Beverly Allen Historic Preservation Foundation Braxton Institute and Three Rivers Trail
On Sunday, August 25th local, regional and national partners will host a multicultural community ceremony to mark the 400th anniversary of the first recorded Africans to arrive in English-occupied North America at Old Point Comfort.
In the 1700s there were two ports of entry on the York River--Yorktown and West Point. Africans arrived here in bondage as part of the Bristol slave trade. As of July 2019, the Town of West Point, Virginia is now one of the 42 documented U.S. Middle Passage arrival locations designated as a Site of Memory associated with the UNESCO Slave Route Project.
The purpose of the ceremony, workshop and tour are remembrance, healing and reconciliation. We will come together as a diverse community and region for the ringing of the bells, music, butterfly release, history and fellowship.
2:45 Arrive at St John's Episcopal Church, 916 Main Street, West Point, VA
3:00 Ringing of the bells in honor of African ancestors
3:05 Welcome and Opening Remarks
3:10 Praise dance performance
3:30 to 6:45 Free butterfly tent open to the public for interaction
4:00-5:30 Workshop "Healing the Land We Share:
A Community Dialogue for Compassion and Community Care"
(free workshop provided by the Braxton Institute--space is limited however so you must register in advance). E-mail reachvallc@gmail.com to reserve your spot
5:30 Refreshments
6:00 Walking Tour (with guide or on your own with map) of select local sites of significance
7:00 Release of the butterflies in honor of freedom, peace, healing, remembrance and reconciliation
Risk & Ritual | Tuesday August 6, 2019 | 6:30-8:30 PM
Activists Constance Young and glo merriweather discuss how ritual sustains the transformative practice of risk-taking in liberation movements. Why is ritual necessary and how does it sustain us? How does it make those who resist more whole and redefine our ability to persist through experiences of violence? Speakers share their experiences with risk and ritual, connecting the social justice practice of healing one’s society to the practice of healing the body, mind and soul. Moderated by Richael Faithful, folk healer and activist.
The Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving engage justice-activists with the nitty-gritty issues that can undermine our success, such as conflicts within our movements, burnout, internalized oppression and benevolent paternalism. The Dialogues prioritize the wisdom and leadership of women of color, and resource our effectiveness through break-through conversations, and by exploring and re-imaging the spiritual resources that have fueled and sustained powerful social change movements—including folk healing, meditation, rituals for empowerment, celebration, and more. This series is generously supported as an Eileen Fisher Community Partner.
Constance Paige Young is an anti-racist activist and a long-term advocate for survivors of sexual violence. As a survivor of multiple violent crimes, she has found purpose and healing in writing, public speaking, and is a strong presence for others in crisis and recovery.
Her work with organizations including RAINN's Speakers Bureau, All Souls Unitarian Church and various grassroots organizations has motivated her to help survivors of crime find justice outside the often re-traumatizing criminal court system. To this end, she is exploring social entrepreneurship.
Constance is currently writing her memoir and pursuing a certificate in Social Impact Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania part time. She resides in Washington, DC.
glo merriweather is a 27 year old Black trans community organizer living in Charlotte, North Carolina. In September of 2016, $20,000.00 in warrants were put out for glo’s arrest after they spoke up about witnessing the police murder of Justin Carr, an unarmed Black man, during the Charlotte Uprising protests. The Charlotte Uprising took place in the hours after the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department murdered an innocent Black man named Keith Lamont Scott.
After two long years of fighting for their freedom and declining plea deal after plea deal, the Charlotte Mecklenburg District Attorney dropped all charges against glo due to insufficient evidence, in August of 2018.
Since glo’s charges were dropped, they have been working toward building trauma-informed initiatives for other marginalized folks who have experienced or witnessed extreme violence. glo believes in the power of trauma-informed communities and healing.
They plan to continue this work until all of us are in right relationship with our trauma and the traumatized folks and Earth around us.
Richael Faithful (they/them) is a multi-disciplinary healer, creator, and cultural worker rooted in the African diaspora tradition of conjure. Their long-time movement work as a visionary organizer, radical lawyer, and relational facilitator has routinely brought them to the edges of vulnerability and meaning. From political public ritual to bold futuristic writing, they carry embodied theories about risk and moral struggle into the Braxton Institute series conversation.
National Moral Injury Conference
May 29-31, 2019
Transforming Moral Injury Across the Professions: Cultivating Moral Resilience Through Reflective Writing and Contemplative Practice—
“Transforming Moral Injury Across the Professions” is an experiential track designed for clinicians, war-fighters, chaplains, social workers, emergency workers, community organizers, VOA ministers and anyone interested in cultivating practical tools for sustainable self-care. This Track is relevant to anyone struggling with or seeking to understand any form of moral injury and critical incident stress, or anyone who works with others who experience or have experienced moral injury or critical incident stress. The skills learned help the healer heal the self, not by diminishing or minimizing moral adversity, but by naming it and addressing it. Under the guidance of two seasoned teachers with a strong background in health and well-being, participants learn the fine art of witnessing our own and others’ experience and extending compassion to ourselves and those we serve. How do we come to understand the contours of integrity in a situation where there were no good are outcomes possible? How do we transform that experience of moral stress, distress or injury, once we have named it, through reflection and contemplation? Using case studies and personal experience, we name where we find ourselves on the continuum of moral anguish and moral suffering, and then begin to learn to transform it. Participants learn practices such as journaling, spiritual life writing, walking the labyrinth, sitting meditation and other forms of exploration and meaning-making that realistically support recovery from moral adversity and the building of moral resilience.
Joanne M. Braxton, Ph. D., M.Div. is Emeritus Professor at the College of William & Mary and Adjunct Professor of Family and Community Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School, where she headed the Narrative Medicine for Excellence Project. An accomplished scholar, writer, healer and ordained minister, she has been David B. Larson Fellow in Spirituality and Health at the Library of Congress Kluge Center. Dr. Braxton is also CEO and lead creative for the Braxton Institute for Sustainability, Resiliency and Joy 501 (c) 3, a co-host of the 2017 Moral Injury and Collective Healing advanced training seminar held in Princeton.
Cynda Hylton Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN is the Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics in the Johns Hopkins University’s Berman Institute of Bioethics & Schools of Nursing and Medicine. In 2016, she co-led a national initiative: Transforming Moral Distress into Moral Resilience in Nursing and co-chaired the American Nurses Association panel that created A Call to Action: Exploring Moral Resilience Toward a Culture of Ethical Practice. She is editor/author of Moral Resilience: Transforming Moral Suffering in Healthcare and member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine’s Committee on System Approaches to Improve Patient Care by Supporting Clinician Wellbeing.
Writing for Healing-- Rev. Joanne Braxton, PHD. (“Mama Sage”)
The writer’s craft is a tool chest for witnessing and Compassion. Primarily an autobiographical writing class, we’ll also explore journaling, spiritual life writing, meditation, creating rituals, and other forms of meaning-making that support recovery and resilience. This can be particularly good for those suffering from injury, illness, grief, or loss, but the techniques are invaluable to anyone who honors their own or others’ experiences.
Rev. Joanne Braxton, PHD.
Fee: $10. Thursdays, May 2 and May 16, 7-9 pm.
Registration link: www. all-souls.org/asd
To apply for a scholarship, contact: jbraxton@allsouls.ws
Join us at the Potter's House D.C. on February 5 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. for the first in the 2019 Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving Series! Seven voices for the 7 colors of the rainbow read from the work of Ntosake Shange and then their own work to share how Shange’s poetry and plays helped them to find God in themselves and to love themselves more fully. We will join together in an experiential ritual and in building an altar of discovery and remembrance. If you will be with us, please bring something to share on the altar. Livestreamed for those who wish to participate from a distance!
Retreat Leaders: Joanne Braxton, Abhi Janamanchi, Maxine Hillman
Date: Saturday, November 10, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Contemplative Practices Retreat
November 10, 2018 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
http://all-souls.org/node/2026
In this half-day Contemplative Practices retreat, led by Rev. Dr. Abhi Janamanchi and Rev. Dr. Joanne Braxton, we will honor Hindu religious perspectives and devotional practices as well as the power of interfaith spirituality and its expression. We’ll engage in the practices of sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindful eating, prayer, ritual and silence, and explore other modes of spiritual reflection known to facilitate compassion, well-being and exquisite self-care.
The Rev. Abhi Janamanchi serves as Senior Minister of Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, MD. Born and raised in Southern India, Abhi is a third-generation member of the Brahmo Samaj, a Unitarian Hindu reform movement with ties to Unitarian Universalism. Abhi has been actively involved in international interfaith and multicultural work for over two decades. His Unitarian Universalist-Hindu faith, his Indian heritage, and his American citizenship inspire and guide him in his life and ministry. Abhi currently serves as the UUA’s Ambassador to the Unitarian Union of Northeast India and Chennai Unitarian Christian Church. He is the co-editor and co-contributor of two Skinner House books: Falling Into The Sky: A Meditation Anthology and Katha Sagar, Ocean of Stories.
The Rev. Joanne Braxton serves as a half-time Consulting Minister at All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC and CEO and lead creative for the Braxton Institute for Sustainability, Resiliency and Joy. An African-American elder and healer who learned to meditate in an abandoned plum grove as a child, she specializes in the care of the soul. Joanne earned the MT.S. degree in Spiritual Disciplines for Leadership from the Pacific School of Religion and the M.Div. in Ministry from the School of Theology at Virginia Union University. Joanne holds the rank of Adjunct Professor of Family and Community Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School and serves as a wellness consultant to scientists at the National Institutes of Health.
Writing the Sacred Self
Facilitator: Rev. Dr. Joanne Braxton
Spiritual life writing is a way of engaging in the transformative journey to one’s own sacred center and bringing together the pieces of one’s authentic self. Since the time of St. Augustine and perhaps even before, autobiography and life writing have been a bridge between spirituality and well-being, often a key element in self-care and spiritual discipline. Writing is healing for those who write; once the skills are learned, reflective writing and journaling become not only a life-long bulwark against stress and burnout, but a means of expressing the soul. One begins the journey anew each day; life remains exciting and fresh.
Thursdays, Oct. 25, Nov. 8, Nov. 29
What will it take to end white supremacy? How does white supremacy live inside you and how can you identify and disrupt it?
Join renowned feminist theologian, Dr. Rev. Rebecca Ann Parker, and folk healing artist, Richael Faithful, for an intimate and honest conversation about how white folks can deepen their commitment to racial justice.
They'll dive deep into:
How to rely on our body of experience/embodied experience for moral clarity & courage
Unpack how self-righteousness reinforces white supremacy & share grounded alternatives
Explain how religious themes, like redemptive sacrifice, undermine white solidarity work & present powerful counter-themes
Describe experiences of reaching into the unexpressed psyche to inform racial justice action
Ask what place imagination has in racial justice struggle
And a lot more.
Literature and Religion--. Course taught by Rev. Dr. Joanne Braxton, Minister and Womanist Literature Scholar
“My passion for theatre began out of a necessity with a desire to provide a platform for the voices of the historically marginalized to make for a more inclusive theatrical landscape. This talk is a personal account of how my exploration of black ritual drama led me on a journey of finding God within.
— Artisia Green
In this dynamic, participatory dialogue, we will explore the way in which theatre and ritual offer avenues for spiritual and aesthetic growth and community renewal. We will embody this exploration through the creation of a walking meditation/ritual that will close our evening by honoring our various backgrounds and spiritual practices.
**Everyone is welcome; you don't have to be Black to understand and appreciate Black Sacred Activism.**
Artisia Green is the Sharpe Associate Professor of Civic Renewal and Entrepreneurship of Theatre and Africana Studies and Director of the Africana Studies Program at William & Mary. As a director, dramaturg, and an initiated indigenous priest within the West African system known as Ifa , she sees theatre as a powerful tool for enabling participants and witnesses with tools to respond to the forces that constantly challenge their humanity. Artisia is published in August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle: Critical Perspectives on the Plays edited by Sandra Shannon and Continuum: the Journal of African/Diaspora Drama, Theatre and Performance.
Joanne Braxton is a poet, author, teacher and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. President of the Braxton Institute, she is author of Black Female Sexualities (2015) and Monuments of the Black Atlantic: Slavery and Memory (2003) among other books. Also known as Sage, the name given her by Keewaydinoquay Peschel, Joanne teaches contemplative practice and provides pastoral care and spiritual direction at All Souls Church, Unitarian, Washington, D.C.
Thursday, June 7, 2018 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm
The Potter’s House
1658 Columbia Road NW, Washington, DC 20009 (map)
The Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving engage justice-activists with the nitty-gritty issues that can undermine our success, such as conflicts within our movements, burnout, internalized oppression and benevolent paternalism. The Dialogues prioritize the wisdom and leadership of women of color, and resource our effectiveness through break-through conversations, and by exploring and re-imaging the spiritual resources that have fueled and sustained powerful social change movements—including folk healing, meditation, rituals for empowerment, celebration, and more. This series is generously supported as an Eileen Fisher Community Partner.
Contemplative Practices
Saturday, May 5, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
In this half-day workshop retreat, we’ll explore both writing and mindfulness as tools for spiritual formation and the cultivation of exquisite self-care. Sitting meditation, prayer, ritual and silence, mindfulness, mindful walking, mindful eating, life writing, and spiritual reflection. Joy!
Facilitator: Sage
Rev. Dr. Joanne Braxton is a writer and president of the Braxton Institute for Sustainability, Resiliency, and Joy, an organization that supports the well-being of activists, change-makers, and caregivers. An ordained minister, Dr. Braxton, who is also known as Sage, has a degree in spirituality and another in ministry as well as a doctorate in American Studies. She has created online curriculum context in spirituality and health for the United Church of Christ and has served as a consultant to the Unitarian Universalist Association as well as All Souls Church. Dr. Braxton has incorporated mindfulness in her teaching of writing for many years and is training to become a qualified MBSR instructor through the Center for Mindfulness and Omega Institute.
In this dynamic, participatory conversation, we’ll deeply explore the ways in which creatives are expressing their politics and creating collective healing through the vehicles of art, media, and ritual. We’ll examine the rich history of art activism, resistance, and survival, in communities of color, and how these legacies are shaped in the heightened time of 2018.
This conversation, the fourth in a series of Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving, will be led by three artists: Nicole Oxendine (RiverShe Collective Arts), J. Valoris (the xigga.Projeck) and Richael Faithful (folk healing artist).
Thursday, April 5, 2018 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm
The Potter’s House
1658 Columbia Road NW, Washington, DC 20009 (map)
This event is free and open to the public and no registration is required. Join us for a powerful evening of spirit-connected movement-building!
The Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving engage justice-activists with the nitty-gritty issues that can undermine our success, such as conflicts within our movements, burnout, internalized oppression and benevolent paternalism. The Dialogues prioritize the wisdom and leadership of people of color, resource our effectiveness through break-through conversations, and by exploring and re-imaging the spiritual resources that have fueled and sustained powerful social change movements—including folk healing, meditation, rituals for empowerment, celebration, and more. This series is generously supported as an Eileen Fisher Community Partner.
J. Valoris
Jessica Valoris is a Washington, D.C. based visual and performing artist, emcee, and youth advocate. With extensive experience collaborating with community-based organizations and facilitating empowering youth programming,
Jessica believes in the power of art to activate imagination, build community, and spark inspired action.
Jessica currently works with The Future Project and City at Peace DC, and is a one half of the rap duo, Colored Girls Hustle. https://www.jvaloris.com/
Nicole Oxendine
As a Native, lesbian interdisciplinary artist, activist, cultural producer & healer, Nicole's work is particularly focused on Women’s lives, stories and art; Native lives, stories and art;
Feminist/Womanist/Queer/Indigenous/Black wisdoms; Lineage & identity; Creative Spirit/Source/Soul; and Environmental connection & restoration.
Nicole's creative practice is expressed through painting, textiles, assemblage/sculpture, ceremony, & collaborative practice… gratefully guided by my Lumbee, Celtic & Cuban ancestors.
A Community Dialogue in Pursuit of Spiritual Thriving and Sustainable Justice
Grounded in the pursuit of spiritual thriving and sustainable justice, this dynamic, participatory community dialogue brings together diverse voices with wide-ranging expertise to engage deeply with the realities of incarceration, racism, and the work of collective justice-making.
This conversation, the third in a series of Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving, will be led by three leaders who embody both theory and practice in their work for justice: Pastor Tina Booker (Radikal4kidz Inc., NYC Department of Correction), Dr. Nigel Hatton (UC- Merced, Braxton Institute), and Chaplain Justin von Bujdoss (Buddhist teacher, NYC Department of Correction).
Please join us for a powerful evening of spirit-connected movement-building!
Thursday, February 22, 2018 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm
The Potter’s House
1658 Columbia Road, Washington, DC 20009 (map)
This event is free and open to the public and no registration is required.
Pastor Tina Booker
“When ‘The Troubled Teen’ Speaks: Moral Injury, Healing, and Justice.”
Pastor Booker is native of Brooklyn, NY. She has been married for the past 15 years and is the mother of one daughter. Educated through the NYC public School system and continued on to S.U.N.Y Old Westbury for two years as a Media and Communication Arts major. She completed Ministerial Training 2012 at HRCBC Ministerial Institute after answering her call to ministry in 2009. Pastor Booker began working in the health profession as an administrative assistant and medical biller in 1992 until moving on to the New York City Department of Correction in 1999 as a Correction Officer.
Pastor Booker was installed as Pastor of the Full of Faith Christian Center located in Laurelton Queens, launched in October 2016 after being ordained at Historic Rugged Cross Baptist Church as a reverend in 2012. Her vision for ministry is to encourage, inspire and infuse God's love to his people through engaging with the community offering powerful worship services that offer biblical truth in relevant and practical ways.
In 2013 Pastor Booker founded Radikal4kidz Inc., a non-profit community outreach creative and performing arts program created as a safe haven for youth and young adults to express themselves through performing and creative arts. The program was inspired by her own childhood struggles as she was labeled a “troubled teen”. Radikal4kidz is a resource for social development and creative freedom.
Pastor Booker has dedicated her life to effective community outreach. Through her personal and professional experiences, she understands that a lack of resources can contribute to the mass incarceration epidemic that affect many families in inner-city communities. She is dedicated to creating innovative ways to raise awareness and provide needed resources through ministry and the Radikal4kidz “JAIL IS NOT AN OPTION” initiative. This initiative bridges the gap between law enforcement, clergy, elected officials and the community. Hosting information sessions, community fun day events, and conferences as preventive and proactive measures, we continue to address the mass incarceration crisis in the inner-city communities of New York City and throughout the United States of America.
Pastor Booker as received numerous awards, citations and acknowledgements for her community service and achievements within the Department of Corrections. Her life is dedicated to living by example and encouraging all Gods children to live life in fullness.
“I just do what I can, and pray that God is pleased with my service to his people
— Pastor Booker's Motto
Professor Nigel Hatton, MFA, Ph.D
“On the Spiritual and Political Leadership of Resisting Black Mothers.”
Dr. Hatton is a member of the board of directors of the Braxton Institute and an assistant professor of literature at the University of California, Merced. He is interested in how narrative theory and practice can help lower homicide and incarceration rates in impoverished communities. He has completed introductory and advanced narrative workshops with the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.
Dr. Hatton’s work on the uses of story to end black-on-black homicide has gained influence in both the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Hatton’s “African-American Women, Homicide, and Human Rights: How Black- on-Black Murder in Oakland, California, Silently Affects the International Human Rights Movement” is based on a series of interviews over two years with women whose children were murdered. It was turned into a collaborative project with the photographer Susan Latham and named a semifinalist for the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor documentary prize.
Dr. Hatton began teaching literature and writing courses at San Quentin State Prison in 2003 through the Prison University Project and now volunteer teaches writing courses with the Prison Education Project at Central California Women’s Facility, the world’s largest women’s prison, located in Chowchilla, California. In his academic work, he is the author of several articles on the intersections of global human rights discourses and world literature, as well as the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard. He received the dual Ph.D. in Modern Thought & Literature and the Humanities with a political science (political theory track) minor from Stanford University. He also holds an MFA from the Jesuit University of San Francisco.
Chaplain Justin von Bujdoss
“Spirituality and Justice Through the Eyes of Riker’s Buddhist Chaplain.”
Chaplain Bujdoss is an American Buddhist teacher and chaplain. He was ordained as a Repa in the Karma Kamstang tradition of Tibetan Buddhism by His Eminence Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche in 2011 and given the name Repa Dorje Odzer and has over 20 years of experience with Buddhist practice. Justin is passionate about the preservation of the heart-essence of the tantric Buddhist tradition in a way that meets the needs of, and simultaneously challenges, the modern western way of life. He is committed to the development of a repa tradition rooted in the west and has been working to this end for a number of years.
From 2012 until 2017 Justin served as the resident-lama and executive director of New York Tsurphu Goshir Dharma Center, an urban dharma organization which functioned as an affiliate of Palchen Chosling Monastic Institute, Ralang, Sikkim, India.
Justin is presently the first dedicated Staff Chaplain for the New York City Department of Correction where he provides spiritual support for the 13,000 employees, both uniformed and non-uniformed, who work throughout the New York City Corrections system. Part of his work includes developing and implementing meditation programs for officers throughout the NYC jail system in addition to the typical work of ministering DOC staff.
Justin has also worked as a full-time home hospice chaplain and is trained both in CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) as well as Buddhist end-of-life practices and spiritual care. Justin has taught on Buddhist end-of-life care and teaches dharma in a variety of settings from monasteries, retreat centers and dharma centers, to hospital didactics, CPE groups and at conferences, universities and museums.
More of his work can be seen at justinvonbujdoss.com.
The Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving engage justice-activists with the nitty-gritty issues that can undermine our success, such as conflicts within our movements, burnout, internalized oppression and benevolent paternalism. The Dialogues prioritize the wisdom and leadership of people of color, resource our effectiveness through break-through conversations, and by exploring and re-imaging the spiritual resources that have fueled and sustained powerful social change movements—including folk healing, meditation, rituals for empowerment, celebration, and more.
9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. January 28, 2017, at All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC, Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker will preach about the "Me, Too" Wake-Up Call, and how the movement has brought renewed attention to how widely sexual harassment and abuse have impacted people's lives---most often (but not only) women. What does it take for those harmed to find their voice, name their experience, and call for redress? How can and should our spiritual communities help foster healing, accountability, and positive change? What does this moment open up for all of us?
Following the two services, there will be two spaces to reflect on what the topic brings up for you and what it looks like to move forward. Rev. Joanne Braxton will help lead reflection sessions for women and gender nonconforming people. Dr. Braxton will be assisted by the Braxton Institute’s own Arielle Pak. Rev. Rob Keithan will help lead reflection sessions for cisgender men. Cisgender means that your gender identity corresponds with the biological sex assigned at birth. The ministry team recognizes that women and gender nonconforming people have some similarities in the way harassment/abuse is experienced, but also some significant differences as well. We will strive to create a space that honors both realities. The reflection sessions will start 15 minutes after the end of each service and last 1 hour. Women and gender nonconforming people will meet in classroom 3; cisgender men in the library.
All Souls Church Unitarian
1500 Harvard St NW
Washington, DC 20009
All Souls Church Unitarian 1500 Harvard St NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20009
Kwanzaa Celebration: "Offering First Fruits of the Spirit"
Dr. Joanne Braxton, Preacher
Dr. Rebecca Parker, Liturgist
Music: Jubilee Singers
Akoma Drummers
The Potter’s House
1658 Columbia Road
Washington, DC 20009
In this dynamic, participatory conversation, we’ll deeply explore the inspiration and forces that source our stewardship of land, ecology, food, and communities. We’ll examine how imperialist strategies that were devised to disconnect us from, and harm us through land weren’t successful, and the bodies of existing work that are helping us reconnect, repair, and reclaim our ecological-human relationships.
This conversation, the second in a series of Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving, will be led by three Black justice workers: Tracy McCurty (Black Belt Justice Center), Amirio Freeman (Being Green While Black) and Richael Faithful (Folk Healer/Braxton Institute). An anchor to the event’s conversation is the new anthology, Land Justice: Re-imagining Land, Food, and the Commons, to which Tracy and Richael are contributors.
This event is open to the public. No registration is required.
Join us for a powerful evening of spirit-connected movement-building!
About Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving:
The Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving engage justice-activists with the nitty-gritty issues that can undermine our success, such as conflicts within our movements, burnout, internalized oppression and benevolent paternalism. The Dialogues prioritize the wisdom and leadership of women of color, and resource our effectiveness through break-through conversations, and by exploring and re-imaging the spiritual resources that have fueled and sustained powerful social change movements—including folk healing, meditation, rituals for empowerment, celebration, and more.
The Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving engage justice-activists with the nitty-gritty issues that can undermine our success, such as conflicts within our movements, burnout, internalized oppression and benevolent paternalism. The Dialogues prioritize the wisdom and leadership of women of color, and resource our effectiveness through break-through conversations, and by exploring and re-imaging the spiritual resources that have fueled and sustained powerful social change
movements—including folk healing, meditation, rituals for empowerment, celebration, and more.
Panelists: Richael Faithful, Joanne Braxton and Rebecca Ann Parker
Richael Faithful, Esq., is an activist, author, and healer well known for work in LGBT rights and for a founding role in the National Lawyers’ Guild Inter-Generational Relationships Project. Additionally, Faithful founded the Virginia Rights Restoration Project for automatic rights restoration for people with felony convictions. Faithful is contributor to a new anthology, focused on Black and indigenous land sovereignities, Land Justice: Re-Imagining Land, Food, and the Commons (2017).
Dr. Joanne Braxton, is an intellectual activist and the author or editor of many published books, including Black Female Sexualities, Black Women Writing Autobiography: A Tradition Within a Tradition, Wild Women in the Whirlwind: The Contemporary Renaissance in Afra-American Literature and Black Women Writing Autobiography: A Tradition Within a Tradition, and The Collected Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, theologian in residence at All Souls Church Unitarian is the author or co-author of several books, including Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire and Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering and the Search for What Saves Us, as well as A House for Hope and Blessing the World.
September 11-13, 2017
Trinity Church, Princeton
33 Mercer St
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
This advanced training seminar marks a groundbreaking moment in the growing discourse about moral injury among veterans of war and citizens returning from incarceration. One hundred experienced clinicians, caregivers, clergy, and thought-leaders will convene with expert faculty for three days of experiential learning which will inform the ways individuals and communities respond to the invisible wounds of moral injury. Training will emphasize the dynamics of spiritual practice, artistry, and ritual in community healing. Please click here for more information about the faculty, schedule, lodging, and to submit your registration!
Continuing education units will be available. Partial scholarships available by application.
This landmark training is made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Braxton Institute, the Soul Repair Center and Volunteers of America.
www.braxtoninstitute.org - www.soulrepair.org - www.voa.org
Those interested in co-sponsoring "Moral Injury and Collective Healing: An Advanced Training Seminar" are encouraged to contact info@braxtoninstitute.org for more information.
