Feb03
A Visiting Scholar Series with Guest Speaker Mohamed Abdou, hosted by the Anthropology and Social Change Department
All Campus Events
28 Days of Blackness
Join us this February for "28 Days of Blackness," a powerful series dedicated to honoring the legacy and contributions of Black and African American communities.
Led by the 2024-2025 Jegnaship Cohort and powered by community partners from across the country, 28 Days of Blackness is an opportunity to connect, reflect, and celebrate the enduring impact of Black voices in shaping our nation.
This year's theme, "A Celebration of Remembrance, Resistance, and Resilience," invites you to engage in virtual presentations showcasing his story/her story, music, hip-hop, spoken word, open mic, and much more. Our program also features workshops and presentations highlighting the dynamic resilience and resistance of people of African ancestry.
Spend February with CIIS' Black Psychology Jengaship program and Center for Black and Indigenous Praxis in this incredible opportunity to connect, learn, and celebrate!
Week 1
Opening Ceremony
Monday, February 3
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
We will open up our 28 days of Blackness via zoom. Join us to kick off our month long celebration of exciting events.
Rising into Your Sacred Sexual Higher Self: The Perfect Sacred Union with Queen Mother Osunnike Anke
Friday, February 7
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
The Perfect Sacred Union is a holy union or alchemical marriage between you and your Higher Self. When you are in Perfect Sacred Union, you recognize and honor your soul in its’ sacred wholeness, which is your feminine and masculine essence joined in UNION. Then, you can experience and witness your expansive divine spiritual essence as total perfection, and you will be able to access your storehouse of divine intelligence and ancient wisdom, which is contained within your sacred and divine body temple. When engaged in shared sacred sexual union with your mate, your combined energies line up to create an electromagnetic web of divine love that transmutes your body temples into pure spirit. Rising higher - transcending the illusion of being separate fragmented beings. Lets RISE!
Week 2
Movement for the Movement with Nikomeh Anderson
Tuesday, February 11
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
Movement for the Movement is an integral workshop to prepare your body, mind, and spirit for Liberation, whether in the streets, at home, or inside your own self. Beginning with a Libation for Liberation, we call on the names of our ancestors and invite them into our space of training ourselves for resistance. Guided with gentle invitations, we will focus on a somatic practice to build self and communal attunement, energetic flow throughout the body, and strategic maneuvering for community self-defense. We will ground, feel, stabilize, express, vision, and inspire our own being in a spiral of internal, interpersonal, and communal freedom.
Black Love & Partnership: Poly, Blended and Chosen Family with Love Ta'Shia Asanti
Wednesday, February 12
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
This workshop explores love, commitment, and family from an Indigenous perspective. It is based on Yoruba/Ifa philosophy combined with modern sensuality.
When Mother Speaks: Black Women and the Spiritual Germ of Wholeness with Rev. Khalil N. Canady
Thursday, February 13
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
This presentation is based on Nikola Tesla’s famous quote: “If you want to find out the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration." Together, we will explore these three “secrets” within the “temples” of Black female artists Mary Johnson Davis, Willie Mae Ford Smith, and Mahalia Jackson. All were Gospel Performers and will highlight their contributions to the Gospel field.
To Three Visions of Ghana with Prophetess Mary Hearns-Ayodele, Rev. Glencie Rhedrick, and Rev. Burdette D. Lowe
Friday, February 14
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
This presentation reviews their unique and multifaceted perspectives on Ghana, featuring three distinct presentations from scholars who recently explored this vibrant West African nation. Each scholar is a co-author of the paper The Domination of Mother Earth, Gender-Based Violence, and the (Dis)Ease of Eve, which has been published in the peer-reviewed African Gender and Religion Journal. Each scholar will share their research and unique "vision" of Ghana, showcasing the diverse experiences and unforgettable memories they encountered.
Week 3
The Power of Pause: Transforming Survival Mode to Thriving Mode with Renee Cage, LCSW
Monday, February 17
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
This presentation honors our ancestral wisdom of rest and restoration.
Guyana's African Village Movement: An Exilic Space with Brian Shuffler
Tuesday, February 18
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
Guyana’s Village Movement Exilic Space Brian Shuffler’s PhD Dissertation research project investigates Guyana’s Post-Emancipation Village Movement, an overlooked yet pivotal historical phenomenon in the struggle for autonomy, mutual aid, and self-determination by formerly enslaved Afro-Guyanese.
On Kindred Creating and Black Futures: A Conversation with Aida Mariam Davis and Preston Vargas
Wednesday, February 19
6:00pm - 7:30pm PT
Join Aida and CIIS Director of the Center for Black & Indigenous Praxis Preston Vargas for a powerful conversation exploring African epistemologies and recalling the dignity and distinction of the African way of life. Aida shares her philosophical framework: remember, refuse, and reclaim as a vital guide for birthing new worlds and reclaiming land, language, lifestyle, and labor.
Generations - Black LGBTQIA+ History Experiences
Thursday, February 20
5:30pm - 10:00pm PT
For generations, Black LGBTIQIA+ people have been at the forefront of movements for justice and equality. This event is our opportunity to honor that legacy, recognize the strides we’ve made, and imagine a future where everyone is free to thrive.
Womb Yoga with Maati Sanovia Muhammad, E-RYT, RNR
Friday, February 21
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
Womb Yoga As A Tool For Liberation Join Maati Sanovia for a 90-minute Womb Yoga session. Using the sounds of our Ancient Ancestors, movement, and breathwork, we will experience the essence of the ancient Kemetic goddess embodied within ourselves. Everyone is welcome to join in this practice at their level of ability. The session will include a time for participants to ask and answer questions.
Week 4
Healing our Souls with Land with Rev. Dele
Tuesday, February 25
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
This workshop will shed light on a healing journey that begins in Communion with our Earth Mother and ends in surrender to oneness with all that there is. We will begin by describing our Soul's way of Being, walk through elements of our land relationships, open our hearts to shifts in consciousness so we may ascend back into wholeness. Given expected frigid temperatures and the virtual setting, you are invited to work indoors. Our tools may include sound, ceremony, visualization, breath.
The History and Global Impact of Hip Hop Culture Part 1 with Sherman Wing and Benu Amun-Ra
Wednesday, February 26
2:00pm - 4:00pm PT
This workshop is part 1 of exploring Hip Hop’s cultural and global impact over the past 50 years.
The History and Global Impact of Hip Hop Culture Part 2 with Sherman Wing and Benu Amun-Ra
Thursday, February 27
2:00pm - 4:00pm PT
This workshop is part 2 of exploring Hip Hop’s cultural and global impact over the past 50 years.
Closing Ceremony featuring Musical Artist, Lewis Raye
Friday, February 28
4:00pm - 6:00pm PT
Lewis Raye, a multi-talented singer-songwriter and producer, studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, and Audio Production at the Art Institute of Atlanta. He plays piano, guitar, and bass and loves all styles of music! When he’s not teaching at Sing Like a Star Studios, he enjoys recording and performing his original songs around the country.
Visit our Padlet board to learn more about our speakers and events during 28 Days of Blackness at CIIS. Learn the origins of 28/29 Days of Blackness at CIIS. For more information about any of the events hosted by the Black Psychology Project Jegnaship Program, please contact us at bpp@ciis.edu.
About The Black Psychology Project
The Black Psychology Project at CIIS is an African-centered workshop series and leadership development program that focuses on African ancestry students - with inclusion of the broader CIIS community.
The Black Psychology Project raises awareness of and support for Black Psychology as a field of study and for its application and practice in one’s life work, personally and professionally.
A unique aspect of the project is the use of an African-centered leadership development and knowledge transfer praxis called Jegnaship.
Jegnaship is a relational African-centered intentionally guided development process for intergenerational knowing and knowledge transfer which engages in a mutual co-learning approach (Deterville, 2020). The Jegnaship process will facilitate the sustainability of the project each academic year as new cohorts and project alumni are engaged as participants.
Related Events
Feb10
A Reading and Discussion with Author Leora Fridman
Feb12
An online lecture with Eyal Weizman