An Evening With Bayo Akomolafe (In-Person)

This conversation was recorded March 14. Become a member to have continuous access.

Bayo Akomolafe is a posthumanist thinker, philosopher, poet, author and founder of the Emergence Network, a planet-wide initiative that seeks to convene communities in new ways in response to the critical, civilizational challenges we face as a species. Through Bayo's writings, speeches, and work he inspires new ways of thinking and being in the world, inviting us to ask questions that undermine everything we are told to believe.  

One of the concepts that often inspires those who follow Bayo's work is postactivism, which, according to Bayo, "...is my way of describing the flows and possibilities that proceed from the moment when things no longer fit." The moment when things no longer fit that we now find ourselves in—full of trauma, disaster, conflict, and uncertainty—feels urgent and leads most to calls for urgent global action, but Bayo and postactivism sense the generativity of slowing down, which is more than what humans do or can do.

The thought project of postactivism proceeds from, and is deeply rooted in, Indigenous traditions around the world, and invites us to recognize that we are part of the more-than-human world—a necessary acknowledgement that might help shift our ideas of activism and justice outside of classical humanist framings, systems, and socialities. 

This postactivist approach both creates space for and lives within the spaces of breakthroughs, seismic shifts, openings, cracks, and fissures. These spaces and openings bring new flow, possibility, creativity, and inspiration for repair. 

Join us for a rich and engaging evening with Bayo and artist, writer, mindfulness practitioner, facilitator, and emerging filmmaker Damali Robertson as they explore postactivism and how this concept, which is so imbued with possibility and creativity, can be supportive of pathways to 'healing' ourselves, our children, our ancestors, and the more-than-human world—or better yet, going beyond healing altogether.
  

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Bayo Akomolafe, PhD, rooted with the Yoruba people in a more-than-human world, is the father to Alethea Aanya and Kyah Jayden Abayomi, the grateful life-partner to Ije, son and brother. A widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, public intellectual, essayist, and author of two books, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak, Bayo Akomolafe is the Founder of The Emergence Network, a planet-wide initiative that seeks to convene communities in new ways in response to the critical, civilizational challenges we face as a species. He is host of the postactivist course/festival/event, ‘We Will Dance with Mountains’. He currently lectures at Pacifica Graduate Institute, California. He sits on the Board of many organizations including Science and Non-Duality (US) and Ancient Futures (Australia).  

In July 2022, Dr. Akomolafe was appointed the inaugural Global Senior Fellow of University of California’s (Berkeley) Othering and Belonging Institute. He is also the inaugural Special Fellow of the Schumacher Centre for New Economics and the Inaugural Special Fellow for the Aspen Institute. He has been Fellow for The New Institute in Hamburg, Germany, and Visiting Critic-in-Residence for the Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles (2023).  

He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and has been Commencement Speaker in two universities convocation events. He is also the recipient of the New Thought Leadership Award 2021 and the Excellence in Ethnocultural Psychotherapy Award by the African Mental Health Summit 2022. In a ceremony in July 2023, the City of Portland (Maine, USA) awarded Dr. Akomolafe with the symbolic ‘Key to the City’ in recognition of his planet-wide work and achievements.  

Dr. Akomolafe is a Member of the Club of Rome, a Fellow for the Royal Society of Arts in the UK, and an Ambassador for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance. Learn more about Bayo by exploring his website or at Emergence Network. 
 

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Damali Robertson is an artist, writer, mindfulness practitioner, facilitator, and emerging filmmaker who is guided by three values: Love, Liberation, and Compassion. Damali began telling stories on film in 2014. She launched her YouTube channel @freedomnarratives in 2019 and has talked to dozens of people about activism, racial equity, belonging, mindfulness, and de-colonial scholarship over the last several years. She is currently making a film about moving toward collective liberation through faith and spirituality. Damali is also a sought-after facilitator. Most recently, she co-facilitated a workshop about BIPOC grief at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

Damali is also a leader in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) space. She worked as Director of DEI at California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco from 2021-2023. In that role, she created DEIB programming and events and moderated transformative conversations with Rhonda Magee, Monica Guzman, Yung Pueblo, and Tricia Hersey. Damali is currently Director of DEIB at LifeLong Medical Care in Berkeley, CA.  

Damali’s life and work are grounded in mindfulness practices, spiritual principles, and lived commitments to equity and justice. 

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Recording Policy

This event will be recorded, but access to the recording will only available to those who purchased tickets. All tickets (in-person and online) include access to the recorded livestream for two weeks. Access to the recording will expire on Thursday, March 28, 2024. CIIS Public Programs Members will have unlimited access to this recording.

Refund Policy

All tickets and donations for this event are nonrefundable. If you can no longer attend the in-person event, we encourage you to watch the livestream or the recording instead.