UNMASKING INTERNALIZED SUPERIORITY,
overcoming internalized inferiority
A two-day conference for people of color and white allies
Location
Sheraton Stamford Hotel
Stamford, Connecticut
Date & Time
June 8th - 9th
Registration: 8:00am - 9:00am
Conference: 9:00am - 5:30pm
Dinner & Dance
June 8th, 6:30pm
This year’s conference will focus on internalized racially based messages….those that stifle, smother, and sear the souls of people of color, as well as those that usurp the good intentions of well-meaning whites. The conference will examine the deeply entrenched and unexamined internalized racial messages that make it challenging for each of us who posses them to be fully functioning human beings. Please join us for two days of important and intense soul work!
Examining the lives of some of his personal heroes across a variety of disciplines and pursuits bearers of what he calls Black Prophetic Fire, towering figures who changed the world Dr. Cornel West considers the life and work of such luminaries as Ida B. Wells, A. Philip Randolph, Fannie Lou Hamer, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Coltrane, Max Roach, Gil Scott-Heron, Curtis Mayfield and others. He locates a common denominator in these prophets including a hypersensitivity to the weak and vulnerable that produces a righteous indignation in the face of a callous status quo, making these names as vital to the current age as they were in their own time. By revisiting these names and the fire they brought to their age, which he argues is alive and well in the current generation, Dr. West encourages audiences to stoke the fire as they did by bearing witness, taking risks, cutting against the grain and telling the truth, not in a spirit of self-righteousness, but as a calling to make the world a better place in generations to come.
In this presentation, Wise explores the rise of Donald Trump and the way Trumpism reflects longstanding traditions of white racial resentment in America. By placing current politics in a historical context, this talk allows the audience to understand what is new, and not so new about the rise of Trump. Furthermore, this presentation documents the way in which Trumpism is rooted in a common and ignoble history in which monied elites have pitted white working class folks against people of color, while ignoring the real causes of economic and social pain felt by millions. From Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric to his calls for “law and order,” Wise lays bare the intellectual absurdity of the Trump phenomenon, and demonstrates conclusively the way in which it is tied to an implicit or even explicitly white nationalist worldview.
The scope, depth and profundity of racism and its expression, even for those of us doing this work, often exceeds our ability to take it in. And it is this very vastness that translates into a multi-generational journey of liberation and healing that begun before us and will continue after us. Staying on this journey is what matters. Staying open to the energy and manifestations of internalized racism in us, being brave enough to feel it and hold our eyes there, with loving tenderness. These are notes from my journey of healing, the call to find new dancing ground.
This address will feature a personal story of resistance and resilience of a refugee and survivor of war, colonialism, racism, capitalism and sexism. The struggles, opportunities, and ongoing efforts to find healing within one’s self while simultaneously attempting to promote healing within one’s traumatized community will be discussed. Special attention will be devoted to examining how negative internalized messages from the dominant culture can impede the healing process of individuals and communities. The importance of cultural affirmation, as well as embracing and honoring indigenous healing practices will be discussed.
This keynote address will explore the complex process of healing from racial trauma, internalized oppression, and anti-blackness and how this journey is influenced by class, gender, and sexual orientation. How do we build resilience as people of color to reclaim and restore our dignity? How do we return to spirit in order to live in our full humanity? Through the lens of healing justice, this keynote address will provide a spiritual and political framework for our collective healing and liberation.
Experiences and messages of internalized inferiority seep into the human psyche and deeply penetrate the heart and soul. The manifestion of these messages leave deep wounds that are highlighted subtlety, intrapsychically and interpersonally. The process of healing the soul is essential yet particularly difficult when the negative societal messages become your own. This keynote will demonstrate how culture, connection, and relationships can help us heal from the invisible wounds of internalized inferiority.
For many People of Color, persistent overt and insidious racist meta-messages and stereotypical distortions become internalized over a lifetime. This presentation will examine the phenomena of developing and wearing masks as a coping and adaptive mechanism as well as the “soul” costs of having to do so. The loss of one’s voice, authenticity and self are just a few of the life altering consequences precipitated by invisibility, internalized messages of inferiority, and the wearing of masks. This presentation will celebrate the indomitable spirit, strength and resilience of our ancestors of color as a means of combating and overcoming crippling internalized messages and the reflex to keep our beautiful authentic selves hidden and marred by shame.
Internalized racial messages have long-term adverse effects on the everyday lived experiences of People of Color. These omnipresent toxic and lethal messages underpin many of the conscious and unconscious attitudes and behaviors that shape the interactions of the racially oppressed. They breed self-doubt, self-condemnation, and threads of self-hate. In an effort to mediate the onslaught of negative internalized racial messages that assault the psyche and soul, many People of Color learn to disavow crucial parts of themselves as a coping strategy to either counteract the imposition of white supremacist messages or to accommodate what white people think and feel about them.
This session will examine how toxic internalized racially based messages stifle the individual and relational growth of POC, assault emotional and psychological health, and contribute to the disavowal of dimensions of one’s core racial self. Testimonials for reclaiming all disavowed racial parts as a critical process for overcoming racial trauma will be explored.
You are invited! Come continue to nurture and feed your soul, featuring an appetizing array of delicious soul food prepared especially for our event. Come make new friends and reconnect with old friends and colleagues. The dinner is an optimal opportunity for you to either network with your fellow race and social justice compadres and healers or simply unwind and reflect over a glass of your favorite adult beverage with a slice of cornbread. Join us for an exciting evening of nutritional nourishment and soul inspiration!
What better way to end an intensive, intellectual, emotional and inspirational day than congregating on the dance floor and climbing aboard the soul train? Leaving your inhibitions at the door will be the requirement to the dance where vibrant soul, salsa, R&B, and other musical genres will permeate the ballroom and move our individual and collective souls to a higher ground. Admission to the dance is included with your Soul Food Dinner ticket, so no reason to miss it!
Sheraton Stamford Hotel
700 E Main St. Stamford, CT 06901
Reservation Code: Eikenberg Academy for Social Justice
1-800- 325-3535
$109 (plus tax) Special Room Rate Until May 23
