Register

Black Girls Excellence

Ages 9-18

Hey young leaders!

Join us for this program focusing on empowerment, self discovery and the journey through womanhood in a supportive environment with professional facilitators.

In the first hour we will be joined by Nicole Faulkner Brown for The Grief Born in Our Bodies. We will be focusing on racialized girls' mental awareness and wellness by reducing the stigma. We will have a brief conscious discussion on the Hypervigilance, Invisibility and Trauma (H.I.T.) With a 'displaced soul' (body, mind, spirit = the psyche) by asking how do we become more embodied to understand how shame and secrecy has made us feel like 'we don't like ourselves' or ‘we don't like what we look like’ or 'that there is something wrong with us’.

In the second hour, Selam Debs is giving racialized girls the opportunity to learn to express themselves through breathing and different forms of writing like poetry, song, story, and rap.

This program is offered on zoom and comes with a free goodie bag filled with love.

Registration is required.

Please register for each attendee in your household so you receive the right number of goodie bags. Goodie bags can be picked up at Idea Exchange, Queens Square location (1 North Square, Cambridge) between February 10-12 during regular service hours (10:00am-6:00pm). Please go to the Members Services Desk when you arrive for pick up.

This event is part of the Rhythm & Blues Black History Month celebration. To learn more visit rhythmbluescambridge.com

Facilitator Bios:

Selam is a Black Ethiopian queer woman, an antiracism educator, an anti-oppression coach, a social justice advocate, a student in dismantling anti-Black racism, an accomplice in dismantling anti-Indigenous racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and an advocate in 2SLGBTQ+ & disability rights through an intersectional lens.

She is the founder of Juici Yoga, a yoga and meditation instructor, a restorative yoga teacher trainer, a holistic life coach, a reiki master, and a Lululemon Ambassador.

Selam is first and foremost, A MOTHER. I am a singer and a songwriter, a poet and a practitioner of self-acceptance, self-love, and radical compassion.

Selam’s Antiracism work is rooted in the understanding that we must acknowledge and identify the insidiousness of white supremacy before we can dismantle colonial belief systems. The process of undoing, unlearning and re-educating is necessary for white communities to embark on, to support the healing journey for our racialized communities.

Selam is also a board member of Project UP, Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region (SASCW) and Women's Entrepreneur Centre of Laurier University.

You can learn more about Selam at www.selamdebs.com Pronouns She/Her/Hers

Instagram: @selamdebs Facebook @selamdebsyoga Twitter: @selamdebs

Nicole is both Founder & CEO of Wounds 2 Wings Trauma + Psychotherapy Services and TEAO Canada (Trauma and Embodiment Association of Ontario), a Yoga Instructor, Registered Psychotherapist, Child and Youth Counsellor, Trauma Consultant, Author and Trauma Survivor. She is also a member of both the Colleges of Registered Psychotherapist in Ontario and the Canadian Association for Psychodynamic Therapy with over 18 years of professional experience working with marginalized, vulnerable and oppressed communities, individuals, families and children.

Nicole uses a psychodynamic approach that is rooted in the therapeutic relationship built between client and therapist with individuals and groups. This model of psychodynamic psychotherapy seeks to reveal the unconscious, dynamic content of the mind, in an effort to alleviate mental tension which can manifest in a variety of symptoms that distort and disrupt our sense of self and well-being. By uncovering the hidden roots of our unwanted thoughts, emotions and behaviours, we can consciously change how we experience the world and ourselves. In addition, Nicole uses an embodied, body-centered approach, known as somatization.

Instagram: @wounds2wings , @mama_soulhouse Facebook: @W2WTEAO Twitter: @wounds2wings

Neva is a 24-year-old Egyptian Canadian who is a radical advocate for Feminism and Diversity. She is currently the Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator for Kinbridge by day and an Abstract artist and expressionist by night! Neva has been running programs and creating art centered around the mindfulness and wellbeing of female-identifying youth for three years now and have currently expanded her work to all ages and genders. Her work is always centered around long-term growth, representation, liberation, and social justice.

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