Black Love Is Not Just A Romance Thing brings together a diverse group of Black thinkers, organizers, and entertainers for an inspirational and uplifting evening full of healing performances that explore what 21st century Black Love looks like. Especially when it’s not just limited to the bedroom or the television screen, but extends to everyday interactions with friends, strangers, family, and even the occasional foe. 2022 is Black Healing Forever!!!
How can Black Love:
…truly inform the way we treat ourselves and each other across differences?
…expand the ways in which we collaborate, understand and center our collective healing, move through conflict, prevent and address violence, and support each other’s freedom and autonomy?
…bless us all with increased joy, safety, and connection?
A peek into the juicy magic we will explore:
- Aromantic Love and how its lens can steward our liberation movements, fortify our friendships, and shift our collective economy.
- Committing to Black Self-Love not only help us reimagine the way we parent and educate our children, but also motivate us to rally around ensuring that all Black parents and caretakers have access to the resources, support, rest, and wellness they need to raise happy, self-loving, self-compassionate Black children.
- Solidarity between Black women, girls, and non-binary fam (queer, straight, trans, cis, and intergenerational) to heal together in Black Love, while outgrowing the white supremacist, patriarchal, transphobic, capitalist ideals that pit us against each other.
- Exploring how cis, straight Black men love each other enough to free each other from the violent constraints and inclinations of the patriarchy. From the ways we direct it at each other to the ways we wield it against Black trans and cis women, Black non-binary people, and Black queer people.
- Cultivating a Black love & liberation movement that intentionally centers the safety, leadership, and accessibility of the Black disabled people, Black trans people, and Black neurodivergent people save all our lives.
Our incredible guest speakers, two musical performers, and hostess with the mostess will have you laughing, crying, and completely re-invigorated about life, love, community and possibility. Come let us engage you, entertain you, and wrap you up in a big, fluffy Reclaim UGLY hug!!! Bring the whole family!
Featuring:
Amira Aro (Reclaim UGLY)
Rohan DaCosta (The Edge of Fruitvale, Author, Visual Artist, Photographer)
Right Image Description: A portrait of Rohan DaCosta, a brown skin Black person with a beanie, beard, black button down shirt, and a gold pendant necklace on. They pose with their eyes closed, hands clasped in front of their torso in a blue-grey scale photo.
Ebony Ava Harper (California Transcends)
Alilia Johnson (Musical Guest)
Right Image Description: A portrait of Alilia Johnson, a brown skin Black femme person with a straw hat , short brown locs, large clear glasses, purple lipstick, and a gray top. She looks calmly at the camera.
Kandee Lewis (Positive Results Corporation)
Lord Maji (Musical Guest)
Right Image Description: A portrait of Lord Maji, a light skin Black person with rectangular sunglasses, a beard, gold chains, and a gray drop shoulder tank shirt showing tattooed arms. They look at the camera with a hand on one knee, and the other on their hip
Bri M (Power Not Pity Podcast, LA Spoonie Collective)
And our Hostess with the Mostess, Vanessa Rochelle Lewis (Reclaim UGLY, Founding Director)
Right Image Description: A portrait of Vanessa Rochelle Lewis, a dark skin Black femme person with a top knot jewel colored head wrap, purple lipstick, pink tassel earrings, a green shiny pendant necklace. and a colorful cold shoulder top. She smiles calmly at the camera
Important Details
3-5 PM PT Performance Is Open to ALL: The performance portion of the evening is from 3-5 PM PST and is open to the entire community. We kindly ask non-Black folks to join us as loving, supportive, and respectful visitors. We invite you to learn from our brilliant speakers, celebrate them in the chat box, and heal alongside us; but please be mindful of the space you take up. ASL Interpretation and Automated Captioning will be provided.
6:15-7PM Toast For Black Love Is A Black-Only Space: From 6:15 PM to 7 PM, we will have a sacred, Black only, open-mic space for Black audience members to speak their own Black Love dreams out loud, love up on performers and each other, and co-imagine Black Love without uglification with a non-alcoholic Toast for Black Love. ASL Interpretation and Automated Captioning will be provided.
Black Healing Forever is a year-long series of free, online Healing & Joy spaces for all Black people, specifically those of us who want to eradicate marginalization and exclusion within Black cultural spaces due to gender, sexual orientation, size, disability, and appearance. Black Healing Forever started as Black Healing October, a healing space for Black activists during the uprisings of 2020. This year, we want to be like 1990’s Keith Sweat and “Make It Last Forever!” We’re hosting two events a month for the rest of the year!
Black Healing Forever is sponsored by:
San Francisco Foundation, Resist!, Horizons Foundation, Akonadi Foundation, The Positive Results Center, Lush Charity Pot, and YOU!
