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Saturday, August 8, 2009
9:30am – 1:00pm
Simmons College’s Kotzen Meeting Center (Lefavour Hall)
300 The Fenway
Boston, MA

About the Mini-Conference

The Mind, Body, & Soul Mini-Conference is yet another event that Queer Women of Color and Friends (QWOC+ Boston) has created to respond to voiced need of the local LGBT People of Color Community to have more frequent, crucial, round-table discussions – real talk – about the health of the marginalized groups within the mainstream queer community.

The organizers of the mini-conference believe that social networking and/or community-building are the necessary primary steps to take in addressing key socio-political health problems affecting LGBT people of color; breast cancer, HIV/AIDS, suicide prevention, and domestic violence awareness, to name a few. As such, the MIND, BODY, and SOUL Mini-Conference will seek to bring together three various aspects of health – the mental, the physical, and the spiritual – via concurrent panel sessions presented by experienced community organizers, non-profit organizations, and health practitioners as a way to begin addressing these problems at the macro community level.

Thanks to the generosity of the Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change, The Network/La Red, and Fenway Health – Gold Sponsors of QWOC Week – the mini-conference will be held at Simmons College’s Kotzen Room (first floor of the library), and breakfast/refreshments will be provided to attendees.

*The Mind, Body & Soul Mini-Conference is OPEN TO ALL. Advanced registration/ticketing required. Download Mind, Body & Soul Conference Registration Information Here 

MINI-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Session A (10:00AM-11:00AM)

• Panel – The Art of Balance: Maintaining Emotionally Healthy Relationships within the QPOC Community presented by the Network/La Red
• Workshop – The Effects of Food on Your Mood presented by Nancy Giovanni, Holistic Health Counselor of SavorYourExistence.org

– 30 Minute Break – Food, Refreshments, and Socializing (11:00AM-11:30AM) –

Session B (11:30PM-12:30PM)

• Workshop – Intro to the Benefits of Meditation (Including a Live Meditation Session) Led by People of Color Meditation Sitting Group
• Panel Discussion – Intra-Community Organizing: Bridging the Gender and Intergenerational Gaps within the LGBT People of Color Community presented by Boston SPYCE, Queer Women of Color and Friends, and MOCAA
   

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

The Art of Balance: Maintaining Emotionally Healthy Relationships within the QPOC Community
Presenters: The Network/La Red
Summary: Healthy relationships are characterized by respect, sharing and trust. They are based on the belief that both partners are equal, that the power and control in the relationship are equally shared. Healthy Relationships: The Art of Balance will provide you with an understanding of what constitutes a healthy relationship for you, how you can communicate with your loved one in a more meaningful, respectul way, and how to identify when a relationship is no longer healthy for you or for those whom you love.
Location: L004
Duration:1 HR

The Effects of Primary Foods on Your Mood
Presenters: Nancy Giovanni, Holistic Health Counselor from SavorYourExistence.org
Summary: We can eat hummus, hamburgers or heaping portions of pasta and it won’t matter if other areas of our lives aren’t aligned properly. The foods we put in our body are secondary to the people wesurround ourselves with, the careers we choose, our spiritual center and how we exercise and move our bodies. Primary Food is what nurtures us, secondary food sustains us. Come learn more and explore how you are being “fed” by the choices you make day to day.
Location: L005
Duration: 1 HR

An Introduction to the Benefits of Meditation
Presenters: People of Color Meditation Sitting Group
Summary: This session will begin exploring “what meditation is, and what it is not” in order to dispel common myths and/or misunderstandings about the practice. The presenters will speak about personal experiences that led them to meditative practice as a means to illustrate its accessibility and purpose in one’s life; as a path of mitigating the burden of trauma that queer folks of color often experience through the life course and if one chooses, a life-long journey of healing, recovery and spiritual growth. The group will receive basic instruction on sitting posture and sit for a guided mediation (a body scan). Focus will be on the use of the breath in Vipassana meditation.
Location: L005
Duration: 1 HR
Notes to Attendees: Wear comfortable clothing and be ready to take off your shoes!

Intra-Community Organizing: Bridging the Gender and Intergenerational Gaps within the LGBT People of Color Community
Presenters: Boston SPYCE, Men of Color Against Aids, Queer Women of Color and Friends, and Black Pride
Summary: The girls ask, “Where have all the gay boys gone?” The boys ask, “Where have all the girls gone?” Older LGBT people of color can’t seem to get the younger generation to care enough about important political campaigns and/or causes, and transpeople of color are still being left out of crucial conversations. Meanwhile, the LGBT people of color community at large is facing serious health problems such as HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, suicide, and domestic violence. This panel discussion will focus on exploring the reasons why we are so segregated as a community, and how, if we all hope for change, we can learn to work better together to build a stronger community, capable of combating these issues.
Location: L004
Duration: 1 HR

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER

• Pre-registration is encouraged as there is limited capacity per session
• Register at http://qwocweek2009.eventbrite.com/
• You will receive a password to access the session registration site (http://mindbodyandsoul.eventbrite.com) after you have paid
• Please remember that the first session commences at 10:00AM prompt, so we encourage people to arrive at 9:30AM
• Light breakfast/refreshments will be available during the conference