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For Immediate Release
Contact World Pride & Power Headquarters-303-799-0506
INAUGURAL CONFERENCE MAKES HISTORY:
REPORT ON THE 2008 WORLD PRIDE CONFERENCE
The inaugural World Pride & Power Conference hosted by the World Pride & Power Organization held in the theme of "Unity, Empowerment & Inclusivity," convened Thursday, February 21-February 24, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Sponsors, supporters and participants from around the world continue to speak to the transformational properties of the gathering and the powerful opening that was established through the conference mission, vision and execution.
Founded by Ifalade Ta'Shia Asanti, with visioning by a national advisory board and international organizers from across the world, over a period of 3 & 1/2 days, the World Pride & Power Conference & Organization united a total of 350+ individuals from every walk of life, spiritual sector and ethnic/cultural community. The goal to unite SGLBT people of African descent across the Diaspora but remain inclusive of all communities of color and consciousness, and their allies, proved to be one of the strongest points in the conference vision.
"While the conference took on a life of its own, World Pride was all I hoped for and more. At one point I felt that my vision had been released and that there was an ancestral energy guiding the entire event. But the end result was a conference experience that changed all of us. I am sure the rippling effects will continue for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years." Says Ifalade, conference organizer and founder.
Praise for first World Pride Conference:
"There must be radical healing of the gatekeepers if our globe is to truly be healed. This conference was a powerful opening to facilitate this work." Dr. Malidoma Some', World Leader in Spirituality & Heterosexual Ally.
"This conference accomplished what many might view as impossible--the joining of people from many different faith backgrounds with one divine purpose." Bishop Yvette Flunder, Founder City of Refuge and the Radically Inclusive Ministries.
"I am not the same person. The World Pride Conference has changed my outlook forever." Azaan Kamau, Author, Recipient-World Pride Emerging Leader Award.
"Those who attended enoyed the experience and I think there is momentum for what you and the leadership at WPP are trying to accomplish. It was, for me an enlightening expereince." Morris Price, Gill Foundation
"The World Pride Conference renewed my faith in our community and in myself. I had no idea what I was in for but I was completely transformed!" LaQuetta Shamblee, Founder/Director-Instrumental Women Foundation
"Many many thanks for a truly healing and wondrous four-day conference
experience. It is perhaps the finest conference I've ever attended. I really appreciate all the time, effort and inspiration you actualized that weekend -- from the inclusive design addressing physical, emotional, informational and spiritual dimensions of our being, to social and community concerns for ourselves, as Two Spirit/Two Spirited peoples of the African Diaspora, and for the communities we share and serve." Allen Paige, Shaman, Healer & World Pride Participant
"Welcoming the funders to participate throughout the conference gave many people an opportunity to interact with them in a variety of settings. Hosting a wide variety of events that were noted to be important to our community-such as relationship healing, networking breakfast, supporting our businesses through the vending tables, dealing with our internalized racism and homophobia, bringing together allies with people of color." Iyanifa Onifa Adeola Karade, Founder FON Institute, Seattle, Washington
Future Suggestions for World Pride
1. Narrow down scope of workshops for more in-depth immersion.
2. Have volunteer time keepers for each session.
3. Make the conference one week instead of 4 Days.
4. Charge a larger fee for entry so that basic organizing costs are covered.
5. Provide break time in between sessions for processing of information.
6. Select a venue with land for outdoor activities.
7. Create strategy to maintain spiritual and open flow of conference activities while sustaining the set time allotted for sessions.
Participation
The participants of the World Pride & Power Conference were astonishingly diverse. This was perhaps one of the most diverse conferences ever, both from an ethnic, cultural and a class perspective.
Represented were those who self-identified as Black American, White American, Native Indigenous Nations of Choctaw, Lakota, Blackfoot, as well as Sri Lankan, Asian, Jewish, Nigerian, Kenyan, Ghanaian, Trindadian, Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Mexican, Brazilian, Egyptian (Kemetan), Polish, Greek and many others primarily from America but also from across the globe.
Ages of participants ranged from 17 to 69. Participants came from a myriad of social and religious backgrounds wavering between upper to middle/working-class to severely economically oppressed. Faiths ranged from Christian to dozens of Indigenous Faith identifications. Also represented were SGLBT differently-abled communities of color.
There was deep diversity in areas of gender expression and love identity ranging from no labels to same gender loving, bisexual, transitional, transgender, trans, lesbian, gay, homosexual, heterosexual and queer.
World Pride Conference Outcomes
1. Compiling of a national assessment survey of primary concerns and issues pertinent to SGLBT communities of color stretching across economic, class and cultural/ethnic identity lines with a focus on communities of African descent.
2. Presentation and dialogue on current evaluation and community assessments conducted by the Gill Foundation with contributions by leaders and community members from organizations from across the country.
3. Unification of SGLBT Christian religious clergy with indigenous leaders from tribal nations and the middle passage. Bishop Yvette Flunder received an honorary title of, "Priestess or Iya," after her pivotal presentation on inclusivity. This crowning was a historic affirmation and recognition by SGLBT indigenous leaders in lieu of Bishop's amazing tenacity and dedication in the movement against exclusion and in support of diversity in faith sectors, as well as the presence of spirit, Orisa and ancestral "ase," in the essence of Bishop's being and soul. This was the first time in American history that a Christian clergy was awarded an honorary Yoruba/Ifa title by a collective of priests and indigenous healers.
4. Teaching of best practices in using the media as a viable tool for advocates and activists in SGLBT communities of color.
5. Established action plans for institution building and social change architecture in current and future movements in SGLBT communities of color.
6. Uniting of Native Tribal and other indigenous communities with communities of African descent for the purpose of fostering greater cultural understanding and cohesive activism in an effort to facilitate collectively beneficial empowerment structures.
7. Widely placed media exposure of conference and community initiatives. An estimated 350,000 people were reached with World Pride outreach and educational strategies (pre and post conference).
8. Successful collaborations between World Pride and 52 non-profit and community-based entities, most of whom serve, support or are allied with SGLBT communities of color.
9. Historic strengthening of allied connections between hetero-identified agencies and SGLBT identified agencies and communities.
10. First ever funding and resource event uniting grassroots agencies, community leaders, small business owners and major funders.
11. Dedicated transgender visibility during and throughout entire conference programming and the solidifying of collaborative connections between World Pride & leading trans organizations.
12. Establishment of structured mentor relationship for budding non-profits with leading organizational consultants and funders.
13. Participation of major academic institution, Antioch University, in a national SGLBT conference centered on communities of color.
14. Establishment of foundational support for the future and ongoing development of the World Pride & Power vision and missives.
Conference Programming
World Pride SGLBT Intergenerational Forum led by In the Meantime Men and Ancestor's Daughter brought a historic contingent together of youth and Elders who spoke to the needs, concerns and challenges of their respective communities. The youth spoke to needing accessibility to their Elders as well as mentorship, professional resources and role models. They also offered their support to Elders from the perspective of daily life support for the aging and support for various projects.
Elders spoke to the need for honor, remembrance, respectful torch passing and continued respect for their wisdom and time in the movement. Elders also made commitments to support the youth in more structured and organized ways.
World Pride SGLBT Pan Afrikan Forum--led by Cleo Manago of the National AmASSI Centers and Iyanifa Adeola Karade of the FON Institute, in a historic dialogue, this session re-explored the institution of slavery in America, Africa and other indigenous nations and how the colonization period laid the framework for current systems of oppression including homophobia, racism, sexism and ageism. Speakers focused on solutions and tools for remaining empowered in the midst of oppression and dealing with multiple levels of oppression as SGLBT individuals of color.
This forum also spoke to the programming of racism that teaches people of color and conscious to distrust one another and to operate from positions of unhealthy competitiveness (described in the cultural term: the crab in the barrel syndrome) and how such systems contribute to disparities in health, the presence of violence in communities of color, economic disempowerment, SGLBT misrepresentation in the media and accessibility to higher education.
World Pride Trans Forum introduced the individual and collective struggles of trans folks of color and conscious as well as their victories, strength, beauty and what this community and pride. Powerful testimonies on organizational work being done to empower trans communities of color and conscious, as well as future plans to collaborate on wide scales also took place during this panel.
World Pride Healing Intensives hosted and organized by Lawrence Ellis Paths to Change--recognizing a great need for healing of the social change warriors who do the work to sustain SGLBT communities of color, Paths to Change, in collaboration with the World Pride & Power Organization, organized a series of intensive healing workshops and sessions created especially to give voice and life to the struggles, pain and wounds of SGLBT life.
World leaders in community wellness and holistic medicine from across the country led healing and empowerment talks and exercises for the purpose of restoration and reconciliation in SGLBT, two-spirit, twin-spirit and allied nations. Featured were Dr. Malidoma Some' and Paula Gunn Allen, icons in the movement for cultural understanding and world peace along with major notables in the field too lengthy to list here. This was perhaps one of the greatest lights of the first World Pride Conference.
Dialogue on Gill Foundation's National LGBT Action Plan with religious clergy and other community leaders from across the country with spirited participation from World Pride Conferencees. Pivotal issues were discussed and dissected as the LGBT action plan gains momentum and support across the globe.
World Pride & Power Keynote Speeches: Carrie Broadus, Cleo Manago, Bishop Yvette Flunder, Rev. Davis Mac Iyalla, Dr. Malidoma Some'.
As the World Pride & Power Conference got underway, it became quickly apparent that the conference was being guided by an electrical current that superseded the scheduled plan of events and presentations. Keynote presentations reflected this energy. Some keynotes were purely testimonial in essence and spoke briefly to the personal triumphs by leaders and provided hopeful vision to the community at large. Most all found these dialogues were highly transformative, uplifting and educational. Most were historical as it relates to the subject matter and the audiences they were speaking to.
World Pride SGLBT Health & Wellness Forum hosted by Women Alive Coalition's Carrie Broadus, this panel united local and national leaders in wellness, health and prevention education including L.A. Icon, Jewel Thais Williams, for the purpose of identifying gaps in service, sharing resources, cultivating productive alliances between agencies and brainstorming collaborative opportunities for development of wellness collectives in the SGLBT community.
World Pride SGLBT Relationship Forum-Led by award-winning writer, playwright, filmmaker and poet, Dr. Ayin Adams from Hawaii, the Healthy Relationships Workshop spoke to the foundation and framework of developing and sustaining healthy relationship in SGLBT communities of color and conscious. Participants spoke to being captivated by this presentation which included information on communication skills in relationship, suggested personal work needed to prepare oneself for a healthy relationship and inner child work necessary to facilitate a divine relationship with oneself.
World Pride Media Symposium & Plenary Session-Moderated by Stanley Bennett Clay, best-selling author, magazine publisher, screenwriter and filmmaker-this session explored the role of the media in advocacy, public policy and anti-opression movements. Panelists shared their experience as media professionals in various areas from creative writing to journalism and filmmaking. This conversation proved so stimulating that few wanted it to end....
World Pride Forum on SGLBT Interfaith & Gatekeeper Healing Ceremony-Leaders from a powerful collective of faith sectors gathered the morning of Sunday, February 24th for a historic sharing of spiritual stories and journeys followed by African drumming and dance and a ritual encircling of a small altar built in recognition of the gatekeepers. Those two-spirit, twin-spirit, SGLBT individuals whose work laid the foundation for a gathering like World Pride were recognized in a ritual setting while incoming gatekeepers were affirmed and recognized by community and collective.
World Pride African Spirituality Symposium--Led by Queen Mother Mashiat Oloya, this session invited panelists to share their insight on the transformative properties of indigenous spirituality and its healing aspects in SGLBT communities of color. Panelists were ritually installed by walking through an arch designed to awaken ancestral memories of the sacred role of the gatekeeper.
Artistic Performances at World Pride--A planned series of films and performances were scheduled for exhibit at World Pride. However, due to the intensity of the spirited sessions and the drive to not interrupt that natural flow of programming, many artists shared their work in non-traditional settings such as the Thursday night opening performances by youth poets D'Lo and Skim, an informal women's poetry session that took place late Friday and the live performances on Saturday prior to the keynote presentation. Of great note were the African dance and drum sessions by Jambalaya, the amazing rendition of Ella Fitzgerald by Aleah Daniels and the impromptu acapella Gospel song by the honorable Bishop Yvette Flunder.
Future Goals
1. SGLBT Grassroots Activists Retreat to be held November 2008
2. World Pride Conference 2009 in Denver, Colorado
3. Organizational Development of World Pride Organization (Ongoing)
4. Program Development (See World Pride Web Site for More Information)
5. Development of Sponsor and Funding Base. (See site for current sponsors)
