Black Spaces Symposium & Summit 2023
Fri Sep 22, 2023 | 5–8 PM
In collaboration with Afro Van Connect and Black Space Media
Register for both panels on The Black Space Summit & Symposium event page.
Join us at The Black Space Summit & Symposium 2023 (BSS), where brilliant minds gather to explore, discuss and celebrate African descent culture. BSS invites artists, activists, educators, industry professionals, social entrepreneurs and emerging leaders together for the purpose of honouring of our heritage, celebrating our culture and empowering our community.
We invite you to join our Mental Health Workshop, From Circles to Cypher, facilitated by Simma Bakare at 5 PM for a moment of conversation and quiet self-work to recognize the natural patterns around you. This workshop involves meditative self-reflection, with a talk about the meditative properties of nature and the arts.
The workshop is followed by a mental health awareness panel—A Space for Self-Care & Community Care—which welcomes participants of African descent communities and allies to explore wellness practices and tools through conversation and open dialogue. We intend to offer all participants practical solutions and modalities to address the mental health gaps promoting individual and community care. The panel includes Melissa Nkomo, Manuel Piña and Margaret Akulia as speakers and is moderated by Ruth Unaegbu.
SCHEDULE
Mental Health Workshop: FROM CIRCLES TO CYPHER
SEPT 22 AT 5 PM
Panel: A SPACE FOR SELF-CARE & COMMUNITY CARE
SEPT 22 AT 6 PM
ABOUT BSS 2023
The Black Space Summit & Symposium (BSS) is a conference curated to amplify and promote the African Descent Community, heritage, and culture. This summit focuses on highlighting the depth and diversity of the African Descent community while encouraging the development of practical solutions to pervasive systemic inequities experienced by communities living in the margins.
GUEST BIOS
Simma Bakare is an inclusive educator and counsellor, specializing in creative, equitable approaches to learning and mental health. Her work integrates culturally sensitive, arts based, trauma informed pedagogy. Bakare holds an M.Ed., with a decolonization specialization (Queen’s University), B.A. of Psychology, teaching certification for humanities and psychology, Orton Gillingham practitioner, and designated counsellor.
Moderator
Ruth Unaegbu is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and an Approved Clinical Supervisor in the Greater Vancouver area in British Columbia, Canada. She specializes in working with actors and other performing creatives, athletes, parents/caregivers and transracial adoptees.
Panelists
Melissa Nkomo is the founder of Kunye, a community and multidisciplinary wellness agency dedicated to nurturing physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. She creates digital resources, in-person and virtual classes, wellness experiences, and personal care products that inspire mindful living and embody our philosophy of Slow Wellness.
Manuel Piña is an artist, teacher and social and spiritual activist. His research adopts spirituality and technology to expand upon present realities and challenges. Piña is co-founder of the New Tribes School, an online and land-based global network of healers, teachers, and cultural and software activists working towards the preservation and dissemination of ancestral wisdom and language.
Margaret Akulia is an author, supporter worker, community advocate and activist. Her work spans across multiple disciplines. As a support worker she empowers her clients to begin to process their trauma and develop pathways to self-healing and self-growth.
