The Black Wom(b)an has been carrying, bearing and birthing community without opportunity to restore, refresh and replenish herself. The Wombfulness Movement is a reclamation of this powerful space within and without. “Wombfulness” or “Wombfulnest” is where life is conceived, nurtured and spawned.
In this celebration of the one year anniversary of wombfulness gatherings, author, Professor Opal Palmer Adisa, midwife, healer and spiritual dancer, Professor Arisika Razak, internationally renowned West African singer, Maï Lingani, and creative and rhythmic storyteller, Marjé will be in conversation with Wanda Sabir in this healing workshop, a project of Maafa SF Bay Area. Presenters will also share a healing practice with the audience to use in their lives to promote wombfulness.
More information on Wombfulness.
Opal Palmer Adisa, is a writer, gender specialist and cultural activist and is the former University Director of The Institute for Gender and Development Studies at The University of the West Indies. Adisa believes that literature and the performance arts are the best approaches to interrogate gender inequality and formulate an approach to gender justice. A feminist/activist for four decades, she has published 22 collections, including, essays, novels, short stories, poetry collections and children’s books. She recently completed the authorized children’s biography of Portia Simpson Miller, entitled, Portia Dreams, 2021 Jamaica’s first female Prime Minister and is the editor of 100+ Voices For Miss Lou: Poetry, Tributes, Interviews & Essays, from The UWI Press, 2021. She is also the editor-in-chief of two major journals, Interviewing the Caribbean, a literary/visual journal; and Caribbean Conjunctures, scholarly essays and book reviews.
Arisika Razak has been a midwife, healer and spiritual dancer for over forty years. An Associate Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, California from 2000 to the present, Razak is a regular contributor to books, and journals and presents on the subjects of diversity, equity and inclusion and the spiritualties, creativity and resilience of peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora. She is currently a core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland California, where her teachings and retreats reflect her interests in embodied spiritual traditions. Her film credits include: Fire Eyes the first full length film on female genital cutting by an African woman; Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth and Who Lives, Who Dies?, a PBS special on health inequities.
Maï Lingani's professional career began in 1994 in the Ivory Coast, a country where she lived until adolescence, with training in theater and then dance at the National Institute of Arts and Cultural Actions (INSAAC) d'Abidjan. With this academic experience, she perfected her talent, working in several groups as a chorister, dancer and singer. She has participated in various musical competitions such as the famous Ivorian television musical program "Podium" and since has performed regularly as a solo singer and in collaboration with other musicians in performances around the world.
Connect - Maï Lingani - Facebook
Marjé is a 25-year-old creative and rhythmic storyteller from Richmond, California. In her youth, Marjé competed nationally in the “Brave New Voices” poetry competition. In 2019, she released her first musical production entitled Pretty Brown, Brown. After her musical debut she has curated artistic events across the Bay Area including “The Art Walk” at the legendary Berkeley Flea Market. Marjé’s creative endeavors also include “Two Sistas Sea Moss,” a Coop business with sustainable health and wellness in mind. With each artistic development, she aims to awaken the Creator's righteous children from the 400-year slumber they've come to know.
Connect - Marjé - Instagram
Wanda Sabir is a journalist (Wanda's Picks), college professor, visual artist, Depth Psychologist and poet who believes in the power of art to change and shape social movements as well as assist in trauma healing and memory reclamation work. Co-founder of Maafa San Francisco Bay Area, she launched “Wombfulness Gatherings” in March 2021. She is the recipient of the Distinguished 400 Award, 400 Years of African American History Commission, US Dept. of the Interior.
Connect - Wanda Sabir - Facebook
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