Monterey Bay Black Folks Event Calendar
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Week of Mon July 6th through Sun July 12th, 2020
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About the Monterey Bay Black Folks Event Calendar
The purpose of the Monterey Bay Black Folks Event Calendar is to connect the Black Community of CSU Monterey Bay with the local Black Communities of the Greater Monterey Bay Area. The Calendar is edited by Steven Goings, MSW and is entirely voluntary and looking for institutional support. To submit an event for possible inclusion, please send to AfricanQuazar@gmail.com.
The plan
is to send out the Calendar
every
Monday at 9 AM for those who wish to receive it. The deadline for Monday submissions is midnight of the previous Thursday.
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Steven's Take
Appreciating John Lewis
Of course I never met the man. But like all Americans, I am a beneficiary of his incredible life and works. Like the ancient prophets of the Bible, it will be eternally profitable to reflect upon his life forevermore for instruction on how to be a just person in an unjust world.
To me, more than anything else, John Lewis epitomizes the best qualities of a follower of Jesus the Christ. I had the pleasure Saturday night of watching the recent documentary
John Lewis: Good Trouble
,
and the only thing that overshadows his remarkable deeds and courage is his simple goodness and Christian humility.
And yet, like the Nazarene, he was a trouble-maker who not only spoke truth to power, but put his life on the line time and time again to break the White-Supremacist stronghold of legal and de facto segregation in this nation. "There is no greater love than to lay down ones life for his friends" -- John 15.13
During the Civil Rights Movement of the '50s and '60s, when Lewis was in his teens and 20s, he was arrested some 40 times and was physically beaten more times than that. He recognized as his abolitionist predecessor, Frederick Douglass, did that "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
Words on paper -- whether its the
15th amendment
prohibition on racial voter discrimination or the 1960 Supreme Court
decision
declaring interstate segregate bus travel unconstitutional -- unless enforced are merely the illusion of concession.
As the ultimate student activist, co-founder and three year chairman of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
, John Lewis was determined to get into Good Trouble by constantly challenging and disrupting the system with his demands for real desegregation and real voter rights protections and enforcement.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's line, "unearned suffering is redemptive" was exemplified by John Lewis when -- within months of his televised beating on "
Bloody Sunday
" on the Ku Klux Klanner-named Edmund Pettus Bridge, President Lyndon Johnson signed into the law the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Once the electorate -- or term limits -- liberate us from the current White Supremacist-in-Chief, the number one goal of the 117th Congress must be the restoration of the full enforcement power of the Voting Rights Act.
It is the least we can do to honor the legacy of this greatest of all men.
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In Memoriam:
Representative
John Lewis
Often called "one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced," John Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he calls "The Beloved Community” in America. His dedication to the highest ethical standards and moral principles has won him the admiration of many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the United States Congress.
He has been called "the conscience of the U.S. Congress,” and Roll Call magazine has said, "John Lewis…is a genuine American hero and moral leader who commands widespread respect in the chamber.”
He was born the son of sharecroppers on February 21, 1940, outside of Troy, Alabama. He grew up on his family's farm and attended segregated public schools in Pike County, Alabama. As a young boy, he was inspired by the activism surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which he heard on radio broadcasts. In those pivotal moments, he made a decision to become a part of the Civil Rights Movement. Ever since then, he has remained at the vanguard of progressive social movements and the human rights struggle in the United States.
As a student at Fisk University,
Click Here
to Continue Reading John Lewis' Biography on the U.S. House of Representatives website.
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The Village Project Emotional Emancipation Circles
The Monterey Bay Black Folks Calendar is dedicating the month of July to fundraising for The Village Project, Inc.
This week we highlight the Emotional Emancipation Circles!
In Emotional Emancipation (EE) Circles, we come together to:
- Share our stories and feelings, always respecting the humanity and dignity of each EE Circle member;
- Deepen our understanding of the impact of historical forces on our emotional lives, our relationships, and well-being of our communities;
- Free our minds and spirits from the lies of White superiority and Black inferiority, and heal from the historical and continuing trauma of racism;
- Tell ourselves a new, liberating, and empowering story about who we are as people of African ancestry;
- Revitalize ourselves and our relationships with each other;
- Learn and practice essential emotional wellness skills to help us be at our very best–as individuals and as a people; and
- Develop strategies to extinguish the lie of White superiority and Black inferiority- once and for all.
Black/African-Centered Psychology
Black/African-Centered Psychology is a dynamic manifestation of unifying African principles, values and traditions. It is the self-conscious “centering of psychological analyses and applications in African realities, cultures and epistemologies. Black/African-Centered Psychology, as a system of thought and action, examines the processes that allow for the illumination and liberation of the Spirit. Relying on the principles of harmony within the universe as a natural order of existence, Black/African-Centered Psychology recognizes: the Spirit that permeates everything that is; the notion that everything in the universe is interconnected; the value that the collective is the most salient element of existence; and the idea that communal self knowledge is the key to mental health. Black/African-Centered Psychology is ultimately concerned with understanding the systems of meaning of human beingness, the features of human functioning and the restoration of normal/natural order to human development. As such, it is used to resolve personal and social problems and to promote optimal functioning.
The Village Project’s work is unconditional; your support is crucial.
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Free Webinar
Black Minds Matter
announcing confirmed guest speaker
Professor Ivory Toldson
from Howard University
hosted by J. Luke Wood & Donna Y Ford
A Five Part Series Beginning July 16, 2020
Addressing the Parallels Between the Policing of Black Lives
and Schooling of Black Minds
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NAACP National Convention
Held Virtually: August 2 – August 15
The safety and security of our communities continues to be our utmost priority. We hope that you join us as we have imperative conversations discussions around COVID-19, voting and economic stability for Blacks.
The 111th National Convention will now be held virtually on
August 2-6, 2020
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Regional Meetings for our members will take place
August 9-13, 2020
.
Monterey County NAACP to choose delegates to NAACP National Convention soon. Watch this space!
Click here
for a recap of the 110th National Convention
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Useful Links:
- Here is something the Monterey County Branch NAACP is working on. You can send your entries directly to lbogene@yahoo.com
- Check out the list and add your bio and photo to it.
- We all know the so-called criminal justice system treats our folks much more harshly than others, sometimes just having community members show up at court can make a difference in how things turn out.
- Check it out or add your favorite to the list
- With so few African Americans working in our K-12 and higher education systems, our kids have too few opportunities to see professionals and role models who look like them. We are looking for Black community members and professionals who can be called on to be occasional guest speakers in local classrooms.
Black Voices and Photo Portrait Project
- Local photographer Nic Coury has launched this Black Portrait Project and looking for subjects. If interested in posing for a professional picture message him on Facebook or send me (africanquazar@gmail.com) your contact info for me to forward.
- Just the basic public contact and position info
- Click on this google document to share your thoughts about what is needed in the Black community. We will prioritize them for further action.
- Check out the current list of churches, update existing entries or add new ones.
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Monterey Bay Black Folks Weekly Event Calendar
Submit to AfricanQuazar@gmail.com
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