African American Holiday Association

THE WOMAN EMPOWERMENT MOVEMENT (W.E.M.)

CALL TO THE WOMAN EMPOWERMENT MOVEMENT (W.E.M.) for SELF, FAMILY & COMMUNITY - A SUMMARY (revised, Sept, 2007)

BACKGROUND:

On a damp, chilly October 25th, 1997, 2 years after the inspirational Million Man March, an estimated 500,000 to 2.5 million people, mainly woman, converged unto the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the Million Woman March (MWM). Following through with a vision that many had, Sister Phile Chionesu, convened other grass-roots women of African descent, and served as the MWM national coordinators/spokeswomen, along with Asia Coney, Brenda Jones Roche, aka BJ, and several others. They should go down in history as warrior women who carried the MWM mission without corporate sponsorship, little government intervention and minimum high-profile, celebrity personalities. On the local level, much praise has to be given to sisters on H Street N.E. who started the MWM ball rolling in the Metro area and to Sister Elisahbah, who has gone forward as an ancestor, who served as the MWM, second, local organizing committee coordinator (LOC) in D.C. after Ayo Handy-Kendi resigned from the position.

FORUM PRESENTORS:
Send in your Black Woman's Empowerment concepts by Sat, Oct 5 to conduct a workshop, panel, affinity meeting, healing circle, inter-active performance, etc.

C/W.E.M. MEETINGS - Reeves Center, 14 & U, N.W Mons, Oct, 1, 8, 15, 22 7- 8:30p.m

FORM A SISTER ACTION TEAM (S.A.T.s)
Two or more Sisters or a group, agree to come together to support each other, share information & skills. Contact AAHA for TA

The Woman's Empowerment Movement (W.E.M.) for Self, Family & Community is a national 1 year, love-in-action, self-help campaign of hope. Goals: Spiritual/Moral Upliftment, Health, Prosperity, Unity, Re-education, Positive Media Images, & Justice to mobilize a Million Woman to raise the conditions of woman of African descent in an "Each One, Reach One - Each One, Teach One" effort to "Raise a Woman to Raise a Nation". "WE ARE THE ONES, WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR". W.E.M. is a project of AAHA, a non-profit, membership org.
YOUR DONATIONS ARE APPRECIATED
CFC.# 29586 ; DC One Fund #9570

In May, 1997 Handy-Kendi, founder/director of the non-profit, membership organization, the African American Holiday Association (AAHA), was hand-picked for leadership by Sister B.J. of the MWM National Organizing Committee. Asked to serve as the first MWM Regional Coordinator of the D.C. Metropolitan-Area LOC, Handy-Kendi immediately set-up the Metro-Regional headquarters on H Street, which hosted weekly meetings of 50-75 women who eagerly followed her outreach strategy and helped to coordinate the headquarters. From May, '97 - August 1, Handy-Kendi's efforts helped convene the Maryland, Connecticut, New York and Baltimore LOC's. In September, despite having resigned from MWM, she was asked by Sister B.J. to organize a final-hour, national public relations campaign for the march, and her efforts helped alert the nation to the logistical information about the March, that many had been eagerly awaiting. Since 1997, Handy-Kendi has also organized several, local D.C., MWM anniversary gatherings and represented MWM on the Lincoln Memorial stage at The Million Family March. In 2003, at the Great Black Peace March organized by the late activist, Damu Smith, Handy Kendi, issued a call for a new movement for "Woman's Empowerment". As the founder of Black Love Day (BLD), she issued a national call for "Sister Love" as the global intention for the 14th BLD on February 13th, 2006 during Black History Month. To commemorate the 9th MWM anniversary, the 2006 Woman's History Month and International Woman's Day, Handy-Kendi and AAHA organized the first "Woman's Empowerment Gathering". This mini-conference of 200 was addressed by 30 powerful women leaders, who inspired the D.C./metro community with their solutions on overcoming the many issues and serious conditions that still challenge Black woman and their families.

During this 2006 local "gathering" effort, Handy-Kendi reached out to the MWM National Coordinating Committee, and encouraged them to initiate national, reconciliation efforts to heal from the previous march. When she gained little clarity on the new directions of the committee's 10th anniversary commemoration, Handy-Kendi decided to move forward. In July, 2007, she issued a national call to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Million Woman March with the "2nd Woman's Empowerment Gathering".

METHODOLOGY OF THE WOMAN'S EMPOWERMENT MOVEMENT (W.E.M.)

As the nation this October, embarks on the commemoration of the historic MWM, Handy-Kendi's earlier spiritual inspiration on enjoining woman to action initiatives for empowerment, continues to prompt her to introduce the Woman's Empowerment Gathering for W.E.M. as more than a one-day, feel-good, event. After several million people marches, she believes that African-Americans, have proven that we can bring together a huge gathering that inspires. But in retrospect, these events have also empowered the very corporate interests - banks, hotel conglomerates, airplane, train and travel industry corporations, etc - that help oppress Blacks. Other million people efforts focused tremendous attention on LOC's raising the money to travel to a central event. Instead, the W.E.M. offers the opportunity to empower Sister to Sister, block-by-block, city-by-city, and state-by-state , as we organize a decentralized, anniversary commemoration that can focus attention on local needs and recycle local funds into church facilities, halls, schools, civic centers, etc. W.E.M. furthers empowers through the on-going action initiatives that will engage broad community participation long after the commemorations. W.E.M. will also empower a million woman who will commit to rolling up their sleeves to help another million woman in personal action initiatives that can kick-off prior to the anniversary commemoration or as a follow-up. Now, it's time to take a different approach which will make history as many will gain true self empowerment as we accept the premise, "that we are the ones, we've been waiting for".

The Woman's Empowerment Movement for Self, Family and Community is conceived of as a love-in-action, self-help campaign of hope. It is an "Each One, Reach One - Each One, Teach One" mobilization of self-love, self-sufficiency, self-determination, conscious raising, pulling each other up effort of empowerment of women so that women can be better able to take care of themselves, to be better capable of taking care of their families and their communities. W.E.M. focus will be to offer the tools, information and opportunities necessary to not only survive, but to thrive. Mobilization will further focus on solution-based re-programming; principled, spiritual behavior and development; "Sister Love" functional unity; collective work with mentoring, volunteering and role-modeling; wellness and health prevention; and culturally based, alternative, educational re-training -- all underscoring the slogan(s) "As You Raise a Woman, You Raise a Nation" and "We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For".

Women of all ages will be encouraged to participate in W.E.M. however, special encouragement will be placed on finding a million woman who have the means by which they can reach deeper to give a helping hand to another million young woman and seniors in their spiritual, moral, health wellness, economic and educational upliftment to move them up higher from such social ills as poverty, homelessness, incarceration, HIV/AIDS, addiction, violence, under-employment, environmental/ reproductive injustice, racism, etc.

SISTER ACTION TEAMS (S.A.T.'S )
To simplify the W.E.M. direct action campaign and to create the greatest momentum for mass empowerment, Sister Action Teams (S.A.T.'s) will be the primary mobilization, vehicle suggested, whereby information and self-help skills can be shared. S.A.T.'s can be as basic as two or more Sisters or a small group, agree to come together to sustain and support each other in acquiring basic skills such as spiritual growth, self-improvement, home-making, cooking, sewing, parenting, male-female relationships, cultural awareness, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and wealth building, stress management, media relations, etc.

WOMAN'S EMPOWERMENT GATHERINGS AND RE-EDUCATION
To facilitate the commemorative and educational aspect of the W.E.M., "Woman's Empowerment Gatherings" and "Rites of Passage Programs", will be encouraged. In larger groups or program "Gatherings", women can honor and celebrate themselves, network, and creatively inspire each other, focusing on empowering solutions, role-modeling, mentoring, volunteerism, project alternatives and performance-based interactions, that are working which can be replicated.

Rites of Passage programs, Saturday Schools, Home-Schooling, or After-School Programs will be encouraged to offer the African-centered, cultural models in which our standards of achievement can be reinforced, instead of European achievement standards institutionalized which will foster more collective work and responsibility around our own educational self-support.

W.E.M. ADMINISTRATION
With the MWM 10th Year Anniversary right around the corner, the W.E.M. is designed for fast-track organizing to commemorate the history and to build a movement beyond the event. A non-hierarchical, decentralized, W.E.M. Coordinating Team is suggested, that can come together in national, conference calls and on the web. The W.E.M. Coordinating Team, will make coordinating decisions by consensus, arbitrate disputes, share movement accomplishments, and spear-head mobilization, promotion and fund-raising. This The consensus-based team will serve as a replicable model for other S.A.T.'s, action innovators, empowerment gatherings and rites of passage groups and programs.

FUND-RASISING
The African-American Holiday Association (AAHA), a 50l (C ) (3) non-profit, community-based organization, has an impeccable, track-record in organizing and promoting, large marches and demonstrations. Convening the W.E.M. as one of its' projects to meet its' objective of using "holidays, celebrations and rituals for social change", AAHA can serve as the fiscal agent, to receive local and national funds for the sole purposes of:

1). creating a funding pool in which low-income individuals, groups and organizations can apply for funds to be used for 10th Anniversary of the MWM commemorations or to create local W.E.M. action initiatives. AAHA will designate a replicable, accounting firm to account for, manage and disperse funds for accurate fiscal accountability of public funds;

2) helping AAHA's administrative costs in organizing the Woman's Empowerment Movement and Gathering, i.e., conference calls, website maintenance, data base development and organizing/promotion technical assistance to optimize community involvement in the W.E.M.;

3) to fund the potential "gathering" on the National Mall, in D.C. for the Metropolitan region commemorative. (AAHA already has a reservation in the National Park Service for the Mall, from 7 - 14th Street, which can host upwards to 100,000 women). This gathering is still tentative, as AAHA wants to partner with other D.C. activists and organizations, to ensure their interests, involvement and financial donations;

African-American, socially responsible corporations, and women allies as individuals, corporations and organizations, along with celebrities, will be implored to invest in the W.E.M. on the national or local levels in order to give-back to the community.

Fundraising will be encouraged on the regional, local and community based, level, for maximum involvement, towards the empowerment of women in creatively, sustaining themselves and their initiatives. The W.E.M. logo and slogans are public domain, and their usage is encouraged for fundraising, entreprenuerialship and creative expression . To ensure integrity in the fundraising process, national media releases will spell out the W.E.M guidelines and alert communities on how to donate, cautiously, to local groups or individual initiatives.

TIMETABLE
The W.E.M. could officially kick-off the first of August with a national press conference, hosted by any and all who sign on to the W.E.M. Coordinating Team. The commemoration of the MWM, in D.C. is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 25 (official MWM date is October 25, 1997). The W. E.M., encourages commemorations, empowerment actions and initiatives up to the date of October 28th, 2007 through October 25, 2008 and beyond. In the year, 2007-08, the empowerment of the Black Woman should explode, like the 60's Black Consciousness Movement, with art, poetry, song, motivational writings and healing, making a dramatic leap forward in Black women that will have a domino effect in families and communities.

SUMMARY
If W.E.M. sounds like the type of "pulling ourselves up from the boot-straps" activity THAT APPEALS TO YOU AND YOUR OBJECTIVES, please contact AAHA, ASAP. We have considered you as one of a select group of serious, committed, movers and shakers, to receive this communication. We are working on facilitating the first conference call, as well as working on some of the other infra-structure needs. Any input on this summary, counter-suggestions, and willingness to offer support or resources, will be appreciated.

I am thanking you in advance, for your Sisterhood and your participation, in anyway, in advancing the progress of woman and the Nation.

In the Spirit of the Akoma (the heart) with Black Love and PositivEnergy,

Ayo Handy Kendi, CTBF, Breathologist, Stress Manager, Organizer,
Founder/director, African American Holiday Association (AAHA), founder, Black Love Day, CEO, PositivEnergyWorks,
Coordinator, African Wholistic Wellness Center (AWHA)

www.aaha-info.org
www.breathepositive.com 202-667-2577

DESCRIPTION OF 2ND WOMAN'S EMPOWERMENT GATHERING

2ND WOMAN'S EMPOWERMENT GATHERING, in Commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the Million Woman March will offer a 3 day forum, in which very profound women will address issues and offer solutions towards action.

The "Gathering" will be presented in panels, workshops, lectures, affinity groups, interactive performances, healing circles, a space for reflection, and health/organizational information tabling. Participants will be invited, and the community, is also invited to submit their proposed concepts, for acceptance, so that many diverse voices, ideas and solutions, can be expressed. AAHA reserves the right to approve or disapprove concepts or proposals submitted.

The "Gathering" is open to the public, however, a free-will donation will be collected through-out the program, of which the funds will support AAHA's coordination of "the Gathering" and on-going organizing of "the W.E.M.".

We are therefore asking all participants to volunteer their time and their expertise. We are seeking partners/sponsors at any level of financial or material assistance. For your support, we will include your name on the flyer as an official endorser/sponsor.

Limited information tabling or healing space is available at a sliding fee cost, so that those who can afford to pay, can support those who cannot. Sliding fee is $150 - $25. Tablers can not sell merchandise or charge for services. They can sell literature relative to the event, buttons or bumper stickers. Tablers must also bring own table and chair (s). Those who want to rent tables and chairs, must pay additional amount (to be disclosed)

GATHERING PRESENTATIONS

We are looking for your proposed workshops, panel discussions, interactive performances, affinity groups, healing circles, etc, that offer hope and solution-based re-programming. We will place you within a panel of similar topics, tentatively suggested. These are only suggestions, and we welcome YOUR TOPIC interest.