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Date: March 28, 2023
Time: 5:30pm- 6:30pm (PST)
Location: Zoom and at Cafe X
ASCENDtials is partnering with rameses “r3sh” setekh to bring us a new book to discover this year. “The High Desert ” by James Spooner will be open for discussion in a community on zoom and in person designed to share insight.
Part I is a discussion of chapters I-7. With a breakdown of historical relevance until “present” (specific regard to the literature). (March 28th)
Part 2 is an open discussion of chapters 8- 12. Epilogue will be a conversation w/the author and a short open communication after. (April 25th)
Much of our understanding of Afro-ancestored and/or melanation in punk is missing or missing significant elements. “The High Desert” gives context to much of our involvement in Black punk & Nerd-dom, while sharing a nuclear feeling we all go through as youth finding our voice. Learning the truth about relevant cultural and historical aspects; specifically related to our culture is a bonus we rarely get.
Author James Spooner will join and hold discussion about the book w/ r3sh. Then take questions/share thoughts with the participants.
Humanitarian, Podcaster, spiritual poet, performative orator, playwriter, diversity speaker…; words for titleist. We are a survivor who found safety in words. We fell in love with words’ power to share intimacy and compassion through storytelling. As a burgeoning geriatric millennial, we have found conversation to be the key element to birthing culture, and bridging divides. A split-mind that will bring a unique philosophical perspective in consuming shared lyfe stories & orations; Sown in Truth.
As authors, our words are given a unique scrutiny, not reserved for the average individual. For those whose words do not align with the great colonial storyline, the weight and therefore the discrimination are interpersonal. Anything and everything become propaganda or agenda. The impact of these interactions and their resulting feelings are rarely given the same space to air and exhort their power.
An intimate dialogue, meant for their son, discusses in raw form the full emotional whirlwind of trying to survive in a country terrorizing their existence. Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the world and Me, shares secrets of Afro-ancestored fatherhood. Through the hopes of redemption; while directly conquering fears of trans generational repetition
Our two-part book club will digest the whole range of honest vulnerability sol Coates exposed themselves, family, family history; & son too. The seed that would create such a loving act of sensitivity against hatred. What the impact is to all parties. Culminating with a community space to discuss our own “letters” and where these experiences have shaped us.
Date and time: Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 5:30-6:30 PM PDT
Location: Online Event
Tonia is the Advocacy & Community Director at ASCENDtials. The book we will use for the event will help you learn new, unconventional ways of moving through life. In this second session on the book, Tonia will discuss Chapter 18. Come ready to discuss this chapter and ask questions.
About the Book
About the Book
Unlearn: 101 Simple Truths for a Better Life, by Humble the Poet
“The internationally bestselling self-empowerment book from influencer, rapper, and spoken word artist Humble the Poet, now available in a new edition with a new foreword by the author. Unlearn offers short, accessible, and counterintuitive lessons for reaching our full potential. In Unlearn, he opens our eyes to our own lives, helping us to recognize the possibilities that await us and the challenges that prevent us from realizing our dreams. With his characteristic honesty and forthrightness, he helps us shed the problematic lessons we’ve learned throughout our lives that limit us, from sabotaging habits, to fixed mindsets, to past regrets, and relearn new, unconventional ways of moving through life. “
Among his 101 lessons are:
-Fitting In Is a Pointless Activity
-Don’t Trust Everything You Feel
-Killing Expectations Births Happiness
-Comparisons are Killer
-Baby Steps Add Up
-You Decide Your Worth
Ms. Ferguson is passionate about her work with youth, adults and their families that have been impacted by severe and persistent mental illness. She has worked with both individuals impacted by mental illness in the criminal justice system, substance addiction, trauma, Veterans of the armed forces and as an advocate for victims of abuse and neglect for more than twenty years. She is currently the CEO of Be REAL Blessed, LLC, a mental wellness and professional development staffing agency she founded in 2021. She specializes in leadership training and incorporating psychoeducation to impact workspaces, increase productivity and decrease staff burnout/turnover. She is a literary art and mental health expert, facilitating social emotional learning and cultural art facilitation for corporations, nonprofits and community agencies, including at academic sites and juvenile/adult correctional facilities. She is an adjunct university professor for Azusa Pacific University, University of the People and Salt Lake Community College, teaching psychology courses to undergrad and graduate students. She is passionate about professional mentoring, criminal justice reform, ending the criminalization of mental illness and has been a keynote speaker nationwide for these topics.
