By Bobby Marvin
Special to the AFRO
|
Heal A Woman, Heal A Nation Logo (Courtesy Photo)
|
(April 8, 2009) - Continuing its mission to empower women, Heal a Women to Heal a Nation, Inc. (HWHN), a community-based organization that promotes holistic wellness among women, will host their sixth annual Heal a Woman to Heal a Nation Conference at Coppin State University’s Tawes Center on April 18. This year’s theme will be “Rejuvenating Sisterhood,” a call to action for women to shed past burdens and reunite.
“In order to create healthy, strong families and communities, our role is to work with the women in order to build those families,” said Mothyna James-Brightful, visionary director of HWHN. “To us we are a communal sisterhood and we certainly believe that whether we are biologically related or not, you are my sister.”
Since the first conference in 2004, HWHN has been dedicated to providing a day of revitalization for working women in Baltimore. Realizing the opportunity to address other women’s concers, HWHN expanded their agenda to health, education and self-and- economic empowerment to include inspirational speakers, discussion forums and workshops.
The 2009 conference, which has attracted over a modest 200 participants in the past, aims to attract more women this year with additional workshops on fitness and entrepreneurship. One of the highlights will be the luncheon/discussion panel “Raising Him Alone” with celebrity mom/actress/comedienne/motivational speaker Meshelle, Dr. Mahalia Hines (mother of hip-hop artist/activist Common), Dr. Brenda Green (mother of hip-hop artist Talib Kweli), author Sheron Smith (mother of hip-hop artist/actor Mos Def) and Cassandra Mack, founder and CEO of Strategies for Empowering Living Inc.
“There is a huge impact in terms of women who are raising their sons alone. [So] I do believe Baltimore is a city that can benefit from the strategies [ to be shared by panelists],” said Meshelle, who will moderate the discussion on single parenting.
The idea to offer an open dialogue and seminars for single mothers of young boys came about through a partnership between HWHN and the Raising Him Alone Campaign founded by the Urban Leadership Institute which uplifts African-American males by supporting single mothers, specifically those located in urban communities. The HWHN conference will be a stop on the advocacy campaign’s national tour.
“Seventy percent of Black children are living in single homes being raised by their mothers. And out of that 70 percent, a large percentage is African-American males.
“If we don’t figure out a way to better support single mothers raising boys we will continue to have alarming rates of violence [and] high school drop-outs,” said David Miller, chief visionary officer of the Urban Leadership Institute and co-founder of Raising Him Alone. “The Raising Him Alone Campaign is an effort to really begin to provide increasing support for mothers.”