Saturday, January 28th 2023

With Dr. Renato Almanzor

Online on Zoom and in-person @ 285 17th St, Oakland, CA 94612

9:30AM – 4:00PM PST (Time Zone Converter) 

Closed Captioning Provided

Overview

Care and caring can become overly focused on the individual, and consequently become “too capitalistically driven and centered on luxurious pampering that has very little to do with sustainable nurturing and all to do with spending money, which for the communities that actually need the most care, they cannot access!” (Aimaloghi Eromosele). Aimaloghi Eromosel also offered that “There is no self-care without community care.”

This workshop draws from Dharmic values and other spiritual traditions and social justice movements so that we embrace our purpose and activism as acts of healing and loving. We will acknowledge that in life, there is suffering, and awaken the love, power, and justice within our communities. We will take away from this program a deep acceptance that “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare” (Audre Lorde).

The workshop will be experiential in nature, allowing for thinking, feeling, and doing alone and in with others. The facilitator will cultivate community agreements toward fostering “brave space,” yet in every community, the issues we broach (e.g., White supremacy, patriarchy, homophobia, oppression) may be trigger addressed and unaddressed trauma. I will facilitate a process that nurtures healing, yet does not eliminate the potential for harm.

Please note: Registered participants will receive a zoom link to join us online with their Eventbrite confirmation email. Thank you for your support

Dr. Renato Almanzor is a transformation catalyst, whose experience emerges from over 25 years developing leaders committed to equitable communities, multicultural organizations, and social justice. As a leadership expert, he has delivered keynote addresses, workshops, and seminars on issues related to leadership for equity, cultural diversity, and social change. Much of his work has been dedicated to supporting community leaders working with and in low-income communities and communities of color. He has a PhD and MA in organizational psychology, an MS in counseling, and BA in psychology, as well as certifications in coaching and Zumba Instruction. He is a proud alum of the first Practices in Transformative Action program at the East Bay Meditation Center, where he also served as an apprentice the following year. If you would like to make a gift to support Renato’s teachings, please do so via Venmo: @dralmanzor

For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks and be fully vaccinated against covid19, which at this time means having received the covid bivalent booster no less than two weeks before the event. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.)

To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears HERE.

East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.