Investing in our Future Health Fair

On Friday, August 30, 2013 at the Phenomenal Women's Summit presented by Bishop Teresa Snorton,  the women of the conference were invited to focus on their health during the "Investing in our Future Health Fair". Vendors came from around the City of Birmingham to impart knowledge of various subjects in 30 minutes sessions.  A few of the featured presenters included:






Brownstone Health Care - www.brownstonehealthcare.com
Dr. LaShelle F. Barmore, Family Medicine Physician of Brownstone Health Care, discussed choosing a good Primary Care Doctor.










Princeton Baptist Medical Center

Princeton Baptist Medical Center presented on several topics, including Dementia and Alzheimer's prevention.

NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness
Representatives discussed signs of mental illness, resources for diagnosis and improving the quality of life for those living with issues




Other presenters included:

Zelia Baugh 

"Behavior Health Services: What You Need to Know"

Pamela Jones 

"Breast Health"

Sue Bunnell

"Living and Maintaining A Health Lifestyle"

Ms. Jacky Wimbledufff

Schaeffer Eye Center

50th Anniversary Civil Rights Tribute & Awards

At Friday Luncheon on August 30, 2013, at the Phenomenal Women's Summit presented by Bishop Teresa Snorton, the women took time out to recognize Phenomenal Women as Trailblazers: Past and Present with a slideshow of persons who are trailblazers yesterday as well as today.  Additionally, awards "Honoring our Living Legends" were presented to the honorees.  

See the Slideshow below:

Trailblazing women 1_with_edits_#1 from phenomenalwomenssummit

Reflections of the Living Legends

Linda Coleman,  Merika Coleman Evans and Juandalynn Givan

Yvette McPherson-Richardson, Belinda McCain, and Patsy Jones.

LaJuana Bradford, J. Richert Pearson and Diana Knighton

The Full List of Honorees is as follows:

Tributes 

Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States of America 

Alexis Herman, former U.S. Secretary of Labor 

Condoleeza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State 

Yvonne Kennedy, Alabama State Legislator (posthumously) 

Lola Haynes Hendricks, 1960s Civil Rights Activist (posthumously) 

Lucinda Thelma Brown Robey, 1960s Civil Rights Activist (posthumously) 

Atherine Juanita Lucy, 1st African American admitted to University of Alabama, 1956 

Vivian Malone Jones, 1st African graduate, University of Alabama, 1965 (posthumously) 

Awardees 

Terri Sewell, First African-American U. S. Congresswoman from Alabama 

Linda Coleman, Alabama State Senator 

Priscilla Dunn, Alabama State Senator 

Barbara Boyd, Alabama State Legislator 

Merika Coleman Evans, Alabama State Legislator 

Juandalynn Givan, Alabama State Legislator 

Mary Moore, Alabama State Legislator 

Yvette McPherson-Richardson, Alabama Board of Education 

Belinda McCain, Mayor, Sipsey, AL

Maxine Parker, Birmingham City Council

Lashunda Scales, Birmingham City Council

Patsy Jones, Opelika City Council

Bobbie Knight, Alabama Power 

LaJuana Bradford, Regions Bank 

J. Richet Pearson, Dean, Miles School of Law

Mattie Mashaw Jackson, Miles College (retired) 

Diana Knighton, Miles College 

Odessa Mack, 1960s Civil Rights Activist 

Carstella Scott, 1960s Civil Rights Activist 

Helen Shores Lee, Circuit Court Judge and Civil Rights Advocate 

Carolyn McKinstry, Civil Rights Advocate 

Georgia McCoy O’Neal, Civil Rights Advocate 

Four Little Golden Girls: The Bombing that Galvinized the Civil Rights Movement

Cast of Four Little Golden Girls (Photo courtesy of Alpha Photography)

Today, as a Footsoldier of the Civil Rights Movement, I pledge...

The participants of the Phenomenal Women's Summit wore Purple on Friday Evening, August 30, 2013 to attend the opening preview of Four Little Golden Girls, a new play by Ernestine Dilworth-Williams with music by Stu Gardner.  The play was directed by Melvin Nevett and starred Tony Award Winner Melba Moore.  It also stars Angel Armstrong, LaShonda M. Corder, LaTonya Matthews, Antoinette M. Stewart and Chalethia Williams (Member of the Actor's Equity Association), with Michele Chaverst, Star B. Corder, Allison Hickman, Adriaonna Jones and Diamond Sparks.  The production was presented as a part of the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Civil Rights Movement and the Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

Four Little Golden Girls engaged the memory of six women, Rena, Bea, Effie, Roalea, Mae Lee and Ellen, who were also little girls during the time that the infamous bombing on September 15, 1963.  Gathered together to watch the Presidential Medal Ceremony commemorating Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins, and survivor, Sarah Collins Rudolph, the six women discussed their reactions to the event those years ago and how it shaped them to be better women.  With artifacts of African American culture surrounding them - quilts, African American art including a framed Buffalo Soldier Commemorative Stamp Poster, and other historical facts - the audience left with a true understanding of the weight of the Civil Rights movement on those left to pick up the pieces.

A full band and vocal ensemble (under the direction of Ruth Randall and featuring musicians Anthony Williams, Russell Smith, Jefferson Drew Stephen Hundley) brought the score to life, with a fusion of gospel, jazz, funk and R&B.  Their accompaniment, especially under scoring Rena's (Moore) "Lean on Me",  left the audience emotionally connected with the cast and with vivid memory of the history of Birmingham.

The play will continue its run September 6, 2013 at 10:00am and 7:00pm, Saturday, September 7, 2013 2:00pm and 7:00pm.

The Visible, Yet Unsung

PWS Senator Linda Coleman from Phenomenal Women's Summit on Vimeo.

Today, as then, our challenge is about building inclusion and opportunity for those coming after us. Not just those of us who are here, but ensuring that the bridge that those unsung heros -- those phenomenal women of the past, those ordinary people who did extraordinary things -- that we pass that banner on, we pass that torch on, we hold it high for the next generation. And we continue to show up and build that bridge so that is it there for those who come after us, that it is always there so that they are able to use it.

Senator Linda Coleman

At Friday Luncheon on August 30, 2013, at the Phenomenal Women's Summit presented by Bishop Teresa Snorton, the speaker was Senator Linda Coleman who represents District 20 in the State of Alabama.  After an introduction by D'Marie, Senator Coleman discussed "the visible, yet unsung"; women who fought alongside their male counterparts in the movement, but have not, even to now, been recognized.  She started by asking the question of why women were left out since, as Berneice King has once said, that the Civil Rights Movement would not have happened if it was not for the movement.  Senator Coleman also made reference to the separate March down Independence Ave that

"Woman had many obstacles to overcome," said Senator Coleman, presenting to the luncheon guests that the men were at the helm only after the women spearheaded the movement. It was women who were domestics, working in houses and clerical positions who used the buses for work.  While these voices were unceremonious left out (there is visible documentation of their presence in pictures), the women still did make their mark on the movement.  

Senator Coleman went on to give more history of women such as Gloria Richardson, Poinsetta Wright, Fannie Lou Hamer, Michelle Obama, Alexis Herman and Condolezza Rice.   "It is because of that history that we are here today,  celebrating 50 years past and 50 years forward."  Hear the entire poignant and empowering speech above.

Breakout sessions

On Friday morning, August 30, 2013, of Phenomenal Women's Summit presented by Bishop Teresa Snorton's, participants choose from 6 different sessions: Civil Rights Art Exhibit the Birmingham Museum of Art; Avoiding Self-Inflicted Overload by Ms. Joyce Brooks; Your Mind, Your Mouth, Your Money by Ms Carla Cargle; Succeeding in Your Personal Relationships by Rev. Mildred Watson; Taking Care of Your Mental Health by Dr. Amanda Ducksworth; and Tapping into Your Body's Spiritual Power by Rev. Bridget Piggue.  Below are the summaries of a few of the classes:



Civil Rights Art Exhibit the Birmingham Museum of Art
Participant were chartered to see the Etched in Collective History Art Exhibit, curated specifically in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Right Movement in Birmingham.  More information about the tours by visiting the Birmingham Museum of Art's website.

Avoiding Self-Inflicted Overload by 
Ms. Joyce Brooks
Joyce Brooks was an executive at a prominent company in Alabama when she became ill from the stress of balancing her work and home life.  After discovering her love of painting and shifting her focus to balancing her full life, she noticed her stress fall away.  Brooks, in this workshop, presented ways to balance, exercise self-care and the importance of relieving stress from everyday life. See a clip on the Alpha Photography Facebook Page.  Learn more about her book, Self-Inflicted Overload: Five Steps to Achieving Work-Life Balance & Becoming Your Very Best at  http://www.selfinflictedoverload.com.

Succeeding in Your Personal Relationships by Rev. Mildred Watson
Considering healthy courtships and loving the self, Rev. Mildred Watson's workshop presented ideas from her book, The Woman, The Preacher.  She also presented self-assessments and lead discussions where participants on  in the post, Meet Rev. Mildred Watson.

Photo courtesy of Alpha Photography

Taking Care of Your Mental Health by 
Dr. Amanda Ducksworth
In this workshop, Dr. Amanda Duckworth encouraged participants to consider their own mental health.  So often it is easy to, with the hustle and bustle of the day, overlook our mental stability.  Dr. Duckworth had her attendees consider where they stood, and looked at biblical examples to assess their place including Elijah, Moses, Tamar, Jesus and the Woman at the Well. She then offered "prescriptions for managing mental health" including rest, prayer, medications and worshipping.

Morning Plenary Session with Dr. Jarralynn Agee

“...understand the concept of something that is exceptional, that is so far outside for the curve that it stands alone.”

~ Dr. Jarralynn Agee

During the Plenary Session of the Phenomenal Women's Summit presented by Bishop Teresa Snorton on Friday, August 30, 2013, Dr. Jarralynn Agee, author and Professor at University of Alabama Birmingham, presented the Morning Plenary Session.  The co-author (with Candace Sandy and Dawn Marie Daniels) of Tears of Triumph, Women Learn to Live, Love and Thrive and founder of Positive Pathways Program (P3), came with share her wit, knowledge and wisdom.

“What is a hero’s journey?” asked Dr. Agee, echoing the thoughts of the crowd, “How did I get to where I am today?”   She mentioned the dichotomy of being the sister of one sibling who went to Ohio State and another who went to the “State Pen”.  Dr. Agee mentioned having to walk between the two worlds, never choosing because those experiences shaped her life.  She had to learn how to be a Sistah girl and also use the Ohio Bell voice (the “professional voice” used to get things done).

Dr. Agee brought to the conference her ideas of whom you keep in your circle, who you keep as an association, and those you keep far away.  “What is a friend?” she asks?  The audience mentioned “honesty”, “truth”, “Ride or Die”, and “unconditional love”.  “There is a strong emotional bond to friendships”.  Dr. Agee shared stories of her own life and friends before engaging the audience in a conversation on the friend we keep in our circles.

The discussion of friendship commences with the discernment of different kinds of friends.  “There are different kinds of friendships” said Dr. Agee, “spiritual friendship, worldly friendship and unrooted friendship”. The friendships are defined as follows:

• ¨     spiritual friendship – Those who stand beside you, understand your goals, supports your plan see you pain and celebrate your success, even those you haven’t acquired yet.
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• ¨     worldly friendship – Thos who stand with you, support your goals, see you for who you are right now, focus on you right now, and celebrate your successes as they happen
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• ¨     unrooted friendship – stand behind you – but at a distance, support your desires, see you for what you used to be, may relish in your pain and personally or behind your back may celebrate your success.

Dr. Agee was certain to have everyone understand what separates “goals” from “desires”.  “Goals are things you want to reach versus desires which are things we want to have.”  The audience then gave examples of people who were in their circle as spiritual friends.

“What keeps us stuck on other kinds of friends?” Dr. Agee then asked. The audience responded that “the truth hurts” and “the inability to see”.  Dr. Agee brought up her co-author, Candace Sandy, to discuss unrooted friends.  “Unrooted friend place us in a box and we believe them so we’ll put them there,” Sandy mentioned.  These are “boxers” those who “put us there - pack us up and wrap up the tape”.  Using volunteers, the participants were able to identify traits of unrooted friends (“those friends [that] keep people in the box and we stay there because we are comfortable”).

Dr. Agee recommended to participants to work around the “negative schema” the way of thinking about where the individual mindset lies in state (the current place of where I am – happy) and the trait (what we carry that will not change tomorrow – height.   She encouraged participants to determine, “Who are the believers in your life, who are you supporters?” and only take along those persons who are the believers.

Dr. Agee concluded with visibly showing the circle of influence, using audience members to design where physically people should place their spiritual, worldly and unrooted friends.

The challenge of the session is for the phenomenal women to not be afraid of success.  “With success comes responsibility,” declares Dr. Agee.  She encouraged participants to think outside of who we are, and pursue abundance.  “If we were willing to become everything that we are destined to become, we will be an inspiration to others,” said Dr. Agee.  “We ought to be selfish to help others.”

Morning Meditation with D'Marie

Returning for a second year by popular demand, singer/songwriter and new recording artist D'Marie (Rev. Dollie Howell Pankey) lead the women in meditation on Friday, August 30, 2013 aof the Phenomenal Women's Summit. Below is snippet of her song, "Misty Rain" from the Friday Session.

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Twitter: @DMarieSings
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