NW Regional Equity Conference
We invite you to attend the 4th annual NW Regional Equity Conference 2023!
February 22-24, 2023
Cost
Early Bird (Until Dec 30, 2022) $225
General Registration (Until Jan 31, 2023) $300
Late Registration (February 1-22, 2023) $350
The NW Regional Equity Conference aims to improve equitable, sustainable experiences and outcomes for systemically marginalized and underrepresented populations through inclusive and anti-racist strategies.
This conference is geared toward educators, administrators, non-profit, governmental, and other professionals and individuals across the region who would like to broaden their social justice knowledge or remove institutional barriers for systemically underrepresented populations. We are excited to see you at this three-day event; ticket sales will begin in October 2022-February 2023
Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Khalid el-Hakim and Dr. Khalilah Camacho-Ali
The Black History 101 Mobile Museum is proud to present a national speaking tour featuring Dr. Khalilah Ali (former wife of Muhammad Ali). The tour includes a virtual exhibit of rare memorabilia of historical and cultural material documenting her life as the first prominent Muslim woman of notoriety in the United States. Dr. Khalid el-Hakim, founder of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum, will openly engage Dr. Ali in an honest conversation about being raised as a Muslim at a very turbulent time in American history, her life with the great Muhammad Ali, women’s rights, and being an award-winning humanitarian. Her fascinating life broke all stereotypes of being a Muslim woman and she continues to be an inspiration for women around the world.
Dr. Khalilah Camacho-Ali is a Muslim-American, an activist and internationally known humanitarian who recently received the 2022 Be Great Humanitarian Award during the Disney100 kick off celebrations. Dr. Ali’s notoriety came early on as being the wife of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, but her story didn’t start or end there. She was born and raised a Muslim in the household of Nation of Islam leader, Hon. Elijah Muhammad whereas a teenager she met historical icons such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and eventually met and wedded Muhammad Ali. Married from 1967-1977, she was present during the tumultuous era of Muhammad Ali refusing to be drafted to the Vietnam War and ringside during one of highlights of his boxing career, the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire, Africa. Much of that story was documented in the movie, ALI starring Will Smith. Khalilah has many stories of meeting celebrities, dignitaries, and world leaders. She is truly a renaissance woman who knows seven languages, has a pilot’s license, and a black belt in the martial arts with the honor to have been personally taught by Bruce Lee!
Lakota Harden
Lakota Harden (Minnecoujou/Yankton Lakota and HoChunk) is a highly-respected, award-winning organizer, community leader, and elder who has been part of Native American struggles for the past four decades.
She first became an accomplished speaker as a youth and representative of the early American Indian Movement's “We Will Remember” Survival School on the Pine Ridge reservation, established out of the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation. She has continued her activism over the years, working with the International Indian Treaty Council, Women of All Red Nations (WARN), Idle No More, Indigenous Women's Network, Lakota Traditional Birthing Project, and OYATE, a Native organization working to see that the lives and histories of Native peoples are portrayed honestly through books.
Lakota was the co-host, for many years, of the weekly radio program, Bay Native Circle, on Pacifica radio station KPFA in the San Francisco Bay Area. The program featured interviews, current events, and perspectives of the Native American community.
Lakota was also trained in unlearning oppression work by the Oakland-based Todos Alliance-Building Institute and the Oakland Men’s Project. In addition to keynotes and presentations, she has conducted workshops and trainings nationwide for youth and adults who work with youth, across lines of gender, race, and age to stop violence as well as workshops on unlearning racism, sexism and other social oppressions. She also offers “Decolonization” workshops for Indigenous peoples, addressing the impact of genocidal policies on individuals, families, and communities.
Growing out of Lakota’s work with youth of Alaska’s Sitka Tribe, she spent time as a counselor at Raven’s Way, an residential treatment program for Indigenous youth and later worked with Health Promotions, focusing on diabetes prevention in the community. Currently, she is the Community Outreach Coordinator of Sitka Counseling and Prevention Services, providing outreach education and intervention programs related to substance misuse and wellness for groups within the community. She also serves on the City of Sitka's Heath Needs and Human Services Commission.
Lakota is also a co-founder of the Herring Protectors, an environmental group that works to protect herring and salmon from overfishing by corporate interests. In the spirit of Standing Rock, this group focuses on the issue of herring depletion as a local embodiment of the destruction of culture and the earth.
Much of Lakota’s work focuses on the healing of intergenerational historical trauma that stems out of the systematic genocide implemented by the U.S. government. The colonization of Indigenous communities has had multiple affects on those who have survived "Manifest Destiny" tactics. In healing work, she stresses, it is important to look at the spiritual, mental, as well as physical and emotional complexities of individuals. Acknowledging trauma, exploring methods and resources for healing, drawing on cultural practices and centuries old knowledge, are some of the ways to move forward.
Lakota is recipient of a Brave Hearted Woman Award presented by Mills College (Oakland CA) and a Sisters of Fire Award presented by the Women of Color Resource Center to leading women of color activists and artists for their outstanding commitments to social justice. Lakota is also featured in the 2018 documentary, Warrior Women.
Durryle Brooks, Ph.D, M.A
Durryle Brooks, Ph.D, M.A is interdisciplinary research scholar-practitioner and a social justice educator from Baltimore, MD. He is the Founder and CEO of Love and Justice Consulting LLC, an organizational and leadership development firm that provides leaders with diversity and social justice learning opportunities to increase their capacity to effectively and authentically engage difference. In this work, he offers leaders executive coaching and thought partnership as they navigate embedding intersectional justice frameworks and values into everything they do. Additionally, he designs intentional and highly interactive retreats to help teams deepen relationships in order to create greater alignment, commitment, and direction within organizations.
Dr. Brooks is the current Policy Chair for the Baltimore City School Board, where he advocates for educational justice for LGBTQ students, who are often marginalized and erased within formal educational settings. He is a WK Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network Fellow and supports racial justice and healing for all children and families. In 2021, Dr. Brooks was featured in the Baltimore Sun's Newsmaker Series for his education, research, and advocacy addressing intimate partner violence in the Black LGBTQ community. He was recognized in 2020 by Urban One & Nissan as an Unsung LGBT African-American History Maker, and featured in the Daily Record’s Young, Black, Homegrown & Leading in Baltimore series.
As a social justice practitioner, Dr. Brooks’ work focuses on re-centering love in our collective racial justice efforts, and harnessing its transformative capacity to reshape our lives in ways that honor the very core of who and what we are. He is the author of (Re)conceptualizing Love: Moving Towards a Critical Theory of Love in Education for Social Justice, which articulates a vision and framework for re-conceptualizing love in ways that produces intersectional justice and healing for people of color, communities, and our society as a whole.
Conference Registration
Please include your home address in your registration as registration will include conference swag that will be delivered to your home before the conference!
If you need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in any of these events, contact nwrec@clark.edu.