13th Black Marriage Day & Family Development Conference
Theme: Bring Black Love Back To The Black Power Movement
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Beginning at 11 AM and ending at 3PM, workshops centering around personal and family development will be available for youth, singles, married and unmarried couples. Workshops will cover topics, including but not limited to, parenting, good character, developing personal and family mission statements, co-parenting/blended families, sustaining marriage through life's transitions, being single yet dedicated to nation building and workshops for teens and youth ages 7 and up.
Catered Lunch will be available for purchase.
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Conference Schedule
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11am
Libation/Welcome
History of Black Marriage Day RVA
Mission of Abusua Pa
11:45
Complimentarity and Mate Selection – Compliment or Nah? (Ice Breaker Game)
Focuses on unmarried/singles primarily, but all Africans in our community to take a closer look at what we consider
to be necessary characteristics for a compliment in marriage, family and Nationbuilding.
Group Discussions- Concurrently running (12:15pm – 1:15pm)
Adult Classes
Let’s Talk About The Sacredness of Sex
Taking a deep dive into the true blessing, responsibility and spiritual power of sexual intimacy. To examine personal
values and attitudes surrounding sex and look at how it is viewed in various societies outside of the us and
comparing it to American/western sexual values.
Up To Date on Dating
To look at what the American attitudes on dating are and how they are truly assumed in our African-Centered
community. To look at the fact that this structure/paradigm doesn’t work and to consider what rituals our
Ancestors both Continental and here in this land have traditionally used in pairing, marrying and starting families.
Teens (12-16/17 depending on maturity)
Sex: Media, Identity and Ancestry
Teens will look at how different forms of media influence their perceptions of self, how that affects their friendships/relationships and how those relationships develop into family. Teens will look at the importance of choosing friendships and intimate relationships and how those choices affect their families for generations to come.
Children (7-11/12)
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Friends and Family
Youth will look at their own goals, the qualities of friendships they choose and work on constructing their family tree. The importance of making friends with good character and similar goals is emphasized. The importance of healthy family is also emphasized.
1:20pm – 1:50pm Lunch Break
1:55
Local Resources:
Marriage Perfectly Imperfect – Mission & Purpose
Conscious Mingle – Mission & Purpose
2:15pm
Keynote address:
Bring Black Love Back To The Black Power Movement
Baba Sanyika & Mama Makiini (via Zoom from St. Louis)
(Bio of Guest Presenters) Mzee Sanyika and Mzee Makini Anwisye entered their forty-sixth year of marriage Mwezi wa Kwanza/January 2021. They are the parents of four children, one daughter-in-love, one-son-in-love and eight grandchildren. They are among the co-founders and are the directors of the 44-year-old Hofi ni Kwenu Academy/Douglass Institute (est. 1977) and the 27-year-old New African Village (est. 1994) based in St. Louis, MO. They are the founders and spiritual conveners of the Original African Holiness United Temple (est. 2000). The adesuabea became members of the 49-year-old Council of Independent Black Institutions (CIBI; est. 1972) in 1979 and were represented by the Anwisyes on the CIBI Ndundu from 1994-2014. They are Oyonko (friends of) the Washington, DC-based Ankɔbea Society and among the instructors and presenters for its Ankɔbea Leadership Training Retreat (ALTR), and at its annual Sankɔfa Conference and Nhyiamu Mpanyin (Elders Panel).
Visit their website @ www.blessingsnotcurses.org for questions, suggestions, recommended
reading and referrals to effective village-institutions, youth development and Family-building programs.
3:15pm
Closing Remarks
This event is free to the public with a suggested donation of $20.00 for couples and 10.00 for singles.
Donations can be sent by CashApp: $AbusuaPa