We are so excited to offer one of the virtual Healing Arts Workshop with Roots Community Health Center and Freedom Community Clinic.
Come by, breathe, stretch and move together. Facilitated by Dr.Uzo
Monday April 3rd @ 4pm PST
Register here
Honoring Our Ancestral Gifts
This is a sacred space designed for the gathering of BIPOC community members that identify as healthcare workers, educators, healers, mind/body/spirit workers, caregivers, activists & all who provide care in the community. This is an in person gathering in Oakland CA.
We will meet weekly for 6 weeks to engage spirit in movement prayer to heal ourselves and our communities.
Let’s us remember, reclaim and restore our ancestral power.
#healing #healthcareworkers #spiritualwellbeing #emotionalwellbeing #burnoutprevention #communityhealth#communalhealing #mindbodyspirit #harmony #BIPOCHealthcareWorkers #AncestralPower #HealingJourney #SelfCareSunday #CaregiverSupport #MovementPrayer #Restoration #CommunityCare #MindfulLiving #HolisticHealing #SelfHealing
At our Self Care /communal care sessions, we will gather together to connect to the self, the body, and the soul through ritual, expression, rhythms, movement, and mindfulness.
This 6-session experiential process is designed for community members that identify as a healthcare worker, health care provider, educator, healer, mind, body and spirit workers and others who provide care in the community.
Saturday, Oct 2: Grounding, Welcome, Check-In
Saturday, Oct 9: Physical Wellbeing
Saturday, Oct 16: Social Wellbeing
Saturday, Oct 30: Spiritual Wellbeing
Saturday, Nov 6: Emotional Wellbeing
Saturday, Nov 13: Culmination and Reflection
It is most valuable to attend all sessions, creating a sense of rhythm and consistency for the healing process.
Limited spots are available.
For healers who are interested in facilitating healing sessions in the community using this RICHER Model, please be sure to notify Uzo for preparation.
Participation is free for community members and students. Salaried practitioners are encouraged to donate $20-$75/session, of which all proceeds will go back to the program for future sessions and initiatives.
For more information please email Uzo Nwankpa nwankpa@gmail.com with the subject line: Communal Healing through Expressive Arts
Pull Up For Peace is hosted by
We will start the walk at Hunts Berry Liquor at 3pm. We Will end the peace walk at Concordia park at 4:30pm.
Come walk, dance, pray, grieve and move together in solidarity.
Send DM for link to @uzonwankpa on Instagram
First Friday Healing Arts
Reflections through Creative Expression
This series of expressive arts is an opportunity to quiet down, dig deep within and tune into the subconscious mind. You will create art in response to reflective prompts that support the growth within. This is an opportunity to gift yourself “play, repair and replenish” time. This is an opportunity to go into playful, fun and childlike practices of imagination and creativity. We will support your process of reflection and creativity using old and new technologies. You may bring whatever writing/art utensils you have access to (pen, paper, pencil, coloring tools, etc) All levels are welcome. Facilitated by Uzo Nwankpa DNP(c), MSN-PH, RN
Uzo Method Project x Afro Urban Society Present
Healing Black Lives-through ancestral rhythms and movements of Africa
Facilitated by Mandjou Kone & Uzo Nwankpa
Sunday November 8th & Saturday November 21st
11:00AM – 1:00PM
Price: Sliding Scale $5 – $20 (No one turned away for lack of funds, please email info@afrourbansociety.com for assistance)
Location (Given After Registration)
Limited In-Person tickets available to observe COVID-19 protocols + Masks a Must
Workshop Description
This workshop is an opportunity to provide a live drumming and dance healing session for Black and Brown people in the Bay Area to have an exclusive access to ancestral healing without interruptions. I have a vision of having Djembes, Dun Duns, shekeres, bells and other indigenous instruments played by African descendants with some facilitated movement to address the high levels of stress we are all experiencing today. This will be a 2 hour workshop lead by Mandjou Kone, an indigenous African woman from Burkina Faso/Mali and Uzo Nwankpa and Igbo womyn from Nigeria.
Live drumming by Richmond Wiggins and Bumpity Thump
ABOUT
Mandjou Kone-Mali/Burkina
Mandjou Koné was born and raised in West Africa in the countries of Mali and Burkina Faso. She was born into the Koné family, a well-known Griot Family. The Griots people of West Africa are world renown for their unique ability to record events carefully and accurately, passing history from one generation to the other. One cannot learn to become a Griot; rather one is born into it. Being a Griot there is a responsibility to preserve the culture.
As a young girl Mandjou assisted her Griot father in keeping his band alive by singing, dancing and playing instruments like the Djembe, Bala, Dundun, Kora and Tama. She also danced and performed with the National Ballet of Burkina Faso. With her brothers group ‘Surutukunu’ Mandjou toured Europe extensively as lead singer. Mandjou was then invited to come to the UniteD States to help translate a documentary about the last 40 years of her family’s musical tradition and history.
Taale Laafi Rossellini met the Kone family in Burkina Faso in the late 60’s. He produced a documentary about the Kone Family, titled “Great Great Great Grandparents’ Music” The film’s US premiere was in the National Museum of African Art in Washington DC, Best Documentary Nomination, Los Angeles PanAfrican Film Festival, the biggest Black film festival in the U.S. and later on the west coast at the Cascade African Film Festival in Portland Oregon. “Great Great Great Grandparents’ Music” was praised by documentary critics, and received several awards and nominations, including: * Prix Spécial Award, FESPACO (Festival Panafricain du Cinéma de Ouagadougou), the biggest Black film festival in the world. Awarded by Ousmane Sembene, internationally acclaimed author and filmmaker.
Mandjou is a very popular dance educator and has been teaching and performing over the past eleven years throughout the US. In March 2003 in Santa Cruz, CA she was honored with the ‘Calabash Award’ for her excellence in the ethnic arts.
Uzo Nwankpa-Nigeria
Uzo Nwankpa is a fourth generation descendant of healers from Southeast Nigeria. Uzo is the creator of the Uzo Method Project- A Public Health Solution which is used as a means to fulfill their mission to ignite a billion souls rising in the divine. As first generation immigrant to Turtle Island, and global visitor, Uzo is committed to decolonizing patterns, being a bridge between the world of Africans in the continent and the diaspora. This Igbo womyn is committed to learning and healing through her body. As an advocate for communities that use the arts to heal, Uzo is dedicated to creating and exploring diverse ways to combine ancient practices with innovation. The body is magical.
This fellowship is 9 months of conversation, reflection, project exploration, construction-deconstruction, challenges, history, identities, Blackness. African-ness.
Presentation dates:
June 6, 2020
5:00-7:00pm PST
Register at: afrourbansociety.com/events
Come and join in a community of Black student and community artists showcasing their art. A free art gallery and short film screening will be presented along with light dinner and mocktails. You will have an in-person opportunity to speak to artists about their works. We will also be featuring a speaker to talk about Black art and its importance (speaker TBD).
This is a collaboration between the African American Student Development Office (AASD), the Black Recruitment and Retention Center (BRRC), and Student Ambassadors for the Arts (SAFTA).
November 2019
It was an honor to present at the American Holistic Nurses Association Regional Conference at UC Irvine. Sharing these practices and leading folks in a mindful moving and music making activity was truly fulfilling.
In gratitude to the AHNA for the invitation to resent alongside some incredible leaders in the field.
The Uzo Method Project- A Public Health Solution 