Dear Friends:
Happy Holidays! As we prepare to begin
a new year, we at the Community Healing Network, Inc. (CHN) want to thank you
again for your support in 2009 and ask you to continue walking with us in 2010
on the path to healing and renewal.
This has been a banner year for CHN. In
January, we partnered with the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
for a celebration of the inauguration of President Barack Obama--and the
opening of a door to "seeing ourselves in a whole new light."SM
- On June 26, in
Tuskegee, Alabama, we launched the Community Healing Institute.SM One participant
described it well as "life-transforming."
- On October 16, 17,
and 18, we marked the second annual celebration of Community Healing Days,SM with observances in
seventeen cities--up from three cities in 2008.
- On November 7, Dr.
Maya Angelou, Chair of CHN's Board of Advisors, led a ground-breaking
gathering at the Riverside Church in New York City, featuring Common and
Tom Joyner, among others, to introduce CHN to the world. (Here is a link
to Dr. Angelou's inspiring November 7 recitation of "Still I Rise.") One of the
nearly two thousand people in attendance said it best in an email to the
CHN Board: "It was one of the best nights of our lives....Our spirits
were lifted so high."
CHN is about lifting--and freeing--the
spirits of Black people everywhere. We are working to build the movement for
emotional emancipation--to help Black people find release from the internalized
myths that too often keep us from reaching our full potential. The celebration of Community Healing DaysSM
on the third weekend of every October is our way of encouraging
everyone to put "time for healing" on the calendar. Through the
Community Healing Institute,SM we are
offering workshops and trainings to promote emotional healing and renewal. And
through the Community Healer Awards,SM we are
lifting up and honoring women and men who are leaders on the path to community
wellness.
In
the coming year, we will continue along this exciting path with the launch of
the CHN Book and Movie Club, the Community Healing Rites of Passage Program,
and a city-wide community healing initiative in Tuskegee, Alabama. Please stay
with us and help us build this movement which will transform our communities by
transforming how we see--and feel about--ourselves. You can help by: 1) spreading the word; 2) joining CHN's online communities; and 3) making a
tax-deductible contribution by clicking the "Donate" button below.
With your help, CHN will expand and strengthen its movement-building
initiatives in the United States and around the world in 2010 and beyond.
Thank
you for your support.
Best
wishes to you and yours for a 2010 filled with love, healing, and renewal!
Sincerely,
Enola
G. Aird, Janice M. Jones, Jill Snyder, Antoinette G. Wright, Betty Neal Crutcher,
Natalie Roche, Rev. Victor Rogers, Dorthula Green, Wizdom Powell Hammond, and
Arthur Evans, members of the Board of Directors, Community Healing Network,
Inc., www.communityhealingnet.org.
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