SESSION REPORTS
View Session Report PDFs and watch Livestream videos of each past session.
May 26
The Black Family Reunion
The fourth forum leaned into the historical and cultural practice that is the Black family reunion structure to centering the theme “harnessing our power, activating our liberation”. Time of Reckoning's consistent focus on the Black family stems from its foundation and infrastructure of the wellbeing of all Black people. It is the keeper of the flame and curator of the past, present and future not only of Black people but all people.
Community joined this special event virtually and live (from Pimento Jamaican Kitchen in Minneapolis) to nourish an intergenerational pathway forward through warm connectedness, essential conversation, uplifted artistry and delicious recipes. 30 community members at the in-person portion of the event reviewed recommendations from the first three forums and shared cross-generational dialogue about leadership and Black political power. The Facebook livestream received more than 200 views, with viewers sharing more than 150 comments.
April 21st
Black Extended and Chosen Family
The third forum focused on the experiences of extended and chosen family. These are people who are sometimes, but not always, outside of your family of origin. Communal Elders, Play Cousins, Returning Citizens, Other Mothers, Foster and Adoptive families, and Sister/Brother insiders are types of extended and chosen family that were explored during April’s forum.
The forum for extended and chosen family had 70 Black attendees in the Zoom viewing format with more across the livestream via Facebook and on demand via YouTube.
Three Testifiers shared their stories and three Contextualizers provided data and analysis to put these stories into context. These remarks informed small group discussions.
Testifiers shared experiences from growing up and how the chosen and extended family—from one person’s God-given mother to another’s beauty shop friends—supported them. Their stories showed how even with strong support from family, systemic oppression and racism were still embedded in their life experiences from an early age.
February 17th
Time of Reckoning for Black Men and Boys
The second forum had 80 Black attendees in the Zoom viewing format and more than 2,600 views on the livestream via Facebook. The livestream was shared by 50 community members and partners, creating an accessible experience for both Black and non-
Black attendees to watch, while maintaining sacred Black space in the Zoom format. The second forum focused on the experiences of Black men, boys, and masculine identifying people. This forum was inspired by the full humanity of George Floyd as a Black man, who was once a Black boy. Often, when Floyd’s name is brought up, it is about the violence he experienced at the hands of police without the context of the systems that intentionally made up his life and premature death. George Floyd is one of many Black men and boys with shared experience of state-sanctioned violence. The forum centered the lives, struggles, voices, solutions, and hopes of Black men, boys, and members of the black family.
December 7th
Time of Reckoning for Women and Girls
This first forum was focused on the experience of Black women and girls with the criminal justice systems and its collateral consequences.
The structure is modeled after the MN Trust Black Women and Girls town hall in 2019.
The Time of Reckoning series launched with listening to Black women and girls because of the critical place they hold within families and communities as caretakers and heads of households, ensuring the well- being of not only the Black family but society at large. Additionally, Black women are distinctly impacted by the criminal justice system first hand and through the experiences of the men and boys in their lives, yet are often invisible and considered last in policy interventions.
Forum organizers firmly believe that when you put Black women and girls first, the Black family wins.