Something special is happening in August. I am going to the BlogHer conference as a speaker. I will join a dynamic panel of women who will discuss peer networking. Check out the BlogHer agenda description below (text from BlogHer web site).
Session Description: Much of our online business is conducted with online friends. And we all know that blogging has provided a source of support and understanding. Are you regularly taking that support offline? Are you using that support to the advantage of your business? Have you put some structure around it? This session will look at the value in creating structured peer networking groups…offline if possible, online if not…in order to accomplish specific professional goals. Whether you want to work on your writing, your business model or your value proposition, being supported by and accountable to a group of trusted peers can be exactly the boost you need. Liz Strauss moderates the conversation with Ananda Leeke, Heather Mann and Vikki Reich, who will help you figure out what kind of group you need, and how to set it up to deliver.
If you recall, Smith Magazine is one of my favorite online destinations. Why? It’s simple. Six-word memoirs. Click here to learn more about the six-word memoirs movement.
Six-word memoirs have been creative lifesavers for me, especially when I was writing my book, That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery ( 2009). have also used them in my creative coaching practice. Click here to watch a creative coaching session (15 minutes) I hosted on UStream.tv last year about six-word memoirs. I am also using them in my current book project, Digital Sisterhood, a memoir.
My six-word memoir for today is: rainy skies don’t stop rainbow news.
Do you have a six-word memoir you would like to share today? Include it in the comment section of this post below. Thanks.
Great news! I am speaking about digital sisterhood and the women’s movement as a panelist for the “Conversations across the Generations on Women’s Issues and the Women’s Movement” workshop at the YWCA‘s annual convention on April 9 from 1:45 pm to 3:00 pm. The event will be held at the Mayflower in Washington, DC. The YWCA’s conference theme is “Own the Future.” Click here to learn more.
I was honored and excited to receive Spelman College’s invitation to participate in the Digital Doyennes: Wisdom from the Women who Lead in Social Media and Digital Innovation. Why? That’s a no brainer for me because Spelman embodies digital sisterhood, the feminine currency women use to create relationship wealth through the connections they make, conversations they have, communities they build, causes they support, collaborative partnerships they establish, and commerce they engage in with women they meet online and offline.
Since 2008, I have been researching women in social media (for my next book project Digital Sisterhood, a memoir) and tracking the unique ways Spelman uses social media and technology to promote its mission, academic programs, research, students, professors, alumni, social justice efforts, and community activities. What I learned is Spelman has become a social media and technology trailblazer for women of color! As an institution, it uses a wide an array of social media tools including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, blogs, ezines, and webcasts.
Technology also plays a major role at Spelman. In October 2010, AT&T announced Spelmanites Jonecia Keels and Jazmine Miller won the 2010 AT&T Big Mobile on Campus Challenge with their HBCU Buddy, a mobile application created to educate and inform users about Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the United States. Keels and Miller received $5,000 each, a mobile device of their choice, a lifetime development license for Spelman, and all-expense paid trips to the AT&T Higher Ed Board of Advisors meeting and the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference.
Did you know Spelman is located in Atlanta, the second most socially networked city in the United States according to Men’s Health (DC was ranked first — had to give my city a shout out)? Men’s Health published its socially networked city rankings in March. The Atlanta metropolitan area is also home to a dynamic blogging community of women including:
While I am in Atlanta, I will get to see my attorney, best friend, and Howard University School of Law classmate Lauren Medlock Smith, founder of Catch the Verve, LLC. Lauren is currently serving as the sponsorship chair for Women in Film & Television Atlanta, a co-sponsor of the Digital Doyennes event.
I also hope to spend time with my digital sister and fellow Heart of Haiti tripster Danica Kombol, a managing and founding partner of Everywhere, another co-sponsor of the Digital Doyennes event.
So now you can see why coming to Spelman and Atlanta in April is a digital sisterhood dream come true!
Saturday afternoon was filled with powerful moments at the WOMANIFESTING in ACTION event held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in Washington, DC.
Jasmine
My digital sister Tracy Chiles McGhee, founder of Womanifesting, co-sponsored the event with the DC Public Library. It featured a call to action by Yasmine Arrington, a DC high school student who created ScholarCHIPS, a scholarship fund for aspiring college students with incarcerated parents. Yasmine is a senior at Benjamin Banneker High School. She is fierce, forward thinking, and filled with positive energy. She is also a true leader and fashionista! Watch a video of her call to action below.
I served as a panelist for the event and shared lessons learned from my recent trip to Haiti as a Heart of Haiti blogger ambassador and work with the Digital Sisterhood Network. Check out my video recap below. See the list of program participants below.
Discussion Moderators:
-Marita Golden, Acclaimed Author, Master Literary Teacher and Co-Founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation
-Nikita Mitchell, Gen Y Writer/Blogger, who was recently named one of the Top 10 Nonprofit Bloggers to Watch in 2011
Program Participants:
-DC Councilwoman Muriel Bowser
-Patricia Nalls, Founder & Executive Director, The Women’s Collective, 2010 Washingtonian of the Year
-Carrie L. Ellis, Director of Project Management, KaBOOM! & Board Chair, Teaching for Change
-Marielle Mariano, East Coast Coordinator, Chalk4Peace
-Jessica T. Solomon, Founder, The Saartjie Project & Chief Visionary Officer, Spark Creativity
Click here to listen my audio blog about the event.
Tomorrow evening I am experimenting with a new social media tool (at least for me) called Vokle during my live chat about my Heart of Haiti trip at 8:00 pm ET. Drop by and participate in the the video chat. You can use the hashtag #HeartofHaiti to follow the conversation. I will be sharing the books that helped me prepare for the trip, highlights from my trip, showing artwork I purchased from the Heart of Haiti artisans, and answering questions about my Haiti adventures. Click here to join the live chat. You can also register for it. Feel free to watch it live tomorrow on my web site’s home page.
PS: The live chat will not be recorded! Vokle does NOT provide this service:(! So I guess that means I will have to host a Digital Sisterhood Radio show about my trip and invite the bloggers who attended to be guests later this month. Stay tuned for the date and time (it will happen!).
Serving as a Heart of Haiti ambassador has reignited my interest in the lives of Haitian women which began in 1985 when I met my Morgan State University roommate and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority sister Marie-Denise (Mirabeau) Simon and her mother “Mama Freda.” Mama Freda is a no nonsense Haitian woman who loves the goodness of life. She can cook up a Haitian feast fit for Haitian queens too! During one of our many conversations, she told me about her early life in Haiti, how she studied nursing in Canada, and later moved to New York City to work as a nurse. Her stories were filled with moments when she reached into her spirit for courage and faith to live beyond any limitations people or society placed on her. She always encouraged me to be a caring, generous, intelligent, and independent femme (woman) who uses her life to help others.
Ten years after meeting Mama Freda, my interest in Haitian women blossomed into a full blown passion during the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. While in Beijing, I learned about the history of Ligue Feminine d’Action Sociale or Women’s League for Social Action, the first Haitian feminist organization that was established by Haitian women intellectuals, professionals, and activists from the middle and upper classes in 1934. During their first 25 years of existence, Ligue Feminine d’Action Sociale focused its energy on gaining women’s rights to vote, access to education, and equality for married women. Since then, I have followed the work of Haitian feminist organizations Solidarité Fanm Ayisyen (SOFA, Haitian Women’s Solidarity) and Kay Fanm (Women’s House).
After the earthquake in 2010, I started looking online for women’s organizations and other efforts that support and tell the stories of Haitian women. My online research led me to Poto Mitan, a documentary film about the compelling lives of five courageous Haitian women workers. Join the Facebook Page to learn more about the film. I plan to purchase the film’s DVD and share it with family and friends this year. Watch the YouTube video trailer below.
I also plan to pay more attention to the work of Haitian feminist organizations, launch an online fundraiser (or two) to support the organizations, and share more information about the lives and concerns of Haitian women on this blog and my Digital Sisterhood Network web site.
What are you planning to do to honor the people of Haiti this year?
Digital Sisterhood Month has been amazing so far. Yesterday, I hosted the DC Digital Sisterhood Month field trip to the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Digital sisters Danielle Hatchett (@dyhatchett on Twitter) and Xina Eiland (@xeiland on Twitter) attended the event. We had a wonderful time viewing the beautiful artwork of Dr. Lois Mailou Jones, an African American artist and former professor of art at Howard University. Click here to see additional photos from the event.
Danielle arrived first. So she won a copy of my debut novel Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One. Love’s Troubadours tells the story of Karma Francois, a museum curator, art consultant, and yoga teacher. It is based in Washington, DC. It also discusses Dr. Jones’ artwork “Jennie” and “Les Fetiches” (two paintings in the museum exhibit) and the National Museum of Women in the Art. Visit www.lovestroubadours.com for more information. My book is available on Amazon.com too.
I also enjoyed having dinner at Teaism (www.teaism.com), an Asian-inspired cafe that is owned by woman entrepreneur, on Sunday evening and practicing yin and yang yoga during the field trip to Tranquil Space, a yoga studio owned by author/yoga instructor/entrepreneur Kimberly Wilson on Saturday afternoon. Visit www.tranquilspace.com for more information on the yoga studio. The whole weekend was a Digital Sisterhood blast that allowed women to support other women-owned businesses and cultural institutions!
I am happy to report that this weekend’s Definition of Digital Sisterhood contest had two winners Treva Lindsay (@divafeminist on Twitter) Bernadette Davis (@bernadettedavis on Twitter). See their definitions below. Both ladies won a one hour creativity coaching session with me. Bernadette has already scheduled hers!
@divafeminist #digitalsisterhood def: strength in our virtual dissonance towards injustce&our affirmations of each other
@BernadetteDavis – #digitalsisterhood = making authentic connections, keeping an open mind, having someone’s back and using your talent, network to help women
Ananda Leeke 