How can we curb the harm of racism on women so we can heal?

📣 21 March is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, often referred to as "Harmony Day" in Australia. First Nations, Black and Women of Colour, experience racism at a disproportionate level.

❌ Combined with the systemic barriers to access culturally-appropriate mental health services, many of us are unable to receive timely support when we have experienced the trauma of racism, whether in our professional or personal lives.

If its not addressed, we can't heal from it. It becomes internalised and impacts our mental and physical health. Whilst the topics of systemic and interpersonal racism has had much coverage over the years, what is less often discussed is internalised racism and how to process and heal from it.

🎤 Join a panel event hosted by The Creative Co-Operative on the topic: "How can we curb the harm of racism on women so we can heal?"

💡 Our highly renowned and respected panelists will also share their thoughts on Maya Cares, a brand new digital safe space, co-designed with 250+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Black and Women of Colour, to support women to respond to and heal from the effects of racism. Sign up to the waitlist here.

💜 We warmly invite you all to join our safe space for a special evening of community bonding Panelists: Dr Kathomi Gatwiri is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health at SCU, an ARC DECRA Fellow at the Centre for Children & Young People (CCYP), President of the peak body Australian Women & Gender studies Association (AWGSA) and a practicing psychotherapist.

Kathomi is one of Australia’s leading Afro-diasporic scholars whose award-winning interdisciplinary research investigates the intersecting topics of racial trauma, belonging, blackness, and migranthood. Since being awarded her PhD in 2017, she has published over 70 traditional and non-traditional research outputs including the books African Womanhood and Incontinent Bodies and Afrodiasporic identities in Australia.

Dr. Gatwiri has received numerous awards for excellence in research and community service. She is the Founder and Director of Healing Together, a service that provides accessible, culturally sensitive therapeutic support for people impacted by racial trauma and Femicide Count-Kenya- a platform that collates reported deaths of Kenyan women who have been killed through violence.

Dr. Nilmini Fernando is a Sri Lankan Australian interdisciplinary Black, Postcolonial, and Third World feminist academic, educator and organisational consultant with expertise in critical race theory, intersectionality and decolonial feminist praxis in the fields of migration/asylum, gender-based violence, antiracism and racial literacy. Adjunct Fellow at Griffith University (Social and Cultural Research), she is a senior research fellow in innovative research into Racial Literacy grounded in critical race/Critical Indigenous perspectives as decolonial anti-racism praxis for Australian institutions with Associate Professor Debbie Bargallie, author of Unmasking the Racial Contract.

Nilmini’s race work unrelentingly prioritises feminist-of-colour standpoints, authentic ethical collaboration and decolonial, participatory methodologies informed by and in solidarity with First Nations peoples of Australia. Former Vice President of the Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Association, she regularly presents talks and panels on critical race and intersectionality. She is currently co-editing a new book titled Critical Racial and Decolonial Literacies by Bristol University Press. Her academic publications include Doing Difference Differently (Journal of Intercultural Studies) and Discursive Violence of Postcolonial Asylum (Postcolonial Studies).

Asami Koike (she/her) is a first-generation immigrant from Japan. She's the founder of Shapes and Sounds and is a registered music therapist and yoga teacher with over 17 years of experience working in mental health, trauma and wellbeing.

Priyanka Ashraf (she/her) is the Founder and Director of The Creative Co-Operative, Australia's first startup social enterprise 100% powered by migrant Women of Colour focused on closing the intersectional and intergenerational wealth gap by offering support across entrepreneurship and technology in building a new Bla(c)k and Women of Colour economy.

Date: 21 March 2023

Time: 6pm to 7pm

Location: Online (zoom link to be sent to you by email, day prior to event)

Schedule

• 6pm: Acknowledgement of Country
• 6.05pm: Welcome
• 6.10pm: Panel commences
• 6.40pm: Q&A
• 6.55pm: Closing remarks

Note: Please contact us for any accessibility requirements. FAQs I can't make this time but I don't want to miss out!

Will this be recorded? Yes.

And for those who wish to not be recorded, please advise us ahead of time so we can ensure you're not in the recording!

Which timezone is this? AEDT I'm really excited about this event. How do I connect with you?

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