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Join Mayflower 400 Community Sparks 'Memoria' session by Feminist Fusion

Feb 22, 2021

Plymouth-based community initiative 'Feminist Fusion' is hosting its final online session on Saturday, 27 February at 7pm.

The session features a special panel of writers, feminists, scholars, artists and spiritualists, as part of the group's 'Memoria' project.

Funded by the Mayflower 400 Community Sparks programme - a partnership between Mayflower 400, Plymouth Culture, Plymouth City Council, The Box and Vital Sparks - 'Memoria' aims to encourage the local community to "recover our historical memory".

The online session - titled "Truth, reconciliation and the new paradigm" - will feature a group of special panellists.

Each panellist will share a brief analysis about the meaning of truth and reconciliation in the context of the slavery and colonisation model enhanced by the Mayflower’s arrival to American shores.

They will also guide the session to envision new and inclusive ways of thinking and doing.

The session aims to promote open and honest conversation, asking: What do those new ways look like? How do we decolonise? Can we co-create a healthy global community?

Join the session to unravel these concepts. The online session via Zoom is free and takes place on Saturday 27 February, from 7pm (UK time). The link will be shared closer to the day via the Feminist Fusion Facebook page. For those not on Facebook, please email creacionesanairda@yahoo.com to receive the Zoom link.

Guest panellists

Angela Sherlock - Irish writer, feminist and member of the Mayflower Mavericks campaign, that tells the whole story of the Mayflower's arrival to American shores in 1620 (reillysherlock@hotmail.co.uk)

Stephanie Pratt - Dakota and Anglo-American Historian/Scholar, Consultant, Curator and Author. She is also a Cultural Ambassador for her Tribal Council at the Crow Creek Dakota Sioux Reservation (stephaniep.8892@gmail.com)

Melinda Schwakhofer - USA artist and citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation with Austrian-American ancestry, based in the UK. Melinda's practice includes painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture and photography. She is an internationally exhibited artist who believes that deep healing can be achieved through art making (https://melindaschwakhofer.com/)

Sandy Laframboise - Elder from the traditional Canadian territory of the Odawa people and an Algonquin/Cree-Métis Two Spirit person. They're a spiritual leader, an activist for LGBTQ+ indigenous people and was active with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Sandy Leo has published articles and has been a guest speaker in South Africa, Australia, Alaska, UK and Canada (dancingtoeaglespirit@gmail.com)

Marie Dallas - Second-generation African Caribbean, whose parents travelled over to England in the 1950s. Marie trained and worked as a teacher for over 25 years. She has also worked with HOPE, collaborates with Plymouth & Devon Racial Equality Council and has retrained as a horticulturist (mazdautopia@gmail.com)

Guest artists

Raven Rose - Spoken word artist based in England, Raven's poetry is often poignant, sometimes angry, always personal, and is her way of healing from past trauma and finding their way back to herself (https://www.facebook.com/justapunkpoet)

Cara Means Friend - Original, singer, songwriter of Reggae/Ska/Folk/Punk with a hint of political disdain and a dose of philosophy (https://www.facebook.com/CaraMeansFriend)

Also featuring

Lorna McTavish Coulson - counsellor, songweaver, pipe-carrier, and founder of Celebrate Your Heartbeat project will accompany us with two sacred chants (https://www.beingyou.me/)