An Elders’ Call to Calm, Courage, and Community
Presented by the African American Leadership Forum
🗓️ Febuary 24th, 9:00 AM CST
📍Black Garnet Books – 1319 University Ave. W. Saint Paul, MN 55104
“Reclaiming the right to dream the future . . . is a revolutionary decolonizing activity.”
—adrienne maree brown
We come from people who learned to build a tomorrow with whatever was in reach: a hymn, a hand, a hot plate, a story passed down like a compass. In hard seasons, we don’t retreat into isolation. We gather. We listen. We let our elders tune the room back to what’s true.
We’ll meet at Black Garnet Books, where the shelves hold our stories and the air holds possibility. Breakfast is on us—come for the nourishment and the fellowship. Bring your full self. Leave with your spirit fed and your shoulders a little lighter.
Hosted by the African American Leadership Forum, this gathering centers trusted Black elders whose lived leadership spans movements, spiritual care, community advocacy, healing, and lifelong service. They’ll share stories and guidance grounded in what we need right now: the kind of wisdom to steady our collective nervous systems while ordering our next steps in a moment calling us all to the edge of comfort and safety.
This gathering centers trusted Black elders whose lived leadership spans movements, spiritual care, community advocacy, healing, and lifelong service. They’ll share stories and guidance grounded in what we need right now: the kind of wisdom to steady our collective nervous systems while ordering our next steps in a moment calling us all to the edge of comfort and safety.
Elaine Mokwunye
Education Specialist, Community Leader & Early Childhood Education Expert
Nieeta Presley
Owner, New Life Possibilities, LLC Consulting & Retired Executive, ASANDC
Mychael Rambo
3-Time Regional Emmy Award Winning Actor, Vocalist, Arts Educator, Author & Community Organizer
Rose McGee
President & Founder, Sweet Potato Comfort Pie® | Minnesota Humanities Griot
Facilitated by Junauda Petrus
Guiding the conversation is Junauda Petrus, author of Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers—a visionary call to reimagine safety through care, elders, and community power. Junauda’s facilitation holds both the now and the next: she creates space where truth can land gently, where laughter can be medicine, and where we leave with more than inspiration. We leave with direction.
Who Should Attend
This gathering is for Black Minnesotans across the diaspora in the Twin Cities—young adults, professionals, organizers, caregivers, and elders—anyone seeking calm, clarity, and relational strength as we navigate the current social and political climate together.
What to Expect
- A warm, close-in conversation in a Black-owned bookstore
- Elder reflections rooted in lived experience and cultural knowledge
- Simple, tangible practices for mind, body, and spirit resilience
- Shared resources and community-rooted strategies
- A morning that feels like a reset: fed, grounded, and ready to show up with care
At The Forum, we build with our people, listening deeply, centering Black wisdom, and imagining futures where Black leadership sets the blueprint. This gathering is part of that work: a two-hour time pocket where we honor the elders, tend the community, and keep moving toward the world we deserve.
We’d love to have you with us.