A virtual, free conversation with local businesses PlanterDay an official sponsor of CSS, Saint Flora, and Plant Baybe on the connection between building community and preventing suicide through plants.

PlanterDay is a mission-driven plant shop dedicated to destigmatizing mental health and promoting mental health resources.

Saint Flora is a full service floral and online gift shop based in San Francisco Bay Area. The company was created as an evolution of my Fine Art practice and love of all things flowers.

Plant Baybe is a small, female owned and operated rare plant shop located in Alameda. They specialize in growing and importing rare aroids from Southeast Asia and South America and also carry common house plants, air plants, sea shells, pottery, moss poles, growing media including their own custom soil mix, fertilizers and specialty seeds.

Jessie Susannah Karnatz, aka the Money Witch, brings capitalism-critical, shame-free education to healers, hustlers, and creatives in order to catalyze change in their financial lives. She believes healing our finances will bring blessing to our lives, our lineages, and our communities. She offers education, Money Magic products, and Intuitive Financial Coaching online and in the Bay Area (unceded Ohlone land) and does it all with impeccable business lady style.

Jessie Susannah is the founder and head witch at Money Coven, an online web of magical beings who are healing their relationship with money, showing up for their financial self care, and becoming powerful stewards to their resources. Click the links to learn more.

with Nenna Joiner of the Feelmore Gallery. Suicide is a somber topic that many adults struggle with at any point in their life. Sexual pleasure is used as a resource to connect with the self and others in meaningful and inspiring ways. Sexual Pleasure or Sexual Health isn’t just a way to find joy but to find peace in ourselves and possibly with others. Connecting with others, socially or intimately, can provide a level of relief in a multitude of ways. Chat with Feelmore Adult Founder Nenna Joiner to discuss mental health and its connection to sexual health. Finding communities that can support our emotional and sexual health can be challenging. Still, in the Bay Area, we promote the emotional, sexual, and intimate diversity that encourages living a full life. We are not alone even though we feel alone. We are always with others even when we do not see them.

In this workshop, participants will explore various types of performance mediums. The intrinsic healing values within each medium will also be examined. Participants will create their own performance art exercise. This is a highly interactive workshop, and participants will be expected to share their ideas and creativity.

with Melanie Cervantes of Dignidad Rebele.

Melanie Cervantes, celebrated local artist and printmaker, will discuss how she engages in visual art to combat stigma and oppression. Melanie operates Dignidad Rebele with Jesus Barraza, and their work is a reflection of their commitment to social activism and social justice.

Melanie Cervantes (Xicanx) has never lived far from the California Coast. Born in Harbor City, California and raised in a small city in the South Bay of Los Angeles Melanie now makes her home in the San Francisco Bay Area where she creates visual art that is inspired by the people around her and her communities’ desire for radical social transformation. Melanie’s intention is to create a visual lexicon of resistance to multiple oppressions that will to inspire curiosity, raise consciousness and inspire solidarities among communities of struggle.

Learn more at https://dignidadrebelde.com/.

Gary Plummer, former 49-er, was a self-described “tough football player” until his own brain injuries and the death of a close friend and teammate to suicide left him severely depressed. In our conversation, we will explore his journey asking for and receiving help and choosing to use his story to help others who might be going through similar challenges.

Read more about Gary’s story in Sports Illustrated. 

Come move with Crisis Support Services’ very own Caitlyn Kilgore and Sarah Kim as we explore the healing power of embodied play and movement in community. Get ready to move, support, celebrate, and try new things with others in this dynamic playshop.

Hosted in person at the Kinetic Arts Center in Oakland. Please come wearing comfortable clothing and an N95 mask.

785 7th Street Oakland, CA 94607

The Black Liberation Walking Tour was the inspiration for this event. David Peters, co founder of the Black Liberation Walking Tour, will discuss how connecting his local West Oakland history helped build connection and meaning. David brings his deep connection to Oakland and rich knowledge of local history to life as he discusses his experiences.

A project of the West Oakland Cultural Action Network (WOCAN), the BLWT captures oral histories to document the lives, art, and culture of long-time residents, historical figures and rapidly disappearing former Black cultural spaces. We are creating this archive to mitigate cultural erasure and physical displacement.

This walking experience is guided by local native David Peters, founder of the West Oakland Cultural Action Network, and Gene Anderson, author of Legendary Locals of Oakland , an Oakland historian whose family has historical roots in West Oakland. Peters and Anderson are passionate about telling the history of this area as a way to share historical stories, and proclaim its Black heritage. The BLWT can also be experienced as a self-guided smart phone based audio tour.
LEARN MORE:  BLWT WOCAN

A Free, Virtual Conversation with Stephanie Singleton and Anthony Propernick of the 81st Ave Branch.

When I told Stephanie of the 81st Branch of the Oakland Public Library that I wanted to talk about how libraries were part of social supports that protect against suicide, she said “people just want to be seen”. Being witnessed, being seen as your whole self, having space made for you as you are by your community has been the theme of this series. I’m so excited to talk this Friday with Stephanie and Anthony and hear about all of the amazing things that libraries have done to not just meet people’s basic needs but to celebrate and offer dignity to everyone in their community. – Andrea Henderson, Clinical Director and Moderator for this event

Dr. Mieko Hatano is the executive director of the Oakland Symphony, overseeing the Oakland Symphony, the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Oakland Symphony Chorus, and the Oakland Symphony’s MUSE and related youth music-education programs. 

The focus of this session will be on ways in which music helps us get through both hard and joyous times. We will discuss listening to music, playing an instrument, singing, and also experiencing music live with others. Each of these have their own power to help us feel connected and part of a communal experience.

Sikander is the Deputy Director of Urban Peace Movement (UPM). His work centers around general support for programs and operations with a focus on UPM’s Community Healing programs.

About Urban Peace Movement

Urban Peace Movement (UPM) builds youth leadership in Oakland to transform the culture and social conditions that lead to community violence & mass incarceration in communities of color. UPM’s model of “Healing-Centered Youth Organizing” supports young people to feel self-confident & hopeful while empowering them to work for healing, social justice, and a brighter future for all!!

Learn More: https://urbanpeacemovement.org/