Press Release – (New York, NY) – FPWA hosted its second annual Courageous Conversations Conference centered on addressing the chronic trauma of poverty and injustice in low-income communities on Thursday, April 18th. Poverty often impacts communities of color, especially women, at a disproportionate rate both locally and nationally. FPWA gave over 100 attendees the chance to delve into this important topic through three simultaneous panel discussions:
- Faith Leaders: Healing the Healers
- Nonprofit Staff: Nonprofit Resiliency
- Women of Color: At Work & in the World
FPWA’s Director of Programs Aleciah Anthony started the program with a personal and powerful testimony about her lived experienced with poverty, generational trauma and racism.
“New York City, where my grandfather was murdered and where my grandmother bathed my mother in scalding hot water because her skin wasn’t light enough,” Anthony said. “In the streets of New York City where my mom and dad raised my brother and I in a one bedroom apartment… In the south Bronx, where my own son was arrested and incarcerated for two years in a criminal justice system for a crime that was later proven he did not commit.”
A no holds bars dialogue followed, fostering an honest exchange between those in attendance and the dynamic panelists. Panelists included faith leaders, academics, nonprofit staff, and social justice activists. Themes that dominated the day included poverty and trauma experienced in the faith community, by women of color and human service providers and the reciprocal impact it has on faith leaders, congregants, and communities at large dominated the day.
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- President & CEO of Nancy Kingwood Ministries Rev. Nancy Kingwood-Small delivers keynote address to FPWA’s Courageous Conversations Conference attenees.
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- President & CEO of Nancy Kingwood Ministries Rev. Nancy Kingwood-Small speaks about the necessity of a thorough assessment of the work to address poverty and trauma experienced by those in local communities.
“There is no better time than the time of now to conduct an honest and a thorough assessment of the intersectionality of our collective work of our faith, our church, our houses of worship, community-based organizations, and the plight of women of color,” noted President & CEO of Nancy Kingwood Ministries Rev. Nancy Kingwood-Small, keynote speaker.
Faith in New York Interim Executive Director Rev. Brian Ellis Gibbs shed light on the Trump administration’s current attack on immigrants, detailing ways in which it functions as a continuum of the mistreatment of people of color throughout American history. “There is a continuum of trauma that is occurring through the daily impact of presidential decisions and indecisions,” said Ellis Gibbs. “The game is being played with people as pawns to produce potential profit for persons who hold political power.”
The social justice movement building across the country aligns with the success and influence of one central figurehead who mobilize congregants and constituents to join in, said Abyssinian Baptist Church Assistant Minister Rev. Raymond Moore. “We have to remember that (Martin Luther) King got to Selma because there was already a movement in place. King did not make a movement; a movement made King.”
FPWA’s Courageous Conversations Conference served as an empowering platform for leaders and service providers, who left with a renewed incentive and deeper understanding of trauma-informed care to respond to increasing needs and better serve their communities.
