April 26, 2023—Author and educator Britt Hawthorne shared her practical parenting advice for everything from healthy bodies to thriving communities. Parents and guardians learned tips, lessons, and simple strategies for raising kids and creating homes to foster self-love, embrace people, identify unfairness, and act justly
“A little help here please?” -every parent and guardian ever
January 24, 2023—Through her beautifully complex experiences as a transracially adopted, Black and Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish woman, Marra B. Gad joined us to share her truth and stories. We gained insight into the challenges and opportunities of holding multiple identities in diverse communities. During this event, Oakwood students offered thought-provoking questions on bias, joy, oppression, healing, intersectionality, and justice to explore how Gad arrives at love.
Marra B. Gad is an award-winning author, speaker and independent writer/producer. As president of Egad! Productions, she oversees the development and production of scripted television series and films. A grateful child of adoption, Marra speaks internationally about her own transracial adoption in 1970, and her experiences being Black and Ashkenazi Jewish through the lens of her debut memoir, THE COLOR OF LOVE: A Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl, winner of the 2020 Midwest Book Award for Autobiography/Memoir.
November 7, 2022—Oakwood welcomed the Tripp Allen Family and Tayshu Bommelyn for a screening and discussion of Long Line of Ladies, a documentary about their daughter’s Ihuk (flower dance) ceremony. This coming-of-age film was featured at the Sundance Film Festival and showcases the beauty and significance of traditions and transitions in the native Karuk tribe. The ideas they introduce invite us into relationship with our external community and each other within our community
Long Line of Ladies is directed by Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome, and made in association with The Pad Project.