Opening Ceremony

Welcoming onto the Land

Sonskq Cheryll Holley

As Sonksq of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band, Cheryll Toney Holley advances economic and social justice through food sovereignty, cultural education, language reclamation, arts support, and land back efforts. Holley co-founded and serves on the board of the Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation, formerly directed the Hassanamisco Indian Museum, and served on the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs. She sits on the MA Environmental Justice Council and is a member of the Worcester Black History Project. A professional researcher, writer, and speaker, she holds a BA and Honorary Doctorate from UMass Amherst and is a Mass Humanities Governor’s Award recipient. of the Commonwealth’s Environmental Justice Council advocating for equal voice and fair treatment of all peoples with respect to the environment. A member of the Worcester Black History Project, Holley is also a professional researcher, writer, and speaker specializing in African American and Indigenous peoples of New England, a passion she shares by compiling genealogies and written family histories for descendants of New England’s communities of color. Holley has a BA in History and an Honorary Doctorate in Public Service from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is the recipient of multiple awards including the Mass Humanities Governor’s Award. A veteran and a mom of four and grandmother of eight, she currently lives in Worcester where generations of her family lived before her.

Holder of Ceremony

MawuLisa

MawuLisa flows through life as a southern born, community based trauma healing midwife, somatic bodyworker, song weaver, lover of nature & Spirit and lifelong student of the Healing Arts. Her practice is inspired by the healing & embodiment technologies of generative somatics, Strozzi Institute, Ayurveda, Earth-based Wisdom Traditions, the Divine Feminine and the healing gifts generously bestowed to her by her Ancestors. MawuLisa is devoted to healing the embodied impacts of capitalism, racialized trauma, gender oppression & sexual violence while cultivating centered presence and erotic vitality for herself and other liberation warriors and politicized healers. She is a lead teacher, bodyworker and embodiment trainer with BOLD (Black Organizing for Leadership & Dignity), a former lead teacher and senior mentor inside the generative somatics community, and currently finds passion & pleasure in her ongoing study & practice of Indigenous based healing systems, mentoring & developing other somatic practitioners, stewarding land, singing in choirs, facilitating grief rituals, decolonizing Love, and bringing heaven to earth as a Diviner & Priestess in the spiritual tradition of Ifa.

Opening Address Speaker

Lana Mustafa

Lana Mustafa is a Palestinian-American farmer, beekeeper, and Executive Director of Montclair Community Farms, a nonprofit urban farm dedicated to food access, environmental education, and community resilience. She is also the founder of Roots of Resilience, an initiative that supports farmers in the West Bank through mutual aid, education, and advocacy.

A mother of three, Lana was born in New Jersey and spent her childhood and adolescence between the United States and Mukhmas, a farming village in the West Bank where her family has lived for generations. Growing up immersed in both cultures gave her a deep appreciation for the connections between land, community, and identity.

With a lifelong love of nature and strong roots in Palestinian farmland, Lana is passionate about food sovereignty, sustainable agriculture, and preserving agricultural traditions. Through her work, she strives to strengthen local food systems, expand access to fresh and healthy food, and inspire future generations to cultivate a meaningful relationship with the natural world.

Whether tending bees, growing food, leading community initiatives, or advocating for farmers, Lana's work is grounded in the belief that resilient communities begin with a deep connection to the land and to one another.

Council of Elders Ceremony of Blessings

  • Rev Carlos W. Anderson has been ministering for the better part of his life. He entered into a direct and intimate relationship with Ye-SHU-ah (known to most as Jesus) at the age of 7 years, in an experience of projecting his Spirit out of body while being sexually molested by adult members of his Church Community.

    Under the guidance and influence and instruction of Ye-SHU-ah, he has forwarded his learnings from his Master to all who will avail themselves to the Message of Love, Forgiveness and Recognition of Oneness.

    The teachings, in a nutshell, are…

    “God is in Heaven.

    Heaven is in You.

    And Holy (completely Whole) is your Name (very Nature).

    God wants you to know you have nothing to fear.

    And that There is Nothing and No one to blame.

    You’ve been Informed.

    Your Captivity is Over.

    You’ve been Informed.

    In Truth, You’re Free!

    And So It Is.”

    Rev. Carlos is Pastor of Hope Community Church of Amherst and has served as Staff Minister for the Churches Unity of New York in Manhattan and Unity in the City of Brookline MA for the past number of decades.

  • Ebony LePenn is a mother, abolitionist, licensed massage therapist, reiki master, energetic mentor, author and advocate for unconditional love, peace and liberation for all. Founder of High Frequency Academy Ltd. Anthony P. Clay Healing Project (Social Justice Enterprise & Public Benefit Corp.) serves as a school and healing oasis for marginalized communities and our allies. Offering revolutionary healing services and energy awareness curriculum to address the complex emotional affects of surviving colonization in marginalized communities. We facilitate workshops for individuals, families, and organizations. 


    www.HFAcademyLTD.com
    IG@APCHealing
    Yout    ube-High Frequency Academy Ltd.

  • The Rev. Dr. Charlotte Pridgen-Randolph is a retired Ordained Elder in the New England Annual Conference where she served for 35 years. She co-chaired the Board of Ordained Ministry for 5 years.

    She is a graduate of Tuskegee University (TU), Boston University (BU), Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) and United Theological Seminary (UTS). Before becoming a pastor, Charlotte was a psychiatric nurse clinician and nursing administrator at Boston City Hospital, now Boston Medical Center. Upon completing seminary, she became the first Director of the Andover Newton (ANTS) Black Ministries Program.

    Charlotte served as Pastor of the Wesley United Methodist Church in Dorchester, MA and retired as Pastor of the United Methodist Church of Newton, MA. She mentored seminarians in the Boston area and was one of the original clergy organizers of Greater Boston Inter-Faith Orgainzation (GBIO).

    She is an avid reader, a singer of songs, and an enthusiastic plant lady. Charlotte is married to LaVergne, her husband of 37 years. They have four adult children and a grandson.

  • Charmaine (born Wilma Sutton) is a Spiritualist, and lover of people, plants, and life.   Akin to the ritual dance and songs of her AfroCaribbean & Christian spirituality, she uses poetry, prose, and music, among other mediums, in her activism to challenge people to see the beauty within themselves and others. 

    Charmaine has been enjoying emancipating herself and her story from the taboos associated with race, spirituality, culture, God and love.  She identifies as Human with  growing love for her Black/Afro-Caribbean, Kalinago (Dominica), Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Christian identities. Charmaine come from a long line of strong women who planted prayers in both soil and souls. Often mistaken for male as a child into adulthood, she was relieved to learn that she was two-spirited. "I grew up feeling like I was female trapped in a male body. Except, I am anatomically female!" She celebrates the  power behind this gift though. "I hold in me the spirit of men who build with their hands, and their word. I am able to draw from the gifts of my ancestors, to mediate between gendered worlds." 

    Like hills on the horizon, Charmaine has always been drawn to listening to birds quarreling; water laughing in the surf. Once held back by social stigmas, now she loves hugging trees, and for those who say "Yes!", people.  Through the window of my mind, I am apt to see strangers; social expectations that divide. Through the eyes of my soul, I see community; I see Love.

  • Coming soon.