Monday, June 09, 2014

Building Bridges & Connections

Symposium 2014

I AM Enough Convening Rises to New Level

Over the weekend, COP 24/7 attended the second annual Red Door Foundation Symposium in Memphis TN. The end week meeting offered an array of capacity building around its Black Gay Men's Technical Assistance sessions, empowerment sessions around relationships and to harnessing the power of social media. Through plenaries and key note speakers, the organizers sought to address the statement, "I Am Enough," in regards to numerous socio-economic disparities and or inequities that have been noted as disproportionately impacting communities of color, especially young same gender loving men.

Despite dialog and chatter as to racial silos and or differentials, distinctions and divisions concerning this disease, COP 24/7 is of the opinion that such spaces such as SOS offers a dynamic zone of affirmation that is essential in the wellness arsenal. As we move forward after three decades of HIV and AIDS, much supportive data has been developed that cites the need for more of this type of programming that not only offers those culturally sensitive but rather a model to demonstrate the power of images, education and expertise to scale up lackluster infrastructure that plagues organizations as well as individuals.

This forum cited the event as another rousing success which was further bolstered by it climatic Red Gala recognizing advocates, allies and providers in service to continue to deal with this ongoing health dilemma and its affects throughout the Mid-South. Although this forum shared coverage in "real time" during the event, the significance of the event was worthy of being recapped using their own tech savvy abilities and engaging build out. Please enjoy these snippets of what COP 24/7 believes will be one the next breakout conferences that will be sought out not only in the south but will flourish into a powerhouse global event. Thanks to Mr. Anthony Roberts who utilized the Google Hang Out platform to create this content with uploads to our video partner YouTube. (www.youtube.com )
 

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