Featuring a Moratorium on Violence, Honoring Tyre Nichols and Black Mental Health, While Expanding Black Love Movement Month
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In 1993, in the middle of a rise in Black homicides due to the Crack/Cocaine epidemic, Black Love Day, Feb. 13th, was born in Washington, D.C. The holiday grew globally with a goal to stop violence and increase peace.
Thirty years later, in 2023, Black Love Day (BLD) will focus this year’s theme: “Black Love Heals 365,” on the mental health crises that are trending, due to today’s challenges: rampant violence, police brutality, COVID isolation, the economy and racism.
As a solution, we recommend that everyone demonstrates at least 5 loving acts for 24 hours on Black Love Day, Feb. 13th and attend the free 3rd BLACK LOVE VIRTUAL SUMMIT and official BLD RELATIONSHIP CEREMONY, from noon to 9 pm EST Saturday, Feb. 11 – Monday, Feb. 13, 2023.
Expand the demonstration of love’s healing power, with a Moratorium on Violence on Feb 13th honoring Tyre Nichols and new, Black Love Movement Month (BLMM) from the Black Love Coalition.
Celebrate BLD’s 30th year of transforming, healing and reconnecting communities through love, sponsored by the African American Holiday Association (AAHA) and stewarded by Black Love Day founder Ayo Handy-Kendi. Featured at the Summit will be Maimouna Youssef, a/k/a Mumu Fresh, grammy-nominated performing artist and Iyanla Vanzant, bestselling author and the star and producer of FixMyLife.
Teacher, Life Coach and Relationship Expert: Audri Scott Williams, visionary author and global peace walker, and a host of local and international presenters.
BLACK LOVE DAY (BLD) is the 4th oldest commemorative African American holiday (or wholyday) of observance, celebration, reconciliation, atonement and the demonstration of love, showing at least 5 loving acts (Tenets) in 24 hours.
The Tenets are: Love for the Creator, for Self, for Family, for the Black Community and the Black Race. Whites show “love in action” for Black people and inspect their own racial attitudes and behavior.
The 5 Tenets of Black Love serve as the 365 days of the year value system to heal all of our relationships with the goals to increase peace, stop violence, end Black self-hatred and White supremacy/racism. BLD further offers a spiritual, African-centered, alternative to the commercialized, and sometimes violent, Valentine’s Day.
Ayo Handy-Kendi, a 50+ year Breathologists/Wholistic practitioner, author of the “Black Love Book” and founder of the non-profit AAHA, was given a spiritual inspiration by the Creator that led to her co- creating BLD. She is also founder of the BLD Ritual of Reconciliation which offers a restorative justice practice to be used Feb. 13th and anytime to reconcile differences thru love’s healing power.
Handy-Kendi shared the vision of the 30th BLD Anniversary. “While we celebrate 30 years of transforming communities through love and using love as a solution due to its higher vibration, this year we call a Moratorium on ALL violence for BLD, Feb. 13th, making this a day of pro-peace and love in action.” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/horrible-example-black-self-hatred-cops- killing-tyre-man-handy-kendi
While BLD has grown way beyond my dreams, with many embracing this day, owning it and co-creating initiatives, programs, events and products. I was spiritually inspired, to call together a Black Love Coalition, to create a Black Love Movement Month (BLMM) to expand our “love solution” of activities, to address the continued need for healing of a people who were taught “not to love and take care of themselves” while oppressed by a people whose fears created internalized violence in their communities. BLMM is similar to how Professor Carter G. Woodson’s 1926 Black History Week eventually grew into Black History Month by the 60s.”
“Nya Akoma” is the greeting for Black Love Day. It means “be patient, get a heart and return to love.”
