The WIT Rites of Passage Circle had their fourth monthly session on Saturday, April 17, 2021, at Nature’s Garden for Victory Peace in Tuskegee, Alabama. This was the first in-person session; the others were held virtually. Valarie Adams, Co-Founder and President of the Alabama Indigenous Coalition, facilitated the half day session under the theme, I Love Myself. Am I My Sister’s Keeper??Adams introduced the 10 to 13-year-old rites of passage “Daughters” to the basics of Indigenous Native American spiritual, mental and physical development and protection. Adams also conducted a survey of diverse Asian, Asian-American and Pacific Island Cultures. “Today was a beautiful blessing! Time spent in nature, ritual and ceremony, the beauty of the elders passing along wisdom to the young ones. Everything in divine order,” exclaimed Norma (Iyabode) McGowan-Jackson, Tuskegee Councilwoman.
Other adult mentors at the interactive, hands-on activity were Dr. Muhjah Shakir, Founder and President of Nature’s Garden for Victory and Peace; Rev. Dr. Jacquetta Parhams, Self-Care Coach and President, Efficientime Life Management; and Adeyela Albury Bennett, CEO of Women in Training, Inc.