Only for YES! Jam Alumni
Apply here: https://forms.gle/gfJFm24g6ANcejfTA
We are thrilled to announce a Jam for Men Raised as Men!
This Jam will offer opportunities to catalyze positive change through healing, homecoming, and expression of healthy masculinity as part of a resilient whole.
The Men Raised as Men Jam is a place to connect with people who share the experience of living in a male body and being raised/socialized as men. Being treated as male in our formative years shapes us deeply. For example, being invited into, excluded from, or pushed into male spaces in our tween and teen years creates experiences of power, friendship, shaming, hazing, community, love, hate and confusion. These experiences can become fundamental to many men’s core identity. Some of our deepest loves and deepest wounds come from other men raised as men.
We are also excited to announce that the Men Raised as Men Jam is the first in a new series of Jams on Men and Masculinity, where we’ll explore the full spectrum of masculinity – straight, queer, cis and trans. In the Men and Masculinity series, we’ll have full Jams that include all people who identify as Men. We will also have Affinity Jams to create opportunities for Straight/Cis and Queer/Trans men explore the unique aspects of their masculinity in separate gatherings. We believe this combination of Jams can bring men together to learn from each other, deepen our healing, and experience the full range of what it can mean to be a man. (Click here to read more about the full Men and Masculinity Series).
This is an invitation for men raised as men to help us begin this journey.
Masculinity is a beautiful and potent part of life and creation. At the same time, some of the great harms in the world are expressions of wounded, imbalanced, and untended male identity. Navigating this emotional and experiential landscape can range from traumatic to liberating, from hilarious to sad, with a healthy dose of brilliant and stupid. Exploring these dynamics takes vulnerability and courage. The Men Raised as Men Jam is a place to delve into these dynamics with others who have shared roots in how they were raised and common choices about how to be men in the world as adults.
Working individually and together, we will explore, share, and celebrate our gifts. We will weave a container in which we can unearth our wounded, estranged, and repressed parts, where we can tend to their needs, rediscover their wisdom, and welcome them home. We are guided by the intention that the health of our relationships and the nature of our contribution to the world flow from the health of our inner worlds and our relationship with ourselves. In this way, our work to make positive change hinges on the inner work to become more healthy, more whole, and more integrated. Apply here: https://forms.gle/gfJFm24g6ANcejfTA
In the Men Raised as Men Jam we will address three interconnected levels of restorative transformation:
REJUVENATE–At the internal level, we aspire to give ourselves space to reflect on our personal stories, learn and unlearn, take off our masks, seek our next growing edges, recharge, remember, and renew. We want to nurture our own spiritual and emotional health, to show up more wholly and fully for ourselves, for our relationships, and for our work in the world.
BUILD SOLIDARITY–At the interpersonal level, we will make time for authentic conversations to emerge, to discover common ground, and to celebrate differences. By taking an honest, loving and transformative look at our outer conflicts and struggles, witnessing and being witnessed, we seek to build deep and lasting friendships that will sustain us over the long-term.
FOSTER REALIZATION AND RECOVER BELONGING–At the systemic level, we aim to uncover what has been hidden and recover what has been lost or taken. We will explore uncharted spaces to find new pathways and create new connections, to gain a clearer vantage on ourselves and the whole of which we are a part. We want to critically examine the tools and lenses, the narratives and dispositions we apply in our relationships and our work in order to decolonize our imaginations, reconnect with our role in the creation and tending of life, and discover the ways in which our individual realizations are contingent on the realization of the whole.
Who is this Affinity Jam for?
First, because this is a pilot, this Jam is for people who have already attended one YES! Jam.
This Affinity Jam is for people who identify as straight, cis, heterosexual, gay, queer and bi.
Many men, including straight men, identify as male and also have a strong feminine as part of their identity. This jam is for you, too.
The heart of what this group wants to explore is life lived in a male body, being raised and socialized as a man, and choosing to identify as a man.
So, to be specific for people familiar with the language, this jam includes people who identify as Gender fluid and GNC who were assigned male at birth, socialized male, and are male identified.
Put simply – this jam is a gathering of Men raised as Men.
Note: Finding the right words to accurately describe gender is difficult, especially because people can understand words differently. We ask that you let us know if we have used language that is confusing to you, makes you wonder if this is the jam for you, causes you pain, or makes you feel excluded.
Apply here: https://forms.gle/gfJFm24g6ANcejfTA
Why are we having this Affinity Jam?
The organizers of this Jam felt a strong need to have this Jam early in the process of the Men and Masculinity Jam series. The essence is the power of affinity circles in diversity work. Affinity circles create spaces for people to face their unique wounds and celebrate their complexity in ways that are very hard to do in mixed spaces. For this jam, a key issue is how Men Raised as Men are raised to have power in the dominant culture. That complicated experience carries gifts, wounds and habits that men raised as men need to explore deeply with other men who have the same life experience. The idea is that the exploration will bring important gifts and necessary insights to the full Men and Masculinity Jam.
Another question was “Why have this Affinity Jam first? Why not have the full Jam first?” The original intent was to have the full Men and Masculinity Jam first. In 2020, the organizers and facilitators for the Masculinity Jam team were maxed out and did not have the space to organize (jobs, moves across country, babies and Covid). The organizers and facilitators for the Men Raised as Men jam team had the capacity to organize this year, so we went ahead with the Affinity Jam to get things rolling. The Men Raised as Men Affinity Jam team honors the trust given to them by having the first jam. We are looking forward to using the experience to inform the following Men and Masculinity Jams.
Who is organizing this Jam?
Nour Elkhattaby Strauch is a community organizer and facilitator from Casablanca, Morocco. He currently lives in Western Massachusetts where he works as Age-Friendly Program Manager at LifePath, the local Area Agency on Aging. Prior to moving to the U.S, Nour worked mostly in the fields of education, community development, human rights, peace-building and socio-economic integration of at risk youth and women from disadvantaged neighborhoods in Casablanca. He is the former president of a youth-led NGO called Neighborhoods Association Idmaj, and has served on the National Administrative Council of Amnesty International Morocco. He has also worked with a number of other non-profits in Morocco and abroad including Seeds of Peace and CorpsAfrica. Nour has been jamming and facilitating Jams for the past 9 years, including the Middle East Jam, the Morocco Jam and the Northeast Jam.
Will Grant was the co-founder and Executive Director for 10 years of BLAST, a multicultural organization that developed networks of leaders from marginalized communities to democratize education and social service systems in New Mexico. He also worked at a progressive High School to teach the children of privilege how to use their social position to design a world that integrates environmental regeneration, multiculturalism and participatory democracy. For 20 years, he has worked in LGBTQ* issues at the intersection of community, spirituality, power, and memory – including starting California’s first high school LGBTQ history class. His current mainstream job is as an organizational development strategist working in IT corporations to build democratic decision making systems. When he’s not being such a serious activist, Will is a Radical Fairie named Rootball, a Naraya dancer, a nerd and a hiker.
Dr. Rene Henery is an ecologist, eco-geographer, and artist who holds a joint position as California Science Director for Trout Unlimited, the US’s oldest and largest salmon and river advocacy organization, as well as part time research faculty with the University of Nevada, Reno, Global Water Center. Rene’s work embraces water, diversity, connectivity and equity as pathways to resilient communities and ecosystems in his home state of California and beyond.
Frank (Byrd) Phoenix is a Professional Engineer turned philanthropist. In 1999, after 24 years in the environmental business he set up a family foundation with assets from a company his grandfather started in 1917. He has served as President of the foundation ever since, supporting people and organizations working for systemic and cultural change. Today Byrd is an aspiring elder and ritualist, he strives to see the Earth through a new and ancient lens, to see the Earth and all life as sentient, Sacred Beings. And he strives to connect with the Earth and the other than human world using prayer and ritual, by connecting with the ancestors, approaching the other than human world and the ancestors with great humility and respect and a deep, deep longing for a just and more beautiful world.
Elias Serras is a consultant, event producer and facilitator who currently resides in Washington State. He has spent much of the past decade living, learning and working with communities around the world, from land-based Ecovillages and communes to nonprofits focused on community building and human development. Elias is committed to a collective awakening into deeper ecological and interdependent mindsets and behaviors. He has followed interests and done work in the realms of Men’s Work, Rites of Passage, Mindfulness and Humanistic Psychology. Originally from upstate New York, he has lived in many places picking up stories and perspectives. He is rooted in Greek ancestry, and is a citizen of Earth. He is also on teams for the HOME Environmental Changemakers Jam as well as the Pacific Northwest Changemakers Jam.
Austin Willacy is a veteran member of The House Jacks, an a cappella group with whom he has produced 10 full-length albums and completed multiple world tours. For the past 23 years, Austin has directed ‘Til Dawn, Youth in Arts’ teen a cappella group that empowers youth to find their voices in many ways. Austin is also an award-winning singer/songwriter with 4 CD’s and 2 EP’s to his name. His music has been featured on NBC’s “The Sing-Off”, and three feature film soundtracks, including Thrive, a documentary with over 100 million views. He’s appeared in Rolling Stone and has performed with icons such as Bonnie Raitt and Ray Charles as well as newer artists like Rachael Yamagata and Amos Lee. As an organizer and facilitant for YES!, Austin is a part of the North America Jam, the Arts for Social Change Jam, the Anadolu Sanat Jam, the India Arts for Social Change Jam, the Black Diaspora Jam, and the Men’s Jam.
Sky Yardeni is a Social Worker, Wilderness Therapist, and Clinical Mental Health Counselor originally from Israel. Sky works with individuals, families, and groups with backgrounds of grief, trauma, addictions, incarceration, systemic marginalization, and mental health in outdoor settings on a daily basis, and approaches his work with an open heart to facilitate healing and change. His passion lies at the intersection of nature, healing, and social justice. Sky is a climber and adventurer at heart and is passionate about being a part of beloved community.
Dates, Logistics, and Contribution
The Jam will take place on eight sessions (2 sessions a day for 4 consecutive days) April 8-11, 2021.
We will meet for 4 hours each day. Session 1 will be from 10 am – 12 pm PST/1 – 3 pm EST. Session 2 will be from 2 – 4 pm PST/5 – 7 pm EST. Each day there will be an optional hangout from 4 – 4:30 pm PST (7 – 7:30 EST) — which we strongly encourage you to make time for.
Please note that leaving as much unstructured time in your schedule as possible will make the Jam much more enjoyable. We recommend you set aside the entire 4.5 hours as well as scheduling as little as possible over the duration of the Jam, to really take in the full experience.
As you know, the Jam is a journey we take together. Creating a strong container is an important part of making the Jam work. So, we are asking you to make the time to be able to attend all of the sessions. Because we only have a short time together, we want us each and all to be as fully present as possible for these four days.
The tuition for the Men Raised as Men Jam is offered on a sliding scale of $100 – $450.
We are working hard to make this event accessible to all people, regardless of ability to pay. If you have less access to money, feel free to pay at the low end of the scale, and if you have more access to money or resources and/or you have the financial backing of an organization or institution, we invite you into class solidarity, and to consider paying more so that someone else can pay less.
If you pay more than the at-cost amount for tuition, that extra amount is tax-deductible. If we have a higher than expected request for financial aid, or fewer than expected full tuition participants, we will provide a waiting list and offer additional aid as funds become available.
Money should never be a reason to not apply: We will find a way to make it work for you and us. We also invite monthly payment plans.
Apply today! Please feel free to contact us at menraisedasmenjam@gmail.com with any questions.
Jam with us!
Austin, Byrd, Elias, Nour, Rene, Sky, and Will