EVENT: Truth & Healing: In Search of a Common Memory
This event will raise awareness about the culture and systems of Vermont and those that have been excluded from the constitution and rights that have been initially promised to us:
- Native Americans
- Disabled People and Families of Disabled People
- Black People
- Immigrants and Migrants of color
- Asians - AAPI
- Women
- LGBTQ
- Children
- Poor People
The purpose of this event is to raise awareness about the cultural and systemic issues in Vermont, particularly focusing on those communities and individuals who have been historically excluded from the rights and promises enshrined in our constitution. We aim to foster a deeper understanding of these issues and inspire meaningful dialogue and action. Our inspiration for this event comes from this powerful video
The People's Kitchen from Burlington will be sharing refreshments.
ORCA Media from Montpelier will be facilitating the hybrid piece for those that are unable to be there in person.
Speaker List
Chief Brenda Gagne (she/her)- Chief of St Francis/Sokoki Band of Missisquoi Abenaki of Vermont. Married, mother of 2 daughters and a stepdaughter and three amazing granddaughters that are my world. Brenda wears many hats in her community. One as the coordinator of the Abenaki Circle of Courage, Inc. for the last 31 years. She has been teaching the youth from kindergarten to 6th grade and volunteers with those that have been through the program 7th grade - 12th grade. We teach traditional dance, drumming, singing, flute, arts, and crafts.
Along with traditional foods through the seasons. The Citizens are about Generosity, Independence, Mastery and Belonging. As President of the PAC (parent advisory committee) that oversees Title VI Indian education, Brenda is Chief of Missisquoi the largest tribe in Vermont. Any free time is spent with her girls and traveling.
Jayy Covert (they/them) is a skilled educator, organizer, and facilitator with a passion for LGBTQ+ youth organizing. Growing up as a GSA youth in Florida, Jayy found their passion in supporting youth to create the spaces and communities they envision and organize for liberation. Jayy is the School-Based Change Manager at Outright Vermont, where they innovate and implement new strategies to leverage the work of GSAs and youth leaders to create community and systems-level change across Vermont. Through youth-led campaigns, statewide events, and leadership development, Jayy is building bigger and better opportunities for youth to connect with Outright and each other.
Addie Lentzner (she/her); a sophomore at Middlebury College with a joint major in Sociology and Black Studies. Founded and led the Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network which has donated hundreds of books to children, written two pieces of legislation and visited over 40 schools in the State. Addie led a campaign to keep people that experience homelessness in sheltered places. Addie now works with the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. Addie had worked for an education transformation organization called “Our Turn” where Addie has led national education justice campaigns. Today, Addie is Co-Chair of the Middlebury Community Council and was an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
Amaya Tonda (she/her); a senior at Rutland High School. She has participated in Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network for more than a year and helps lead various projects. She founded a social justice club at her school named Justice For All that advocates for equity in school systems. Through the multitude of connections within the community she has, she was awarded the NAACP Youth In Action Award.
Ali Dieng (he/him), is the Building Bright Futures Regional Manager supporting the Chittenden, Central Vermont and Franklin and Grand Isle regions. Ali is the founder and former Manager of the Burlington School District Parent University Program where he engaged parents, educators and community partners. Ali is committed to building more equitable and accessible systems and brings his expertise engaging diverse perspectives; especially those from different socio economic & cultural backgrounds. Ali is the co-founder of the Vermont New Americans Advisory Council VNAAC, an organization working to increase civic engagement and a sense of belonging among the New American population. Ali is a blogger, storyteller and cultural competency trainer, he was a third time elected Burlington City Councilor and the chair of the Racial Equity Inclusion and Belonging Committee REIB for the City of Burlington from 2017 to 2024. Ali attended the University of Nouakchott, Mauritania where he earned a license in Public International law. He resides in Burlington with his wife, Angela, and their two daughters. For more information about Ali please visit his website: www.alidiengvt.com
Rajnii Eddins (he/him) Originally from Seattle Washington, Spoken Word Poet/Emcee and Teaching Artist Rajnii Eddins has been engaging diverse community audiences for over 30 years. He was the youngest member of the Afrikan American Writers Alliance at age 11 and has been actively sharing with youth and community in Vermont since 2010.
Rajnii’s diverse talents and passions allow him to offer a wide variety of powerful experiences that foster connection, learning, and mutual growth. He thrives at creating spaces that are educational, explorative, and celebratory, whether in a classroom, a conference hall, a community center, or online.
Beth Davis (she/her) and her husband, Mike, are the parents of a 41-year-old son, Craig, who is on the autism spectrum and lives with them. Beth is a retired tax accountant who has lived in Vermont for 17 years. She has served on the board of the Counseling Service of Addison County as well as several other local organizations.
Beth is currently facilitating a joint venture between CSAC and parents in Addison County to explore innovative housing solutions for their adult children with developmental disabilities.
Beverly Little Thunder (she/her) A 20 year resident of Huntington Vermont, Beverly Little Thunder’s mother was Christine Marshall, daughter of Bessie Two Bears and a member of he Hunkpapa Lakota band at Standing Rock Agency in North Dakota. Part of Sitting Bulls band, she is also related to the Dakota Band in Cheyenne River on her grandfather's side.
At 76 she is a retired nurse who is also Two Spirit. Her youngest daughter Dr Lushanya Echeverria lives with she and her partner of 27 years.
A life-long learner of her traditional spiritual ways she travels thru out the country and Canada supporting Two Spirit youth and encouraging them to be true to who they are and to remember the roles they hold in their community. Climate justice and adherence to Lakota values which include Honesty, gratitude, respect for her elders, generosity, and a commitment to supporting all Indigenous people who are fighting for the truth of their people’s history being told,
The author of “ One Bead at a Time” and guide for ceremonies held in Huntington monthly and each summer, she is supported by the Abenaki Nation whose land we are on that now live thru out the east coast with families in Odanak , an outspoken advocate for the Odank people she was once a Native American commissioner for Vermont.
Tiffany Harrington (she/her) is a formerly incarcerated single mother of five sons, two of whom were born while incarcerated. She works closely with FreeHER VT to speak up about the traumatic and unjust treatment she endured at the hands of the department of corrections, and to speak out against others being subjected to the same experiences. She often shares her story at the judicial level and is currently fighting, alongside many other amazing people, to stop a new woman's prison from being built and instead to offer more effective and holistic approaches to community accountability.
Sha’an Mouliert, M.Ed. (she/her) Originally from New York City, Sha’an moved to the Northeast Kingdom in 1983 with her family. Her values of human dignity and potential motivated her to pursue degrees in human services and creative arts in learning.
For 40 years, she’s been a consultant, community organizer, educator, artist and co-founded the African American Alliance of the Northeast Kingdom, a grassroots organization committed to racial justice. In 2015, she received Lyndon State College’s Presidential Medal of Distinction for her work in the community; the Rutland NAACP honored her with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021; and Burlington Racial, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging awarded her their 2024 Juneteenth Innovator award. Sha’an facilitates Racial Literacy a Healing Practice trainings throughout Vermont and is the equity and inclusion consultant for Discover St. Johnsbury where she resides.
As the coordinator and photographer of the I Am Vermont Too photo-story exhibit, she is able to practice her values of agency, self-efficacy, social justice and liberation.
Her passions are her grandchildren, dancing, gardening, photography, meeting new people and leading a twice weekly exercise class for seniors. Driving the roads and experiencing the beauty and grandeur of Vermont brings her great joy.
SUSU Community Farm: SUSU means love in action: The opportunity to live and learn into what we care about. It is not just the farm but many who make our baskets so abundant, the skills come from many years of other farmers’ experiences.