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AVP/USA 2013 ANNUAL GATHERING

Memorial Day weekend, May 24 - 27

Florida International University
Miami

THEME:
Different Faces:
One Voice-One Vision

The 2013 AVP National Gathering , Different Faces: One Voice, One Vision , was held at Florida International University in Miami, FL , over Memorial Day weekend . The conference co - chairs, Diligent Dawn Addy and Expressive Eduardo Diaz, worked tirelessly in planning the conference , providing a wonderful conference experience for all, and sharing post - conference information. Natural Nancy led a session on International Peace Day and served on an International Panel at a Plenary Session. Mellifluous Minga helped to present a “PAV in Cuba ” session.

Were you there?

Bold Bernard LaFayette Addresses the Conference

The Rev. Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr., (Bold Bernard) addressed the gathering; his talk was entitled “AVP Pioneer Reflections on History.” Dr. LaFayette helped to facilitate the first AVP workshop at Green Haven Prison in New York in 1975. He had been approached for his help by Honey Knopp, a Quaker prison visitor because of his civil rights work with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and his success in making a prison in Oklahoma less violent. Dr. LaFayette was grateful for the chance to share the history with AVP facilitators so that it does not get lost, and he was generous with his time.

Bold Bernard at the Podium

AVP workshops incorporate MLK’s beloved community model of socia justice. Dr. LaFayette emphasized that workshop facilitators do not judge and are not interested in any violations that inmates have committed. Looking to the future, Dr. LaFayette recommended providing the AVP workshop experience for correctional staff members and the children of inmates. He said that 5 out of 7 children who have parents in prison will also go to prison.

All of Dr. LaFayette’s talks at the conference were videotaped to help preserve the history of AVP and will be available on the website. To learn more about his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, read “A Test Ride to Freedom” in the SCLC Magazine: http://sclcmagazine.com/test_ride_freedom.pdf

A discussion with Dr. Lafayette

Other Conference Highlights

Trauma Healing vs. Trauma Resiliency. The National Gathering provided many learning experiences. This writer(Bountiful Betty) attended several excellent sessions and came home with a different outlook about trauma healing. At the 2012 National Gathering the keynote speaker shared that the majority of people who are incarcerated had experienced trauma; that information led me to contemplate doing some trauma healing
exercises in workshops, and I purchased Nadine Hoover’s Trauma Healing: Advanced Workshop Manual. However, at the 2013 gathering key trauma healing facilitators came up with some new and helpful recommendations. Rather than use the term “trauma healing,” which could imply to others that we are practicing therapy, a better term would be “trauma resiliency,” because at AVP workshops we learn how to apply transforming power tools to prevent being traumatized by future encounters with violence.

Although AVP workshops do not deal directly with trauma, they provide an ideal structure for learning about
trauma because our "roadmap" or "building blocks" are already directly aligned with stages of trauma recovery:
1) Creating a context of safety through empowering guidelines and activities for affirmation.
2) Providing tools for communication that help people remember without reliving or reenacting.
3) Investing in cooperation, community, and trust building that reconnects people in a social fabric.

Trauma resilience facilitators at the gathering (among them Nadine Hoover, Susan Hefte, Val Liveoak, and John Shuford) recommended that AVP workshops on trauma in the U.S. be:

• Entitled "Trauma Resiliency."
• Facilitated by team members who also practice the activities for coping with trauma.
• Offered in prisons where a cohesive sense of AVP community exists and/or therapeutic supports are
adequate to support participants following the workshops.
• Offered in communities along with a resource list of therapeutic resources available in the area.

For prisons where therapeutic supports are not available, concerted attention should be invested in building a
cohesive sense of AVP community and accessible therapeutic supports, which require adequate therapeutic
sensitivity from the team. It is best to only undertake activities that team members have experienced and are
comfortable with and to have a plan for responding to crises.

Karpman Drama Triangle. The session led by Serene Susan Hefte, “Karpman Drama Triangle: Stepping off the
Victim, Persecutor, Rescuer Cycle,” gave me new insights into my own behavior. Stephen Karpman first wrote
about the Karpman drama triangle in 1968. The three points of the triangle are the roles of victim, rescuer, and
persecutor and are roles that we unconsciously play at different times and that we use to keep ourselves safe. You can learn more about this construct at www.KarpmanDramaTriangle.com.

International Committee. Natural Nancy serves on the International Committee, which was established to interface with AVP International. Members of the committee have extensive international experience.

Nancy said that International Peace Day, September 21, 2013, is an opportunity for AVP to reach out to the peace building community locally, nationally, and internationally. To register workshops and activities scheduled by AVP locals during Sept. 14—30, send an email message to [email protected].

Plans are underway for the next AVP International Gathering to be held in Dublin, Ireland, July 13 – 19, 2014, at Maynooth University Campus. Registration for the gathering is now open at http://avpinternational.org/IG2014/ and there is discount for early registration and payment before September 30, 2013.

Natual Nancy Shippen at the International Panel,
Skyping in her friend Ann Ward from Iraq.