The BEE Collective, in collaboration with Everyday People, announces its third annual Just-Us INDABA: Birthing, Education, and Healing Justice Summit on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at Atlantic Presbyterian Church, 4701 Park Pl W, North Charleston, South Carolina. This year, the all-day summit’s theme Heal the Village, Nurture the Children, will be rooted in the core African principle of Ubuntu, emphasizing interconnectedness, shared values, and collective responsibility for one another. The summit will begin at 9:30 a.m., with on-site registration beginning at 9 a.m. All are welcome, including babies in arms. Elders, those with disabilities, birth workers in Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities, and all birthing people are especially encouraged. Free and ample parking is available. Food and refreshments will be provided. The full-day summit is free of charge. Pre-registration is required. For more information and to register visit justusindaba.com.
The BEE Collective’s Just-Us INDABA: Birthing, Education, and Healing Justice Summit is a transformative gathering and full-day event dedicated to pregnant, birthing, and parenting families, along with their healthcare advocates, reproductive justice champions, and supportive healing arts practitioners. This event is a gifted opportunity to register, engage, and co-create community-driven solutions that safeguard the well-being of pregnant, birthing individuals, and young children in the beloved community.
The BEE Collective’s Just-Us INDABA: Birthing, Education, and Healing Justice Summit is a transformative and sacred gathering and full-day event dedicated to pregnant, birthing, and parenting families, along with their healthcare advocates, reproductive justice champions, and supportive healing arts practitioners. This event is a gifted opportunity to register, engage, and co-create community-driven solutions that safeguard the well-being of pregnant, birthing individuals, and young children in the beloved community. Speakers, participants, community partners, and activities will be announced, with a full schedule to follow. “At a time when attacks on education, health care and basic safety nets are intensifying, Indaba 2025 calls the community to action,” organizers said. “Together, participants will reflect, heal and strategize ways to protect Black children, uplift families, and nurture the next generation.”
The 3rd annual Just-Us INDABA will bring together speakers for a communal conversation that cultivates humility, cross-cultural awareness and collective power. The summit is rooted this year in the core African philosophy of Ubuntu, which means, "I am because we are." Ubuntu emphasizes interconnectedness, humanity, and community. It originated from the Nguni Bantu peoples of Southern Africa and highlights that an individual's well-being is intrinsically linked to the well-being of the community. This philosophy promotes compassion, empathy, shared values, and a collective responsibility for one another. Parents, educators, healers, and concerned community members are invited to come together to listen, reflect, and strategize ways to protect and nurture our children during dangerous times. The day includes storytelling, music and a keynote from a leading scholar sharing guidance on fostering connected, thriving communities where children are seen, heard, supported and protected.
3rd ANNUAL JUST-US INDABA full day of scheduled events, including speakers and presenters, community activists and advocates:
Kiana Linen Stacey (BEE Collective) and Treva Williams (Everyday People, BEE Collective), will serve as hosts for the event. Percussionist Gino Castillo will open the summit with a Drum Call to Gather. Presenters and speakers include; Dr. Stacey Patton, Keynote; Dr. Kim Nesta Archung (BEE Collective); Fouché Sheppard, Gullah Storytelling; Rev. Adam Shoemaker (Everyday People), Dr. Elise McFarland (Charleston Area Justice Ministry), and Simone Lee and Stephanie McFadden (BEE Collective); and sound healing provided by Tiffany Richardson.
Lunch will be provided by celebrated chef B.J. Dennis, who will present a history of Gullah food traditions before the community meal is served. Organizers will also feature Black youth who make and sell palmetto roses as a source of education for attendees. The tradition of crafting roses made from palm tree fronds is rooted in the Gullah-Geechee tradition. The young artisans are being highlighted because police sometimes harass them as they sell their craft on the streets of Charleston and North Charleston. Interactive workshops at this year’s Indaba will provide participants with tools to understand punitive systems that target children, in an effort to stop the persistence of the adultification of children and to create community-led paths to healing from child abuse.
Additional offerings provided by our beloved community. Refreshments and food at no additional charge will be available for all attendees.
A full schedule is available at justusindaba.com/schedule.
Yemaya, the art providing the official image for the inaugural Just-Us INDABA, is from an original quilt designed, created, and shared with permission by Cookie Washington, one of the Lowcountry’s most beloved artists, representing the Gullah-Geechee culture and the African diaspora. Yemaya is the Goddess of Creation, Water, Moon, Motherhood, and Protection and is a major water spirit from the Yoruba religion. She is the mother of all Orishas. Many transliterations of her name exist in various cultures within the African diaspora.
This program is made possible with support and partnership from the following: SC Sisters of Charity, Tri-County Play Collaborative, Berkeley County First Steps, Southern BEE Alliance, BEE Collective, and the community-at-large. For additional information regarding the Just-Us INDABA: Birthing, Education, and Healing Justice Summit presented by the BEE Collective and Everyday People, visit justusindaba.com. For specific inquiries, or to schedule an interview, contact Adrienne Troy-Frazier at 843-405-7607 and adrienne@beecollective.co.