Description
In 2021, an International Peoples’ Tribunal found the u.s guilty of genocide on five counts - one of which being genocide by way of public health racism and disparities. From this tribunal the Peoples’ Senate Campaign was initiated to help build unity and cooperation among individuals, formations and efforts working to counter the genocide across Turtle Island. Our gathering and discussion on April 18th will lift up the lineage of revolutionary healers and organizers actively resisting genocide by tending to the needs of the People; connecting the health and wellbeing of each to the health and wellbeing of all.
This gathering honors the memory and legacy of beloved teachers of resistance Cleo Silvers, Dr. Richard Taft, Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Assata Shakur, Sekou Odinga, Yuri Kochiyama, Safiya Bukhari, and other ancestors we carry with us. Together, we reflect on a pivotal moment that redefined health care as a community-controlled human right, while grounding ourselves in what is needed today to support our houseless and hungry relatives both locally and globally. What began as a grassroots public health response evolved into a powerful political and healing project, one that continues to inspire generations of practitioners, organizers, and caregivers to look after their communities. It invites us to return, again and again, to a vital question: What does it mean to truly tend to one another?
We invite you to join us for a shared meal and intergenerational conversation alongside Baba Dr. Kokayi Patterson, protégé of Dr. Mutulu Shakur and former Lincoln Detox patient, Walter Bosque del Rio, Young Lords elder and community acupuncturist, and Esperanza Martell aka Mama ESP, Young Lords elder, People’s Clinic volunteer, massage therapist, and friend of Dr. Mutulu Shakur, as well as Sadiki Ojore Olugbala aka Bro. Shep, original Black Panther Party veteran and food security advocate. Together, they will share stories, practices, and insights rooted in collective care, healing, and liberation. Please bring a friend, a dish to share, and questions for our beloved teachers. Attendees are encouraged to stream the film,Dope is Death(2021) before this event.
Date: Saturday April 198, 2026
Time: 5:00pm – 8:00PM EST
Cost: Free/ Sliding Scale
Panelists
Bibi Esperanza “Espe” Martell is an Afro/Boricua/Puerto Rican human rights peace educator, organizer, healer, coach, mother, and poet/artist. Since the late 60s she has worked with a class, race, gender lens on varied social justice issues such as the independence of Puerto Rico, peace, political prisoners, women of color, housing, education, health, police, and male violence. The focus of her work is developing community-of-color leadership, training and mentoring anti-capitalist educators/organizers using Paulo Freire and Franz Fanon’s Marxist methodology for liberation, organizing, and healing in community. As an artist, Esperanza’s Ceramic Sculpture de Terra y Mar has allowed her to find new ways to express her ideas about life, her African/Taino heritage, women's culture, freedom, peace, and spirituality. She has exhibited in many community venues throughout the city. Following Mutulu’s teachings and others on Alternative to healing and self–determination the Peoples Health Clinic in the 80’s @ St. Anna’s Church and in the 90’s Casa Atabex Ache a Woman of Color Self - Healing and Organizing Center were established.
Baba Dr. Kokayi Patterson, also known as Hooddoctah, is a naturopath and acupuncture detox specialist. Prior to this work, he served as a drug counselor and program manager/director, specializing in residential treatment, community outreach, and youth counseling. For over 35 years, he has witnessed and supported the use of acupuncture as a healing tool, first encountering it in 1970 at a local drug treatment center, where he later led staff and client orientation and training for 20 years.
He continues to advocate for a holistic approach to treatment, including exercise, meditation, access to clean water, a vegetarian diet, herbs, vitamins, and acupuncture. Throughout his work, he has consistently promoted the Acupuncture Detox Treatment protocol alongside a broader range of holistic practices and services aimed at empowering both individuals and communities.
He currently serves as a board member of BAAANA and is a former director of AWHA Inc. (the African Wholistic Health Association), and founded and continues to oversee the ADS Collective.
Walter Bosque is a licensed acupuncturist. He entered this work as a member of the acupuncture collective at the Lincoln Hospital Detox Center. He was one of the first American students to graduate from the Quebec Institute of Acupuncture in 1977, and the first Puerto Rican to be licensed to practice acupuncture in the state of California in 1979. This year marks 45 years that Walter has been bringing acupuncture and Tai Chi Chuan to underserved populations in New York City. Walter's additional accolades of note include serving as Assistant Director of the Tri-State Acupuncture Institute from 1980-1985 and on the Board of the Tri-State College of Acupuncture from 2016-2018. In 1991 he returned to the Health and Hospital Corporation in New York City as a Detox Specialist at the Governor Hospital. Now retired, he continues to volunteer and participate in free community clinics and programs throughout Puerto Rico and New York City with SAPP collective (Salud y Acupuntura Para el Pueblo), New York Harm Reduction Educators (HYHRE), Friends of Brook Park, and Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB). In 2021, he became the Treasurer of the reinvigorated Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America (BAAANA), an organization that originated in 1979 to continue the more revolutionary work begun at Lincoln Detox after the radical origins were suppressed. Walter remains an elder activist in his community.
Sadiki "Bro. Shep" Ojore Olugbala is a New York State Chapter Veteran of the original Black Panther Party. He serves as both the Program Director/Development Officer for the Safiya Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation and Executive Director for the Universal Zulu Nation's World Department Of Community Affairs; and carries on his Panther related political work with The Black Liberation Farm, The 1st Congregational Church Of Morrisania Black Panther Legacy Youth Center, Prison Lives Matter Coalition and the Black Panther Party Commemoration Committee in facilitating Political Education Classes, Workshops and the utilization of Black Culture as an organizing tool for anti-colonialism, social justice, food security, community building, peace and youth advocacy.
Moderators
Audrey was born and raised in the unceded territory of the Lenni Lenape. At a young age she began to discover how the global structure of white supremacist capitalism entrenched itself in medical infrastructure and the environment and therefore facilitated the destruction of Black health and life across the diaspora. Audrey understands that the proliferation of Black life, health and happiness is through our collective struggle against the global structure of white supremacist capitalism and hopes to continually dedicate her life to this struggle.
Kaila Paulino is a long-time community activist in the South Bronx and beyond, Kaila is a singer, drummer, songwriter, and poet. She uses art and culture to connect to the spirit of liberation, love, resilience, and unity that guided our ancestors in stewarding these lands. Kaila is also an educator and a healer, and has worked and volunteered with many local organizations over the years. She works in several community gardens in the South Bronx, especially Friends of Brook Park Community Garden. As a holistic health practitioner, Kaila serves community healing through connection to land and waters, auricular acupuncture, herbalism, sound therapy, Reiki, and massage. She’s passionate about creating intergenerational safe spaces for our communities to heal and share blessings. Kaila was born in the Bronx to Caribbean parents, is bilingual in Spanish/English, and enjoys providing translation/interpretation in community spaces to empower and bring people together.
Cost
Free - Sliding Scale Donation to support elders and food costs $5-100
Please bring a dish to share with community if you feel called
Schedule
Doors at 5 p.m
Welcome+ Intros at 5:30.p.m.
Panel at 6 p.m.
6:15: Roundtable Convo
6:30: Q+A
7:00: Wrap and Thank You
Dinner at 7:00 p.m.
In Person Event
Saturday April 18, 2026
Location: The Brotherhood Sister Sol
140 Hamilton Place (at 143rd and Amsterdam) , New York, NY 10031
Accessibility
The Brotherhood Sister Sol is a physically accessible space with a ramp and elevator, and the entrance and restrooms are ADA compliant. The closest wheelchair-accessible subway station is the 135 St station (served by the 2 and 3 trains) or the 125 St station (served by the 2, 3, A, B, C, D lines). Both provide elevator access
Covid-19 Safety
For the safety and well-being of our community, masks will be available for our indoor convening. In light of flu season and the ongoing pandemic, we kindly ask that if you are feeling unwell or experiencing any symptoms of illness, you refrain from attending. Your consideration helps create a safer, more comfortable, and accessible environment for everyone.
A limited number of tests will be available on-site; however, we strongly encourage all participants to take a COVID test (PCR or rapid) prior to arrival. Hand sanitizer and handwashing facilities will also be readily accessible throughout the event.
Hosted by
The Peoples’ Senate is a campaign of the Spirit of Mandela coalition ; a national cohesive network of people reflective of poor and working-class communities across the United States; joined together to protect, champion, and uphold the human rights of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people, and by doing so, ensure the human rights of all people. The Peoples’ Senate campaign is an undertaking to unite formations across the country working in any, and every way, to counter the u.s genocide on oppressed peoples and help develop alternative forms of governance that center the wellbeing of people, the land and all creation.
Herban Cura offers knowledge shares, immersions, & herbal remedies we believe are fundamental to building & supporting our collective resilience. We are an open-source, radical movement towards societal regeneration. We know that by simply coming together to move, breathe, share, make medicine, and create, we are planting the alternatives to uproot the systems that oppress us all.
The Brotherhood Sister Sol (BroSis) For more than 30 years, The Brotherhood Sister Sol (BroSis) has been at the forefront of justice — racial, economic, educational, environmental, criminal and gender. Through unconditional love, around-the-clock support and wraparound programming, we make space for Black and Latinx young people to examine their roots, define their stories and awaken their agency.