Guest Speaker: Jodie Patterson at Brightworks 2/22
Join Us on February 22 for a night to remember
family dynamics • radical parenting • parenting gender expansive youth • identity
Dear BWX Parents and Extended Community:
We are delighted to invite you to an intimate evening with the author, activist, and Human Rights Campaign Ambassador, Jodie Patterson. Jodie’s book The Bold World: A Memoir of Family and Transformation was instantly received as a powerful memoir on radical parenting, raising gender-expansive youth, and developing identity.
When her son announced at the age of 3 “Mama I’m not a girl. I’m a boy,” she set out to inform herself, shift her own bias, and change the way her community understood gender. Patterson chronicled that journey in her memoir, which has been hailed by Alice Walker as “Marvelous!”
Join us on February 22nd for this wonderful opportunity to come together as a community for an intimate conversation between Jodie and the Bay Area’s own Dr. Aisha Mays, physician and reproductive justice advocate. This continues our Speaker Series at Brightworks which kicked off last year with George McCalman and will continue in the Spring.
This evening is also a fundraiser for the Brightworks Power & Privilege Committee whose work over the past four years has helped to guide and support Brightworks in working to uphold its commitment to the DEI Initiative launched in 2021. Childcare will be available by reservation, and supported by Obsidian Band (High School Students) and those funds will go towards an out-of-state trip that the class is organizing.
Please come out on Thursday, February 22nd, and partake in sparkling beverages and hors d’oeuvres, and enjoy an enriching conversation with our inspiring guests. This promises to be another historic evening for our BWX community. All ages are welcome with the acknowledgment of the maturity level of the conversation.
Click this link to purchase your spot in the room. There are a limited number of tickets available, so we would like to encourage you to reserve your tickets today!
If you have any questions, please contact michlene@sfbrightworks.org. We can't wait to share this night with you!
In solidarity,
BWX Power & Privilege Team
The Bold World Book Club
Before Jodie’s arrival, Anthony Consillo and Michlene Cotter will hold a book club for her memoir. Will you join? Let us know! There will be meetings on 1/30 & 2/15 at 5-6 pm via zoom.
About Jodie.
Jodie Patterson is a social activist, entrepreneur, and writer. She has been lauded for her activist work by Hillary Clinton, The Advocate, Family Circle, Essence, Cosmopolitan, and Yahoo!, among others.
She sits on the board of a number of gender/family/human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, and is a sought-after public speaker addressing a wide range of audiences about identity, gender, beauty, and entrepreneurship. Patterson was appointed by the United Nations as a Champion of Change. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she co-parents her five children with love, education, and family solidarity.
About Dr. Mays.
Dr. Aisha Mays, is a Family Physician who focuses on Adolescent Medicine. She is the CEO and Founder of the Dream Youth Clinic in Oakland, California and a Clinical Researcher with the UCSF Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. Dr. Mays is an innovative adolescent healthcare leader and has special clinical, teaching, and research expertise on youth affected by sex trafficking and reproductive justice for young mothers.
Her work focuses on providing inclusive adolescent family planning within a reproductive justice framework and on elevating the expertise of young people who choose to parent as a way to shift the national paradigm on young motherhood. Her work has been featured in news outlets including, Ms. Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Cosmopolitan Magazine. Dr. Mays believes that passion, creativity, critical inquiry and building community are keys to dismantling inequitable systems and constructing a new vision for the future of health care.