Our Retreats
Men’s Refresh and Affirmation Retreat
How many people are searching for love but are in tremendous pain, feeling despair and hopeless? How about those who are actually in relationships but still lack love? There are many–far too many to go without critical analysis, dissection, and prescriptions for this widespread ailment. Believe it or not, love is not the problem. Society is.
Society has gotten to the point of disrupting not only our understanding of what love is but also what it feels like. Love is an energy, and it has a source. Most people on this planet are disconnected from that source, leaving them in profound states of unhappiness, angst, frustration, resentment, jealousy, and combativeness; yet identifying the underlying problem has left most people stuck in a quandary.
The late great Luther Vandross’s song “The Glow of Love” is referencing a state that is rarely seen or personally experienced by most people. Vandross is speaking of genuine love, something that exists only as a fairy tale to far too many people—but with good reason, if you can clearly understand the psycho-social dynamics that disrupt this spiritual energy.
We have arrived at a point where love must be decrypted. We would like to talk about this phenomenon. We would like to dissect it. We would like to be conduits for moving toward healing this pain state that is contaminating the planet on multiple levels.
During this retreat, we will …. [Cleo]
Black Women’s Refresh and Affirmation
Whether understood or not, the relationship of racism/white supremacy to black men as primary targets on a perpetual, relentless basis is also the cause of a large portion of the pain and suffering that black women face today, either directly or indirectly. This pain and suffering extends into the family structure. The impact is financial, psychological, and even physical at times.
The psycho-social dynamics of racism/white supremacy are not independent. According to Neely Fuller, Jr., racism/white supremacy impacts black people in nine areas of people activity. They are: economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex, and war. Because of the massive and destructive nature of racism/white supremacy, coupled with the extremely high levels of confusion around decoding and strategizing against it, black women need to refresh and be affirmed just as much as black men do if the black family and black community are going to heal and move into constructive interactions.
Black women endure single-parenting, imbalances in the financial responsibilities of the family, domestic abuse, loneliness from the inability to develop and maintain a loving relationship with black men, envy from seeing other women of other ethnic backgrounds partnering in what appear to be better relations, and the list goes on. There are numerous painstaking elements to black women’s pain, and Alkebulan’s Black Women’s Refresh and Affirmation Retreat curriculum has been developed to assist.
Because black women have a very unique role and sit in a power position in relation to the current black family structure, we have developed a special purpose retreat curriculum for black women. That curriculum consists of [Cleo…
Intentional Black Parenting
Suicide, confusion, code switching, and black youth questioning their value in U.S. society—these are only a handful of normal occurrences that black youth deal with daily, regardless of socio-economic status. The previous generations of parents heavily focused on survival, making ends meet, and, in the best scenarios, making sure their children had nice clothes and went to good schools.
Amid these burdens and distractions, what has been severely neglected is intentional guidance on how black youth can identify and navigate through racism/white supremacy, white bias, and limited and distorted media representation. The ability, and desire, to decipher through these components in a profoundly racist society—along with working, maintaining a home, and functioning as productive parents while valuing the worth of other black people—has been far from adequate. As a result, attaining cultural clarity and direction, as well as feeling sincerely love and respect for black people’s own existence, stands shipwrecked.
The Black Intentional Parenting (BIP) provides parents—single and two-parent households—with guidance and tools on how to make sure their child has a positive concept, is mentally balanced, and is actively involved in creating generational wealth and well-being mentally, physically, and spiritually.
We do this by … [ Cleo]
Decrypting Love
How many people are searching for love but are in tremendous pain, feeling despair and hopeless? How about those who are actually in relationships but still lack love? There are many–far too many to go without critical analysis, dissection, and prescriptions for this widespread ailment. Believe it or not, love is not the problem. Society is.
Society has gotten to the point of disrupting not only our understanding of what love is but also what it feels like. Love is an energy, and it has a source. Most people on this planet are disconnected from that source, leaving them in profound states of unhappiness, angst, frustration, resentment, jealousy, and combativeness; yet identifying the underlying problem has left most people stuck in a quandary.
The late great Luther Vandross’s song “The Glow of Love” is referencing a state that is rarely seen or personally experienced by most people. Vandross is speaking of genuine love, something that exists only as a fairy tale to far too many people—but with good reason, if you can clearly understand the psycho-social dynamics that disrupt this spiritual energy.
We have arrived at a point where love must be decrypted. We would like to talk about this phenomenon. We would like to dissect it. We would like to be conduits for moving toward healing this pain state that is contaminating the planet on multiple levels.
During this retreat, we will …. [Cleo]
Black Father Parenting / Father-Son Retreat
This retreat focuses on addressing the state of black fatherhood. We will be dissecting the need of black fathers in families, their proper roles, and the multitude of contemporary, dysfunctional breakdowns that have disrupted culture construction intentionality and execution. This retreat differs from most others in that it is a father–son retreat where communication, care, love, and effective parenting tools specific to black fathers are provided.
In addition, we address ways black fathers can affirm their son’s as black boys and equip them with practices for safety, education, and awareness around being black and a male in the United States. We will discuss history, cultural anthropology, and psychology aspects that will aid black fathers in being more intentional in their parenting. Moreover, we will be leading bonding exercises involving black fathers and their sons. And, of course, we cannot leave out healing wound sessions. This particular session will be an opportunity for fathers and sons to work through any issues with trained professionals present.
The Black Fathers-Sons Retreat is a testament to the importance of fostering meaningful connections, sharing experiences, and cultivating a strong foundation in black affirmation, along with cultural and individual survival. Expect us to embrace the richness of our heritage, rebuild our minds, and forge deeper connects through stronger unity, love, and historical cultural correction. This is a retreat where fathers and sons come together to strengthen the ties that bind and create lasting connections by rebuilding, fortifying, and transforming how the black fathers parent their sons.
Black Fluid/Bisexuality - Discovery, Unpacking and Affirming
The gender-fluid community has received very little to no real affirmation in contemporary society.
As a matter of fact, there has been pushback, as those in this community often are quickly thrown into the bucket of “gay” as they attempt to affirm themselves. This behavior is an attempt to dismiss and shame them. As contributors to this society and natural manifestations of human biology, space needs to be made for their existence.
In the curriculum, we will be exploring [Cleo…]
Same-Gender-Loving (SGL) Relationships
While there have been relatively more openness and acceptance in contemporary times to same-gender-loving people and their relationships, there still exists extreme pain, resentment, putdown, and denial found within this community, necessitating deeper analyses and understanding from multiple perspectives with the ultimate goal of aborting harmful, destructive, and toxic behaviors. The ultimate intent of these examinations is education acceptance, self-care, self-love, self-realization, and self-actualization.
The desire to have a loving partner also cannot be neglected. Many people in the SGL community feel frustration and hopelessness from the inability to manifest a loving relationship, despite neurotic efforts to be physically appealing and 7-day workouts at the gym. While all this may seem insurmountable, healing can occur—that is, with desire, focus, and commitment.
Pain stemming from being SGL is from within (internal struggles) and without (family, church, school, and the workplace). This curriculum aims to unpack these pain states and provide prescriptions for healing. To do so, we will be examining [Cleo…]
Black Male-Female Relationships (Heterosexual)
Gender roles and clarity around them are critical to a functioning society. They are fundamental requirements for the existence and expansion of a culture. That said, this society has intentionally and strategically interrupted black-male-female relationships starting at the very point of the Middle Passage, before blacks landed in the United States. Contemporary life—particularly presented in television, advertising, and other visual/audio media forms—rarely shows black men and women loving each other. Black people have been conditioned to be neutral or even numb to growing influences and instances to devalue, deform, and derail black-on-black love.
This retreat will work on developing loving relationships and sustaining them by managing conflict, defining effective communication, and examining how couples can recognize and deflect messages that devalue and deteriorate black-male-female relationships.
Youth/Young Adult Cohort
We live in a society that does not prepare black youth to love themselves. With the dismissal of critical race theory, state governors banning black history, and a media that rarely shows black youth in constructive relationships and engagement with each other, black youth are operating with no references to visible, functional behaviors off which to model.
It also must be said that social media images of verbal attacks, assaults, fighting, other chaotic interactions, anger, sadness, despair, and death all in story form are leaving black youth in a state of silent trauma—trauma that is living in their psyches unaddressed and mounting. In addition, we are still witnessing strategically perpetuated negative stereotypes filling the media landscape. Many black youth need explicit guidance on recognizing and deflecting negative messages and learning to love themselves in their own image without question or negotiation.
The outcomes of the famous doll test conducted by Dr. Kenneth Clark in 1947 to the latest re-creation done in 2023 have had the same consistent outcome: black children choosing the white doll over the black doll. These response patterns scream that intentional repair work not only needs to be done but also triaged.
In this retreat curriculum, we will be [Cleo….]
Food, Nutrition, and Wellness
We cannot leave out nutrition, as human beings are mind, body, and soul. What we put in our bodies impacts our overall well-being, which includes both our physical health and even our sexual health. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad preached, “Eat to live”, which resonates with our mission of well-being at Alkebulan Oasis & Retreat.
We will be discussing the spiritual and healing aspect of whole foods, what not to eat, and, of course, what toxic, unhealthy, processed foods can to do the body. We will also be discussing various diets such as Keto, raw food, and plant-based diets.
We welcome you to Alkebulan Oasis & Retreat. We welcome you to black restoration, healing, and love. We welcome you to the Black Refresh and Affirmation experience.
