Let’s Learn: Catastrophe, Care, and Community
How do creativity, curiosity, spirituality, and mindfulness help us process collective grief? How does the pursuit of justice, acts of service, and advocacy guide us on a pathway towards growth and wisdom as we confront shared loss? As an introduction to the topic of collective grief, this panel discussion weaves the connective threads across shared trauma and grief, such as gun violence, genocide, war, and natural disaster. And we encourage our guest speakers to get personal--to share their own experiences of collective grief, whether direct, vicarious, and/or ancestral.
Guests include Jha D Amazi, leader of the Public Memory and Memorials Lab at MASS Design Group; Luis Gallardo, a former international observer in post-conflict countries and founder of the World Happiness Foundation; and Elizabeth Miller, Project Director at September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Dr. Edith Shiro, noted clinical psychologist with expertise in post-traumatic growth, facilitates the conversation.
Jha D Amazi believes that the narratives upheld in our public realm should be expanded to represent, honor, and celebrate the experiences, histories, and cultures of people who have been historically denied representation in our memorial landscape. As a Principal at MASS Design Group, Jha D leads the Public Memory and Memorials Lab, engaging communities to design projects such as the Franklin Park Action Plan (Boston, MA), the Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument Project (Tallahatchie County, MS and Chicago, IL), the Gun Violence Memorial Project (Chicago, IL, and Washington D.C.), and the Sugar Land 95 Cemetery Revitalization Project (Sugar Land, TX).
Beyond her contributions at MASS, Jha D is a spoken word artist, event producer, and self-proclaimed SpaceMaker for the LGBTQ+ communities of color. In 2023, she was appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Black Empowerment by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey.
Jha D graduated with honors from Northeastern University (B.S. Arch) and the University of Pennsylvania (M. Arch I). Prior to joining MASS, she worked as a Designer at Sasaki and taught studio at the Boston Architectural College.
https://www.gunviolencememorialproject.org/
Dr. Edith Shiro holds space for patients, communities, and individuals to achieve greater potential and higher consciousness. Dr. Shiro's influence extends well beyond her private practice. She frequently engages as a guest expert on national media broadcasts and publications, including TIME magazine, Oprah Daily, and Billboard. Her groundbreaking book, The Unexpected Gift of Trauma: The Path to Posttraumatic Growth, has garnered significant recognition, earning her the Innovation Award in Science in 2022, the International Latino Book Awards in 2023, and both the International Impact Book Awards and Book Excellence Awards in 2024. Through her writing, speaking engagements, and media appearances, Dr. Shiro continues to contribute meaningfully to the discourse on mental health, individual and collective trauma.
Dr. Shiro has developed a model for developing coping skills and resilience to achieve post-traumatic growth. It is based on her extensive research in Cambodian, Latin American, and refugee populations, including Holocaust survivors. This unique five-stage process picks up where other trauma programs stop. Awareness, Awakening, Becoming, Being, and Transforming—provide a universal language and outline how trauma can catalyze transformative growth. She is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and Syrian refugees, grew up as a Jewish woman in Venezuela, and lived as a Latina immigrant studying and working in the United States.
Luis Gallardo is Founder & President of the World Happiness Foundation and World Happiness Fest. Author of Happytalism and The Exponentials of Happiness. Director of the Gross Global Happiness program at the United Nations University for Peace. Luis is a social innovator and entrepreneur with the higher purpose of elevating the vibration of the planet by developing ideas, connecting thought leaders, activists and communities and increasing awareness on the science of happiness, holistic education and smart innovation. Luis has been an international observer with the UN and OSCE in post-armed conflicts establishing democracy and the right to vote.
For Luis, happiness is a human right and a life choice, an enabler of human development and social innovation. That’s why he is committed to creating, with initiatives such as bē and the World Happiness Foundation and World Happiness Fest, spaces for academics, activists, social innovators, scientists, governmental leaders, institutions and leaders, in general, to share and learn, to feel, understand and act towards a happier world and thriving societies.
Luis runs a private practice as a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Professional Mental Health Coach and Master NLP and Chief Well-Being Officer Program Trainer.
Elizabeth L. Miller is the Project Director for September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a nonprofit family member group committed to turning their grief into actions and advocacy for peace. Elizabeth's father, FF Douglas C. Miller, lost his life on during the attacks at the World Trade Center.
Elizabeth earned her BA in History and Arabic Studies at Bloomsburg University in 2017. In 2020, she graduated with an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center in New York. Her research areas are focused on the complexities of women’s involvement in terrorism, and examinations of human rights abuses in the post-9/11 world, specifically surrounding the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. Elizabeth previously served as council person in her city, Port Jervis, NY. She also serves on the Port Jervis Free Library Board, the Cornerstone Family Healthcare Board, and the Victory Hill Therapeutic Horsemanship Board.
https://www.peacefultomorrows.org/
About the Series “The Whole World in Our Hands”
Collective grief is a response to tragedy among cultural groups, communities, towns, nations, and global citizens. War, terror, racism, natural disaster, the pandemic, environmental injustice, and mass shootings adversely affect all of us directly or indirectly via news and social media. In these times of trouble, let’s examine shared experiences of grief through listening, learning, mindfulness, and activation.
About Reimagine
Reimagine is a nonprofit organization catalyzing a uniquely powerful community–people of different backgrounds, ages, races, and faiths (and no faith) coming together to create a more compassionate world. We support each other in facing adversity, loss, and mortality and channeling life's biggest challenges into meaningful action and growth.
