The New Hampshire Chronic Pain Support Group welcomes all new and current members, as well as their family members, to our virtual meeting, by Zoom, on Jan. 11. After we check in with each other, and if there are no other burning topics on your mind, let’s share ideas for the theme of “Setting Realistic Goals.” If it’s time to revisit goals, what is one area you would like to improve? Do you want to sleep better, decrease stress or find new hobbies? Whatever your objectives, we will discuss ways to create realistic goals and track them. You are invited to the Chronic Pain Support Group of NH and surrounding areas Zoom meeting on Tuesday from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Everyone must register in advance for this meeting through the link at https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAucOypqzIsEtRCWXFFbjU9RGXCXPqx81R-. After registering your information, which includes saying “yes” to the disclaimer, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. If you only want to join by phone please email bobbibnh@comcast.net or call 603-540-3119 to get the information to dial in, if you cannot connect using the Zoom registration link above.
The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire is offering a third and final online poetry event, “The Black Matter Is Life: Poetry for Engagement and Overcoming.” This will be a virtual-only event held via zoom on Jan. 20, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Visit blackheritagetrailnh.org/poetry-events for details and registration. The program will feature a special guest poet, Sonya Sanchez, American poet, writer, and professor, who has been a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement and has written over a dozen books of poetry as well as short stories, critical essays, plays, and children’s books. Dr. Reginald Wilburn, Dean for the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas and Dr. Courtney Marshall, English Professor at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, will host the program. They will read and discuss four selected poems with Sonya Sanchez and facilitate a conversation with participants, who will have access to the poems and a study guide prior to the event. Kaylee Chen, a student at Phillips Exeter Academy will begin the evening with a reading of her original poem, Heritage, which was entered in a contest sponsored by the Racial Unity Team and exhibited at the Portsmouth Public Library. Amanda Gorman’s Inaugural Poem, “The Hill We Climb,” inspired Kaylee’s poem. Based on the theme Emphatic Affirmations, the poems chosen for this program include Self-Mastery, by Cordelia Ray, A Dance for Ma Rainey, by Al Young, Declaration, by Tracy K. Smith, and The Bronze Legacy, by Effie Lee Newsome. Poetry is a powerful art form that offers profound insights into what it means to be human. Through the creative, succinct, and melodious use of language, poets render into words their joys, their challenges, their vulnerabilities, and their discoveries. Black poets are in a unique position to shed light on a rich, cultural heritage that has often gone unexplored and to highlight their own personal experiences as African Americans. JerriAnne Boggis, Executive Director, states that, “The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire offers this program to introduce the public to the rich tradition and innovation found in African American poetry, as a means of building bridges across the racial divide, and as tools for healing our nation’s deep racial wounds.” 3S Artspace has partnered with the Black Heritage Trail to make this program possible. To learn more about this and other programs and to register, go to blackheritagetrailnh.org/events or call 603-570-8469.