About the Conference
Conference Presentations (Workshops, Panel Discussions, and Stand-Alone Presentations) are organized around four tracks, Advocacy, Community, Education and Research. Presentations in each track should address the conference’s overall title, "Moving to Thriving and Belonging" with the theme, "Migrant Communities’ Healing Journeys. Submissions should focus on overcoming challenges and difficulties experienced by LGBTQIA+ Black and persons of color who have left their countries of origin: those seeking asylum due to anti-LGBTQIA+ laws, those who have experienced violence due to homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in their homelands; the trauma and the effects on one's mental health caused by the migration experience; and how LGBTQIA+ Black and persons of color migrants have found hope, strength, support and community throughout their journey.
IMM24 Program:
IMM24 will take place on Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12, 2024, with check-in/registration on both days at 8:00am, the formal program beginning at 9:00am, continuing through the first day, concluding at 5:30pm, and half day on the second day, concluding at 2:00pm. This forum is for clinicians, academics, advocates, activists, community members with lived experience, and students.
The Conference will feature 45-minute Speaker presentations to establish common starting points, which will be followed by 75-minute concurrent single/stand-alone, small group webinars – some geared for clinicians and others for community members. On the Conference’s program, presentations will be marked by CE, indicating that the breakout presentation will provide Continuing Education Credits/Units (CEUs) for licensed professionals. Clinicians (LCSWs and LMSWs) requiring CEUs MUST attend a 75-minute presentation and complete the post-presentation requirements to receive the one-hour CEU for that presentation.
Program: Abstract Submission and Tracks:
The Conference theme sets the tone for selected presentations from our abstract submission process, conforming to four tracks.
• Track A – Advocacy
• Track B – Community
• Track C – Education, and
• Track D – Research.
The call for abstracts will be in two phases:
Phase I - for community members who submitted and presented at IMM over the past nine years, begins on April 1 to April 30
Phase II - for wider global communities from May 1 to May 31.
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT ABSTRACTS
Submitted abstracts will be reviewed and selected by an independent panel, and a draft program will be made available in the first week of July, when early registration will commence. Selected Presenters are encouraged to obtain time off from work and make travel and accommodation arrangements to present at IMM24.
All submissions are considered for Continuing Education Credits/Units (CEUs) to licensed professionals in NY State - LMSWs and LCSWS, who attend a 75-minutepresentation/workshop.
About Conference Tracks:
Conference Presentations (Workshops, Panel Discussions, and Stand-Alone Presentations) are organized around four tracks, Advocacy, Community, Education, and Research. Presentations in each track should address the conference’s overall title, "Moving To Thriving and Belonging" with the theme,"Migrant Communities’ Healing Journeys. Submissions should focus on the challenges and difficulties experienced by LGBTQIA+ Black and persons of color who have left their countries of origin; those seeking asylum due to anti-LGBTQIA+ laws; those who have experienced violence due to homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in their homelands; the trauma and the effects on one's mental health caused by the migration experience; and how LGBTQIA+ Black and persons of color migrants have found hope, strength, support and community throughout their journey.
We want to create a learning experience in which there is an exchange of knowledge, social resources (including immigration services, housing, and benefits), language access, workforce development, linkage to mental health care and treatment, HIV, sexual health, social networking, and care-giving relationships - considering dependence and independence. In their presentations, abstracts must clearly demonstrate how and in what ways presenter(s) created opportunities, if not for themselves, but for their respective communities. Presentations along the four tracks should examine the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of LGBTQIA+ Black and people of color migrant communities and their healing journeys, ultimately moving to thriving and belonging.
Presenters are encouraged to be innovative and creative as they highlight the latest research findings and best practices and consider the following barriers when developing their presentations: sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, ableism, audism, and vidism; the In My Mind Conference aims to make this conference and all future conferences fully accessible to all LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of color.
Conference Tracks (descriptions for each, below):
● Track A - Advocacy: This track explores current and historical advocacy and activism at the core of LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color justice movements. LGBTQ+ Black and Peoples of Color have been at the helm of much of this advocacy from Stonewall to ACT UP to Pride and have mobilized and raised their hands and voices to fight for visibility, equality, affirming spaces, resources and more. Despite these efforts, many LGBTQ+ Black and Peoples of Color still experience social and psychological distress caused by ableism, audism, vidism, racism, isolation, marginalization, homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. Using the Conference’s title, "Moving To Thriving and Belonging" with the theme, "Migrant Communities’ Healing Journeys, we invite presenter(s) to highlight advocacy efforts supporting the communities living with these intersecting identities as one or more impact a community members’ immigration status and experience. How has this advocacy changed and paved the way for inclusion - for LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color affirming mental health services, family and community acceptance, and the creation of spaces where they belong and thrive? What work is being done at local and national levels to amplify and serve these migrant communities? What are the needs and opportunities to take this work to the next level? How can migrant community members join and contribute to developing advocacy efforts to transform outcomes for Black and People of Color LGBTQIA+ communities?
● Track B - Community: In keeping with the conference’s title, "Moving To Thriving and Belonging" with the theme,"Migrant Communities’ Healing Journeys, a community presenter is invited to share their experiences - the current realities that demonstrate LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. This track focuses on the lived experience (or experiential narrative) of LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and displaced persons - community members moving from one place to another, their home country to another country. Presenter(s) is invited to submit abstracts that ask how they overcame barriers and created opportunities for themselves and others? This track provides an opportunity for our communities’ voices to be heard - they’re seen, not heard, and often don’t have rights - living in the shadows, are invisible in our societies. We want to hear from Community members’ voices - speaking about their resilience from adversity, and how they tackled, what sometimes feels like a never-ending spiral. Through personal narratives, we invite the voices of LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants, asylum seekers and refugees to share about the bonds they created and strengthened, which helped and sustained them through challenging times. This track is to be used to share ways migrants, asylum seekers and refugees survived their journeys, raise and discuss the conditions in their respective home countries from which they fled, including for their safety, health and mental health; acceptance, and access to economic resources; the journey they endured, and their arrival in their destination country - their expectations, services and access, acceptance and integration - do they feel they belong? In the age of Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, attacks on Critical Race Theory and the growing violence and hate toward LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color, especially trans communities of color, presenters are invited to explore intersectional frameworks addressing the multidimensional aspects of LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and their mental health. And, considering long COVID’s effects, how are migrant community members surviving against care hierarchies, where for example, some still struggle with the pandemic’s effects and do not have access to adequate or appropriate health and mental health care?
● Track C - Education: This track is designed to focus on the importance of increasing the awareness, knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and skills to improve society as a whole and create affirming and inclusive spaces and opportunities for LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. Submissions are encouraged, responding to the following: What are the current and effective models being used to address cultural sensitivity/humility/competency? What is being done to create an inclusive and accessible space for those who originate from different cultures, ethnicities, and experiences? How are models, trainings, and paradigms changing the landscape to ensure better treatment, services and ultimately equity for the LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees; and to address other intersectionalities, including mental health, alcohol and substance use disorders, HIV, aging, homelessness, poverty, and incarceration/detention centers? What are the educational approaches assisting in mobilizing communities to create advocacy, foster leadership and encourage emerging allies for LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants, asylum seekers, refugees - to address their rights and concerns? In keeping with the conference’s title, "Moving To Thriving and Belonging" with the theme,"Migrant Communities’ Healing Journeys, presenter(s) should demonstrate the ways in which professionals are addressing the different types of relationships that are fostered by LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, throughout their lifetime. How do they manage, cope with stressors, including moving from their home countries to a destination country, the reasons for leaving, their journeys, and on arrival, their assimilation? How do these community members cope with ongoing stigma and discrimination, for who they are, and whose mental health needs are largely ignored or minimally addressed?
● Track D - Research: We are seeking recent or current research from both academics and professional practitioners addressing the ways LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants, asylum seekers and refugees physical, mental health and overall well-being are affected by migration. These submissions should examine root causes of migration; mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, different traumas, and PTSD caused by migration; exposure to discrimination, harassment and violence; experiences in detention/refugee camp environments and social isolation; and asylum seeking barriers. In keeping with the conference title, "Moving To Thriving and Belonging" with the theme,"Migrant Communities’ Healing Journeys, research should add to the theoretical knowledge and best practices impacting these migrants' experiences. Submissions should address: What country specific laws and policies impact the lives of LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color and their decisions to flee or seek refuge? What literature highlights the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants and strategies to address and overcome challenges? What program evaluations and interventions exist to support LGBTQIA+ Black and Peoples of Color migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in transit to host countries? The research you present can raise and address both the personal and social competencies that have proven effective or ineffective. You may present research from a Master's thesis, dissertation and/or other professions.