Mindful Messages

by Deborah Day, L. Patterson (Editor), Adrienne Drayton (Illustrator)

Mindful Messages skillfully scans complex social and issues through a poetic healing conscious and mindfully intervenes with some simple solutions. That healing conscious is spoken word. In particular it focuses on the social and cultural impact the HIV/AIDS pandemic is having on the black community as it races across the country and around the globe. There are over 42 million people around the world infected with the HIV/AIDS disease. (29 million are in Africa) In the United States approximately a half a million people have already died and another million are living with HIV/AIDS. In recent years, African Americans have been over 50% of the new reported cases, and the virus is continuing to spread. Mindful Messages "breaks the silence" and sends an urgent message of "mindful intervention" to all African American parents and teens advocating abstinence and safe sex to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Mindful Messages brings awareness on the issues of peer pressure, sexuality and relationships and the need for more sex education (life skills) training and information to empower African American youth. It also points out the consequences of not intervening. The book also explains how alcohol and drugs can contribute to "at risk" behavior and the rise in HIV/AIDS and other STD’s in the black community. And it seeks more awareness and compassion for those African and African Americans who are living with the HIV/AIDS disease. Here are some of the main topics and features in the book.
• The Power of Mindfulness
• 26 Hip Hop Flavored Spoken Word Poems from A to Z
• Short History and Status on HIV/AIDS in the Community
• Current Statistics and Surveys from the Centers for Disease Control
• A Special Message to the Hip (Parents, Mentors and Educators)
• A Special Message to the Hop (Adolescent/Teenagers)
• Information on Illegal Drugs and Substance Abuse and their Descriptions and Street Names
• Defines "At Risk" Sexual Activity, Safe Sex, Safer Sex and Safest Sex
• Defines Hepatitis C and Other STD’s
• HIV/AIDS and STD Symptoms and Transmission
• HIV/Testing and the new 30 Minute Rapid Testing
• Condom Facts for Hip Hoppers
• Moving Into Mindful Intervention and Remaining Responsible
• Living Life with HIV/AIDS (8 African and African Americans share their story)
• 10 Ways for "Mindful Messengers" to Volunteer and Heal the Community
• Real Facts about HIV/AIDS and African Americans
• The Mindful Messenger My Choice to Abstain from Sex and Drug Agreements
• A Simple Mindful Meditation and the Health Benefits of Meditation
• 103 Adinkra Symbols and their West African Origins
• Tattoos and Body Piercing and the Spread of STD’s
• Current National HIV/AIDS Resource List with over 700 listings
• Ancient African Proverbs
• Africentric Art Illustrations by Adrienne Drayton Mindful Messages is spoken word and more. It drives an ancestral wedge into the media and the Hip Hop hysteria and infuses our youth once again with Africentric consciousness and demonstrates through the use of mindfulness and the creative inner spirit how we as a people can rise above any challenge, including HIV/AIDS. Get your copy, be informed and protect a life.

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2004

About the author

Deborah has been working as a clinician in the mental health field since 1989. Deborah works exclusively with adults. She has also provided many group therapy opportunities including her signature Women’s Twelve Week Empowerment Group. Deborah offers a broad array of creative tools to help her clients achieve their greatest potential. Along with some of the cognitive tools shared in this book she also has specialized training as a Certified Practitioner of Psycodrama and Group Psychotherapy which enhances her capability to creatively assist her clients. Deborah’s interactive style allows her to provide interesting and dynamic trainings and workshops. She also provides Coaching Services, workshops and trainings.