15th Annual

Black Health &
Healing Summit

Legacy, Healing, & Imagining Our Future

A Free Community Gathering for Healing, Learning, and Connection

The Annual Health & Healing Summit is a free, community-centered experience designed to uplift, educate, and restore. Centered on Black health and wellness, the Summit brings together community members, providers, and advocates to explore culturally affirming approaches to mental health, HIV prevention and care, housing stability, and holistic wellness.

Across these two days, we will honor our history, uplift our present, and activate a future rooted in healing, cultural power, and joy. Grounded in the principle of Umoja (unity), the summit brings together Black LGBTQ+ individuals, youth, women, and men to explore paths to healing, cultural resilience, and health justice.

From community-led talks and ancestral healing spaces to storytelling, food, movement, CAM services, live performances—all intentionally curated to reflect our theme and deepen community connection—this is our space to reimagine the future of health equity.

This Summit reflects Rafiki’s enduring belief: healthcare should honor the whole person and the communities they come from.

June 12–13, 2026
9 AM – 4 PM

601 Cesar Chavez Street, SF, CA

A Healing Space Rooted in Culture, Community, and Liberation

This annual event started in 2011 as a celebration of community, culture, and care.

2026 Featured Speakers & Special Guests

Dr. Joy DeGruy

Dr. Joy DeGruy

Doctor, Author & Social Justice Advocate
Presentation:
TBA

Dr. Joy Angela DeGruy is a prominent researcher, educator, and author who has spent over 30 years studying and working in the field of social work, with a focus on the impacts of racism, trauma, and slavery on African Americans. For over two decades, she served as an Assistant Professor at Portland State University’s School of Social Work and now serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Joy DeGruy Publications Inc. Additionally, Dr. DeGruy serves as the Executive Director of the nonprofit organization, Be The Healing Inc.

Dr. DeGruy holds multiple advanced degrees and is renowned for her acclaimed book “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing,” which examines historical trauma in African American communities. Dr. DeGruy lectures extensively, has presented her work globally, and has received prestigious awards, including the American Psychological Association’s President’s Award in 2023. Her scholarship is highly influential, with over 1,700 citations of her seminal book. In addition to her research and writing, Dr. DeGruy has developed evidence-based models to support communities of color.

Amber McZeal

Amber McZeal, Ph.D.

Presentation:
Workshop: Psychological Wholeness within the Black American Experience

Dr. Amber McZeal is a writer, vocalist, sacred scholar, and artivist utilizing sound therapy and guided somatic imagery to engage the knowledge of the body within an interactive and liberatory arts practice. In 2018, she launched Decolonizing the Psyche, where she weaves somatic praxis with Afro-Indigenous spiritual technologies and social justice—deep decoloniality—in efforts to address cultural trauma, foster transformation, and create more humane social relationships. She has been a certified Ancestral Lineage Healing (ALH) practitioner since 2022, supporting people in reconnecting with vibrant ancestors to both tend intergenerational & cultural trauma, and embody the gifts of their people as spiritual inheritances.

Amber holds a M.A. in Somatic depth psychology and a Ph.D. in depth psychology with emphasis in Community, Liberation, Indigenous and Ecological psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, CA.

Shanell Williams

Shanell Williams

Executive Director, Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness

Since May 2023, Shanell has served as the Executive Director for Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness. Prior to stepping into the role, she was a member of Rafiki’s Board of Directors since 2021. She has focused on improving Black/African American maternal and child health outcomes for nine years as Director of Community Engagement for the California Preterm Birth Initiative at UCSF. She is a citywide elected Trustee and past President of the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees, and an elected member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. Over the past 25 years, Shanell has served thousands of San Franciscans as an informed, passionate, and dedicated public advocate, nonprofit leader, and community organizer.  Shanell has worked tirelessly to improve all San Franciscan’s quality of life.

Shanell has worked for numerous nonprofit agencies and labor organizations dedicated to serving marginalized BIPOC communities, such as the Young Women’s Freedom Center, Youth Leadership Institute, UNITE HERE Local 2, Jobs with Justice San Francisco, and Urban Services YMCA. She is a recipient of the Jefferson Award and the San Francisco Bay Guardian Local Hero Award. She has earned a B.A. in Urban Studies from San Francisco State University and is completing an M.A. in Urban and Public Affairs and a Juris Doctorate from the University of San Francisco. She is a graduate of the Women’s Policy Institute, the Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment, and Emerge California. She has served as the Chair of the Our City, Our Home (Proposition C) Oversight Committee, on the Oversight Committee for the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII), Ella Baker Center for Human Rights Board, the San Francisco Youth Commission, the Juvenile Justice Commission, and other commissions and boards. Shanell has worked in partnership with the board, staff, and community to strengthen Rafiki’s organizational capacity and programs.

Tenika Blue

Tenika Blue, aka SheBeLadyBlue

Master of Ceremonies

Tenika Blue, aka SheBeLadyBlue, is a bold and seasoned event host and commentator hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area. Renowned for her captivating presence and high-octane hosting style, she’s headlined stages coast to coast—from grassroots gatherings to national festivals. A true crowd-connector, SheBeLadyBlue transforms every mic moment into a memory.
Stunnaman02

Stunnaman02

Bay Area Performer, Rapper, Community Leader, Cultural Warrior

Jordan Gomes aka StunnaMan02 is an Energetic Philanthropic San Francisco native that invests his time into a plethora of activities to help holistically raise the collective vibration. His purpose is to divinely impact the Universe with Love and Positivity through all his abilities and mediums. He creates unique and penetrating music through the moniker StunnaMan02. The movements he has created such as “Big Steppin”, “Eat A Salad”, “Still Winnin”, and many others, have been adopted Universally and are Positively impacting the Globe on all sectors. The “Big Steppin” movement has become a anthem for sports, triumph, victory, and celebration in all moments of life by all people. The song is the Anthem for the San Francisco 49ers, the Golden State Warriors on their most recent championship run, and a feature song on NBA 2K23. He has many amazing songs that are anthems and that are available on all musical streaming platforms when you look up StunnaMan02. His music and energy are in alignment with his “Still Winnin” movement, which displays a well rounded sense of grit, motivation, resilience, divinity, love, positivity, and fun. When he is not making music he is doing his best to make people feel their best on the TV or Movie screen. He has appeared in the films “Freaky Tales”, “Last Black Man in San Francisco”, the TV show “Blindspotting”,  is currently in production for multiple shows and films. He is a big advocate on having a positive mindset, health and fitness, enjoying life, community engagement, and creating unity within the world. He also has a Bachelors of Science Degree in Neurological Psychology with an emphasis on social psychology. If you would like to be apart his journey follow him and download his music by putting StunnaMan02 into your preferred search engine and enjoying the experience. He would also like for you to do him a favor and live the best quality of life you can while being your best self.
Barbara Cohen

Khafre Jay

Musical Artist & Activist

Hailing from Hunters Point, San Francisco—a city with the highest income inequality in the nation—Khafre Jay has dedicated his life to fighting for socioeconomic justice and empowering his community through Hip Hop organizing. Over two decades, his grassroots efforts have employed nearly 1,000 community members, educated over 35,000 K-12 youth, and directed more than $8 million into underserved communities.

Now leading Hip Hop For The Future SPC, Khafre is pioneering the use of Hip Hop to reimagine public healthcare, aiming to increase Black life expectancy and bring transformative resources to marginalized populations.

Khafre’s influence extends nationwide. As a sought-after speaker and educator, he shares his expertise with unapologetic authenticity that inspires audiences from the New York Stock Exchange to TEDx. His deep cultural insight has earned him invitations to institutions like Stanford, Tulane, and the Cambridge School of Social Justice.

A prolific MC in the Bay Area, Khafre’s lyrical brilliance and relentless hustle have placed him on stage with Hip Hop legends like Rakim, Method Man, Dead Prez, Yo Yo, Hieroglyphics, The Pharcyde, and Talib Kweli. Through his artistry and activism, Khafre continues to harness the power of Hip Hop as a tool for liberation and community transformation.

Above all, Khafre is a devoted single father to his beautiful 5-year-old daughter, whom he proudly raises with love, intention, and the same tenacity he brings to his work.

Join Khafre’s mission to use Hip Hop as a bridge for justice and healing. Visit www.HipHopForTheFuture.org to donate, support, and help him get some rest and build a better future for our communities.

Experience the Summit

Watch a Recap Video

13th Annual Health Summit
Ujimaa: Cultivating Connections, Rooted in Love

12th Annual Health Summit
IMANI: Reigniting Black Love and Black Joy

13th Annual Health Summit
Welcome from Shanell Williams

13th Annual Health Summit
Maxine Tatmon-Gilkerson

Browse the Photo Gallery

Relive the joy, colors, hugs, and healing from last year’s summit.

Centering Black Wellness

This space intentionally uplifts Black community voices, bodies, and experiences.
Whether you’re here to connect, organize, dance, grieve, or restore — you belong.

“This was the first space I felt fully seen and nourished — spiritually and politically.”
— 2024 Attendee

Join Us

This event is free, but registration helps us plan food, healing services, and space.

Location:

Rafiki Coalition for Health & Wellness
601 Cesar Chavez St., San Francisco, CA 94124
Accessible via Muni or Bayview Shuttle Service | Limited parking on-site

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact us at: development@rafikicoalition.org | 415-654-0491

For more information, please contact us at:
info@rafikicoalition.org | 415-615-9945