Artists, musicians, healers, and spoken word performers gathered together on Sunday, March 13th, at Enter the Orchid—a sacred space for art and healing on Stanley Avenue—in order to celebrate National Women’s History Month.

Featured talent included spoken word artists Dr. V.S.Chochezi and Staajabu, a unique mother and daughter team called “Straight Out Scribes”; Shamanic drummer Peter Salomone; Sacramento’s premier American tribal style dance troupe Manasa with Sawako Ama, as well as ecstatic dancer Isaac Williams who said, “I am a warrior here to protect, hold, and nurture sacred healing space.”

Williams’ quest for a sacred space created the general ambience of Sunday’s event. Though it rained heavily outside, the cozy, two-story art gallery warmed up to a lively afternoon of beauty, healing, and good vibes, not to mention tasty snacks and wine. It all got started with a drum blessing by Brenda Gustin, PhD, who leads BraveHeart Women events throughout the Sacramento area. Positive energy was further generated by keynote speaker, and wife of congressman Ami Bera, Janine Bera, M.D., who specializes in preventive medicine and the roles nutrition and exercise play in the overall management of chronic disease. Lanelle Roberts, the oldest child of Edith and George S. Spanky Roberts of the Tuskegee airmen, also spoke about her parents’ legacy.

Pauline Haynes and Joan Marie were the organizers of this multi-cultural, visual and performance art show, the theme of which was “working to form a more perfect union honoring women in public service and government.” In keeping with this aim, Joan Marie said, “In honoring National Women’s History Month, I honor those who have come before us, those who are here today, and those who will come after us. I am compelled to devote the rest of my time here to creating as much beauty and peace as I can, to the best of my abilities.” Marie added that she was proud to announce Enter the Orchid as Northern California’s location and training center for Healing Hands - Healing Hearts, a non-profit dedicated to serving the critically, chronically, and terminally ill using touch-therapy.

Artists Shonna Daniels, Maia Huang, Birgitta McCarthy, Terrie Rockwell, Celia Sanchez, Alexis Scandalis Genung, and Theresa Polley-Shellcroft contributed to afternoon’s purpose of honoring women with moving artwork that adorned the gallery walls during the event. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these works went to Healing Hands - Healing Hearts. Many of these beautiful, unique, and sometimes unusual paintings, expressed the artists’ deep desires, in the words of President Obama’s Presidential Proclamation for Women’s History Month 2016 “to honor the countless women who sacrificed and strived to ensure all people have an equal shot at the American dream.” One such painting, by Terrie Rockwell, was a striking tableau featuring a wide panorama of women’s history—from the mythical ingestion of the Edenic fruit to the 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible in that fabulous feminist feature film “Thelma and Louise”—in a kind of mystical, mythical tribute to the lives of women throughout the ages.

Event co-organizer Pauline Haynes, a certified life coach, said that the 31 days of National Women’s History Month can be used to do more than hold a mere trite celebration. Rather they should be seen as a way to get into the deep recesses of our souls. “If we don’t speak out for whatever causes, whatever people are suffering injustices of one kind or another,” Haynes said, “we will have to hang our head in the presence of our ancestors. I know I have a duty to always speak out for myself, and the ones who don’t have a voice. Women’s history is my history. Make it worth recording.”