AGING ODYSSEY
Black Dandelion: Convergent Voice™ (BDCV) Course 1001-Aging Odyssey: Wellness & Healing through the Lens of “Black Dandelion,” An 8-Part Workshop Series
Aging Odyssey: Wellness & Healing through the Lens of “Black Dandelion,” An 8-Part Workshop Series is created and facilitated by Semaj Brown, Flint Poet Laureate, an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, Director/Founder of Black Dandelion: Convergent Voice™ the international, integrative health, literacy & wellness educational platform. July 29, 2025, from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm at the Flint Institute of Arts and The Gloria Coles Public Library, Semaj Brown received rave reviews from SOL HOT 60 + participants, an arts collective consisting of women over the age of sixty. This workshop was in preparation for their week-long studio residency at The Flint Institute of Arts Art School. Ms. Brown has divided the workshop into a compelling eight part series presented below:
BDCV Course 1001-1
The Real Superheroes?
At its core, the 3-hour workshop, “The Real Superheroes” is about identity, and the realignment of identities, and the repositioning of emotional and social hierarchies. We are exploring how human capacity can be recognized, best realized, and arranged differently. Through a series of mind-mapping exercises, the workshop addresses fundamental questions: Who are we? How did we get her? Where are we going? Through the raw power of declaration and proclamation, as exemplified in the poem “Black Dandelion,” we will explore how to catapult positivity into realities of wholeness.
BDCV Course 1001-2
Something Called War
This post-earth workshop is a serious but playful journey into Afrofuturism. We will examine the Flint Institute of Arts, commissioned, poetry-play by Semaj Brown, “Something called War,” inspired by the multi-media painting by Lovell Whifield, “Epoch.” A retrospective, out-of-space view will center the discussion. By taking a post-earth perspective, we will determine behaviors that led to earth’s demise and prescribe and apply corrective measures on an individual and social level. We will develop a “Bad, Better, and Best” behavior chart for our personal and social selves. This is biofeedback at its best!
BDCV Course 1001-3
What We Can't See
It’s what we can’t see, but often, feel deeply, those hidden emotions and thoughts playing a part in our everyday lives. Vestiges of pain, joy, and gratitude can remain shadowed preventing us from realizing our purest potential. Enter the Poetry-Scope, a technology that helps us to see and imagine the invisible. Participants will view a litany of Black Dandelion frames and create narratives to the nonvisual. This Semajian Method technique similar to coloring, instead of crayons−words and intentions shade the story.
BDCV Course 1001-4
Tag it, Plant it!
By the time one reaches the era of senior citizenship or achieves status as an elder in the community, most report that life moved rather quickly. In this workshop, we tag and tell, reflect on the continuous, never-ending cycle of the five life-stages of the dandelion plant and compare these stages with human development: germinating, rooting, growing, flowering, and seeding. Participants have an opportunity to physically and metaphorically plant and water seeds and take home their own seed started pots.
BDCV Course 1001-5
Inside, Outside, Other side or Upside Down
Exploring the poem in Gather & Grow discussion circles creates meaningful exchange among participants. Boundaries and barriers are examined through this “Bingo-style Grid which accounts for the selection of inside, outside, other side or upside down as it relates to the players in the “Black Dandelion” poem. Answering probes from the Study Guide, reporting to the full group, allows for participants to determine if they are “In, Out, Other, or Up.
BDCV Course 1001-6
Making Nonsense into Sense
Twenty-One cards with nonsensical writing will be read and interpreted by participants. Participants will answer the narratives in kind with equally nonsensical wording. The group is challenged to make personal, social and moral judgement on this scattered way of thinking. It is fun and yields lots of laughter while addressing serious underlined issues.
BDCV Course 1001-7
Re-claiming, Re-shaping, Remaking, Sustaining
What is the shape of power? What is the shape of Love? What shape does a healthy community convey? Where is the poem Black Dandelion do you identify shapes? What do they mean? Participants will select and populate their geometric treasure-scrapes with writings, illustrations, pictures, creating a collage that speaks in geometry of life.
BDCV Course 1001-8
Balloon Word Toss and Contemplation
Let’s go deep, surpass the conscious mind. Let’s permeate barriers. Tell us what you are really thinking. This exercise combines physical eye/hand coordination with spontaneous response. Participants keep those balloons in the air while saying the first thing that enters their minds. Filled with surprises and laughter, this workshop challenges us to let go and grow like dandelions.
BDCV Course 1001-9
Interrogating Black Dandelion (PowerPoint)
Every word, phrase, and stanza is examined. The Black Dandelion: Convergent Voice™ PowerPoint will guide us through the poem with captivating visuals and interesting probes. Participants will select their favorite stanza of phrase and respond in abstract painting punctuated with words.