From:

Dr. Kameelah Oseguera

MWF Founding ED & BMPC Chair

 

A Letter From My Heart at the Crossroads

AsSalaamuAlaikum Dear Beloved Community,

It’s with a full and tender heart that I write to you. On behalf of the BMPC Planning Committee, it pains me deeply to share the difficult news that, after much deliberation, we have made the decision to cancel the in-person convening of the 2025 Black Muslim Psychology Conference, originally scheduled for July 19–20, 2025 in Chicago. This decision has been shaped by a number of unfortunate and converging factors, including:

• The ongoing rollback of support for DEI, justice-based, and BIPOC-led initiatives, which has severely impacted our ability to secure critical funding and resources as well as the reduction, delay or rescission of funding from partners who have historically supported this gathering

• Heightened concern for safety and surveillance due to the current socio-political climate; this reality increases feelings of hypervigilance and anxiety by those who are navigating travel amidst identity-based targeting, detention and hostile political rhetoric

• And most significantly, our unwavering commitment to the well-being and dignity of all who make BMPC the sacred space that it is – including its organizing team.

 

In recent months, we have witnessed and heard from many in our community who are navigating profound burnout, moral exhaustion, and disenfranchised grief—not only from personal or professional pressures, but also from bearing witness to genocide, war, racial violence, and collective trauma across the globe – from Chicago to the Congo. We are holding space for the truth that showing up right now — as a speaker, as an organizer, as an advocate, as an educator, as a healer, as a community leader — may require a level of energy and resources that many of us currently do not have. To move forward with an in-person event without fully accounting for that collective tenderness, risk, and diminished capacity would be out of alignment with the very ethics of care, and rootedness that have shaped BMPC from the beginning.

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This is not the message I imagined sending to you—especially not in a year that was meant to mark a milestone, a celebration of ten years of sacred gathering, truth-telling, healing, and the collective building of beloved community.

 

But here we are—at SelebeYoon, a literal and spiritual crossroads.

 

In the last few months, many of us—myself included—have carried an overwhelming weight. We have felt the exhaustion of persistent burnout, the demoralization of shrinking resources, and the gut-deep grief that comes from witnessing genocide, violence, an up-tick in dangerous anti-Muslim rhetoric, and overall dehumanization of Black and Brown people. We are facing it all while still trying to hold one another, still trying to create spaces where we can be fully seen, protected, and spiritually intact.

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This is the context in which this decision was made. And I want to say plainly: this was not a rash or hasty decision. For months, our team planned in good faith, trusting—as we always have—that the final weeks would bring the necessary influx of support, registrations, and funds that have carried us through before. But this time was different.

 

The convergence of factors—a chilling political climate, identity-based surveillance and safety concerns, loss of critical funding, and deep collective fatigue—made it clear that moving forward would not only be financially unsustainable, but would place a risk and burden on many who are already - in the words of Melissa Harris Perry - struggling to “stand upright in a crooked room”.

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AND, it hurts. It feels like a loss. And yet—I believe this moment is asking us to pause, to listen, to reflect. This moment at the crossroads is not the end of our journey. We are already exploring how to honor BMPC’s 10th anniversary in another form—a virtual gathering, a community archive, or a fall/winter offering that allows for celebration, reflection, and restoration. I hope you will walk with us when that time comes.

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To the BMPC Planning Committee: we have toiled together for months and countless hours to curate this space of reflection, care and love for our community. I am certain that this labor was not in vain. May Allah be pleased with you for all the sacrifices you’ve made along the way.

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To those who were preparing to speak, lead, teach, or bear witness: thank you. Your voice was an important part of what we had envisioned for this milestone year, and we remain incredibly honored to be in community with you. You were part of the vision. You are still part of the future.

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To my family and friends who have also poured into BMPC: listening, encouraging, witnessing up close just how challenge this work actually is – please know that I am deeply grateful for your love and support.

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To all those who have trusted us across these last 10 years, and especially in this difficult moment: I am holding you in prayer and profound gratitude as well. May this pause be an invitation—not to despair—but to deepen our understanding of community, of collective responsibility, of what it takes to sustain spaces that truly see and nourish us.

 

May Allah ease our burdens, multiply our intentions, and make us a people who never forget how to love and be loved, even at the crossroads.

 

With humility, love, and ongoing commitment,

Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera

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PS. All Speakers, Volunteers, Registered Attendees, and other key stakeholders were notified of this decision this past weekend. Practically, we are working diligently to ensure that all registration fees are refunded in full (minus Eventbrite’s nonrefundable processing fees) within the next 30 to 60 days.  

 

We kindly ask for your forgiveness, patience and understanding as we coordinate with Eventbrite and navigate the administrative and financial logistics of processing refunds for all who invested in this milestone gathering.