About
This program provides a critical, survival-centered introduction to the Creation of Society, a practical approach designed to ensure that communities whose DNA drives biomedical innovation—especially Black and Afro-Indigenous populations—exercise binding authority and control over their genetic material. Participants will engage with principles that go beyond ethics or advisory roles, including: Genetic sovereignty as survival: community authority is binding; no external entity can override it Collective consent as refusal power: research, commercialization, or data use cannot proceed without documented community approval Protection from exploitation: economic or institutional incentives do not replace control over one’s DNA Long-term intergenerational oversight: decisions today must safeguard reproduction, phenotype, and lineage for generations Designed for policymakers, advocates, and affected communities—including the sickle cell community—this program equips participants to recognize, defend, and enforce community genetic rights, ensuring that gene-based technologies serve the survival and self-determined evolution of the communities they impact, rather than the profit or control of external institutions