I have been contemplating these ideas this week and have come to seemingly the same conclusion. Democracy is an active system that emerges when self-process and collective-process orient around belonging, wellbeing, intrinsic worth. I also notice the role of the patriarchy in hiding and preventing this process at a family level and in regarding to raising children. Authority in the home and trauma that results directly opposes democracy at a larger scale
I am grateful for the invitation to "dream beyond the confines of the current institutions"- a good place to focus my energy in this overwhelming moment.
What a wonderful perspective, Liza. I'm not sure I've heard democracy framed in both a spiritual and practical context. This is truly inspiring, bread for the journey...
Thank you so much for your comment, Maia. It was really friends and mentors from the Freedom Movement who instilled this in me. I felt some of them (now in the ancestral realm) on my shoulder as I wrote!
Thank you for this reflection and for sharing about the series. I agree on the importance of healing to create a just world. I am figuring out how to bring this important message to places and people outside of the healing sphere and especially those in racial justice movements, because healing ourselves, our collective, our lineages is so important.
Dianna, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I agree that healing is an essential essential part of racial justice work. I actually do see folks engaging healing as part of that movement. Among the best-known is Resmaa Menakem. If you are not familiar with him, start with the book _My Grandmother's Hands_. He addresses the necessity of healing racialized trauma for both BIPOC and white-bodied folks as part of building an anti-racist culture.
Thank you for the recommendation! I have read Resmaa Menakem's book. I do see more people paying attention to healing in racial justice movements, especially through the healing justice framework. I recently read What It Takes to Heal by Prentis Hemphill, it was also a great book about healing in movement work.
Great. I was also going to recommend Prentis Hemphill's book. Sounds like you are finding some good resources. Staci Hanes's book _The Politics of Trauma_ isn't about racial justice per se, but is a justice-centered approach to somatic healing work. And a number of folks I know are incorporating ancestral healing into their racial justice work.
I have been contemplating these ideas this week and have come to seemingly the same conclusion. Democracy is an active system that emerges when self-process and collective-process orient around belonging, wellbeing, intrinsic worth. I also notice the role of the patriarchy in hiding and preventing this process at a family level and in regarding to raising children. Authority in the home and trauma that results directly opposes democracy at a larger scale
Thank you for sharing your reflections, Amy. /|\
I am grateful for the invitation to "dream beyond the confines of the current institutions"- a good place to focus my energy in this overwhelming moment.
Thank you, Gino, yes. One of the ways empire maintains itself is by limiting our capacity to imagine beyond what it has defined as "givens."
Thank you Liza. Harm reduction seems like a good concept as we approach this most compromising, and yet critical, election!
Thank you, Susan, yes. Harm reduction saves lives, but it's not the endpoint!
What a wonderful perspective, Liza. I'm not sure I've heard democracy framed in both a spiritual and practical context. This is truly inspiring, bread for the journey...
Thank you so much for your comment, Maia. It was really friends and mentors from the Freedom Movement who instilled this in me. I felt some of them (now in the ancestral realm) on my shoulder as I wrote!
Thank you for this reflection and for sharing about the series. I agree on the importance of healing to create a just world. I am figuring out how to bring this important message to places and people outside of the healing sphere and especially those in racial justice movements, because healing ourselves, our collective, our lineages is so important.
Dianna, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I agree that healing is an essential essential part of racial justice work. I actually do see folks engaging healing as part of that movement. Among the best-known is Resmaa Menakem. If you are not familiar with him, start with the book _My Grandmother's Hands_. He addresses the necessity of healing racialized trauma for both BIPOC and white-bodied folks as part of building an anti-racist culture.
Thank you for the recommendation! I have read Resmaa Menakem's book. I do see more people paying attention to healing in racial justice movements, especially through the healing justice framework. I recently read What It Takes to Heal by Prentis Hemphill, it was also a great book about healing in movement work.
Great. I was also going to recommend Prentis Hemphill's book. Sounds like you are finding some good resources. Staci Hanes's book _The Politics of Trauma_ isn't about racial justice per se, but is a justice-centered approach to somatic healing work. And a number of folks I know are incorporating ancestral healing into their racial justice work.