Contextualizing Healing Us Evergreen
The post-colonial histories and current realities of Black and Indigenous people illuminate the necessity of reimagination, recreation, and reclamation of life in the face of systemic oppression. The relentless genocidal violence and tyranny of colonialism and imperialism in Palestine, Sudan, the Congo, Haiti, the Philippines, and Hawai’i, in conjunction with the unceasing massacre of and war on Black, Indigenous, LGBTQIA2S+, Im/migrant and other/ed communities in so called U.S., are reinforcing the fact that we are witnessing and living through a complete dissolution of humanity. We are witnessing and perpetuating — both voluntarily and involuntarily — a loss of heart, a theft of consciousness, a stripping of culture, heritage, an erasure of history, traditional knowledge, the destruction of holiness, of the sacred.
While we call, write, rally, march, and organize, we must also respond to the needs of the collective spirit. The support and resources, the healing, that our kin and the land need as most of us, hopefully, outlive these terrors and dismantle the empire. If you are listening, there is a call to foreground the voices of the Earth, the wisdom of the oppressed. A call to hold onto experiences and visions of joy, health, and wellbeing, to continue to uplift the medicine of our ancestors, elders, and communities, and to create new realities of living, being, and healing. For those of us who are wise to the interconnectedness of suffering and have a sense of conviction, there is an open invitation to re/activate our role(s) in the collective ecosystem and devise or expose new approaches to justice, transformation, and activism. Healing Us Evergreen, in its multiplicious nature, is my offering.
Healing Us Evergreen (HUE) serves as more than a portfolio of my work and a vessel for my community services. HUE is an interdisciplinary body that presents an exploratory framework for (re)conceptualizing unearthed realities of collective well-being and a practical resource for those seeking knowledge, connection, and tools. Our intention is to recover the autonomy and knowledge of Black and Indigenous individuals and communities, reclaim ourselves from oppressive health ideologies, and restore the ever-present wisdom and power within us. Our approach is rooted in Reproductive Justice and shaped by Ecowomanism, as matters of body, spirit, land, and food are essential to the life, vitality, and liberation of all beings, especially those harmed and forgotten the most. The pillars of HUE represent this:
Birth-work: liberation of (collective) body - autonomy, agency, dignity, reproductive/sexual freedom, family, safe and sustainable communities,
Mindfulness: liberation of mind and spirit - awareness, rest, presence, peace, joy, connection, compassion, belief, faith,
Land Stewardship: liberation of Earth - place, source (food, water, shelter), plants, animals, air, fire, minerals, memory, story, symbiosis, kinship,
Holistic Nutrition: liberation of (physical) health - intuition, food, mood, lifestyle, consumption, mind-body-spirit wellness practices,
Thought Partnership: liberation of intellect - dream space, sharing, teaching, creativity, storytelling, organizing, advocacy, ancestral and elder wisdom;
HUE synthesizes Black feminist/Womanist conceptual frameworks and perspectives because they insist on a race-class-gender-environmental lens to examine and respond to the innumerable injustices erected from and perpetuated by white heteronormative patriarchal capitalism that affect both human and non-human life alike:
Reproductive Justice asserts the human right to own our bodies and control our future, the right to have or not have a child, and the right to do so in safe and sustainable communities. These are the basic building blocks of liberation from which we can create and wield our social, economic, and political power within our communities even as we continue to exist in systems constructed for our death. Ecowomanism is a social change perspective based on a holistic perception of creation encompassing humans, all living organisms, the nonliving environment and the spirit world. It creates and honors the collective human-environmental-spiritual “superorganism” and the eco-spiritualities that arise from traditional theologies and cosmologies of African and Indigenous peoples. This perspective is integral to uplifting and reconnecting us to the wisdom of the spirit and natural worlds in our justice movements.
The Reproductive Justice framework grounds our vision of the future and Ecowomanism charts the path. The following steps to transformation are adapted from Melanie Harris’ “Sacred Blood, Transformation, and Ecowomanism.” These methods in tandem with the knowledge and practice of our basic demands are reflective of HUE’s exploratory framework for (re)conceptualizing unearthed realities of collective well-being:
1) honoring one’s* [insert matter] experience
2) critically reflecting on this experience
3) engaging womanist intersectional analysis
4) critically engaging our traditions and practices
5) with an open heart and mind, staying open to transformation
6) sharing dialogue
7) taking courageous action for [insert matter] justice
*one can be interpreted here as both the individual and the collective
HUE is a “community health practice” because liberation requires that we bridge our efforts and propel our dreams and visions into reality with perpetuity. In the words of our foremother, bell hooks, “healing is an act of communion.” We choose us and it first starts within. It is in holding our truths, keeping our faith, remembering the Earth, leading with love, and being of service to our collective well-being as much as possible that we embody liberation for ourselves, our communities, and the generations to come.