Black History isn't simply a "month"
Sunday, February 28, 2021 at 3:36 PM by Kayce Stevens Hughlett
“Love and Justice are not two. Without inner change, there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters.” Reverend Angel Kyodo Williams Sensei
Black History is not simply a month. It is a lifetime of essential study (beginning or continuing from NOW, whoever or wherever you may be). “Without collective change, no change matters.” It is essential for white individuals such as myself who have been steeped in the skewed and unjust “white” story for decades, lifetimes, and generations to explore another version of history and help write a better ending. I am a white woman. Nothing I study, say, do, or write will change that. I’m also a person willing to dig deep to bring about inner and collective change. Love and Justice are one.
I am not an expert on Black History, far from it. But I am a “master” (i.e. I’ve dedicated more than 10,000 hours) on what it means to explore healing from the inside out. I’ve done and continue to do the work—both professionally and personally. I do this work on behalf of collective change which each day begins with myself. The “work” takes on a hundred different forms from lighting candles and incense while chanting a metta prayer for all human beings, to reading books and authors who both challenge and delight me, to throwing up my hands and declaring, “I can’t do it anymore!” and then returning … The list goes on.
Aslan Approved (Click image to order) I realize as I write that this is a much larger essay, but today I want to share a few of the voices and resources I’ve been exploring this past month in the hopes that you will find something that sparks your own invitation to know better and do better. To enter in with eyes open to discovery, knowing once you begin there will be things you can’t “unsee.” This work is not for the faint of heart, but most things worth achieving aren’t.
“In short, we, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are really to become a nation—if we are really, that is, to achieve our identity, our maturity, as men and women.” James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
Three voices stood out to me this month, primarily because they were at times so hard to hear. They have lots to say about white WOMEN and our complicity in perpetuating white supremacy. It doesn’t feel especially great, but growth rarely does. I hope you’ll pick one or all three and have a listen or buy their new and relevant books!
Rachel Ricketts. Sonya Renee Taylor. Dr. Yaba Blay. I ran the gamut of deep resonance, tears, and Truth that made me shake in my walking shoes as I listened to them speak and share from their hearts.
“So to me, spiritual activism is daily, active, ongoing, anti-oppressive thought, speech, and actions that are informed, often, by a connection with something bigger than us. So a spiritual power, whether that’s secular or non-secular and frequently embodied, and supported by culturally-informed spiritual practices such as meditation, breath work, Reiki and yoga. I don’t believe that you can be a spiritual person without being an activist, because if you’re a spiritual person, you understand the deep interconnectedness of all of us beings here on Earth.” Rachel Ricketts with Tami Simon of Sounds True
“Hold systems to task. Hate requires too much of my own personal energy. I reserve my hate for systems. I’m not interested in tearing down humans. I’m interested in tearing down systems that those humans are in.” Sonya Renee Taylor interview on Yoke and Abundance
Book: The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love
What can I say? I’ve fallen in love with Dr. Yaba Blay.
Spoiler alert: She doesn’t particularly trust white women, but why should she? Heck, I don’t always trust white women and I am one. She’s not here to hold my hand, but she will offer straight talk for ears willing to hear. Listen to her Instagram interview with Glennon Doyle and see if you, too, don’t just fall a bit in love with this clear, wise, powerful woman!
One more shout out to Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain for their edits of Four Hundred Souls: a community history of America. 1619-2019. I’m about half way through and have learned more about American History in these pages than I learned in 18 years of formal education.
Questions? Thoughts? Need support getting your own spiritual activism plan rolling? Send me a message. We’re in this together!!
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