Black Star Restorative initiative

 

As an Afro-Descendant healer, I found myself in need of my own healing and restoration as I tried to balance self-care and supporting others through a myriad of traumatic events.  I felt a strong desire to reconnect to my indigeneity, my desire to reconnect, and its fundamental role in my restorative practice work, led me to Ghana for healing.

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​My restorative practices work allows me the opportunity to engage with people in various stages of the life cycle from maternal health to elders. In those various life cycles, I consistently experience Afro-Descendants in need of cultural healing and restoration. Many are often in search of self-identity, positive and affirming spaces that value their humanity and acknowledge their lived experiences. I often hear “we [Afro-Descendants] don’t have time to heal from one traumatic event before the next is unfolding.”  In essence, Afro-Descendants are searching for time and space to heal together in a meaningful way.

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​It is my belief that healing is a lifelong process and that we are always healing as we live through daily successes, challenges and trauma. My visit to Ghana was medicinal...it was the cultural medicine I needed for my healing process.

Reconnecting to culture and reclaiming ancestral history and identity in Ghana was a profound restorative and nurturing experience and has become foundational in my personal lifelong healing process. The love and embrace of the Ghanian people are powerfully affirming to me as an Afro-Descendant.

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It is my hope that all Afro-Descendants have a restorative and healing experience similar to what I had in Ghana. I am committed to making that possible through curated cultural trips as well as continuing to create restorative and healing spaces here in the states through education, culture and art.

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