Fireside Trainin': What Our Ancestors Taught Us About Pathways To Intergenerational Black Healing

November 09, 2022

Information

YCSC Grand Rounds November 8, 2022
Zuleka Henderson, PhD, LMSW
Founding Director
Center for Black WellBEing (CBW)

ID8246

To CiteDCA Citation Guide

00:13Pleasure to welcome you to
00:14a very special grand round series.
00:16This is the first in our trainee led
00:20Grand Rounds series for this year
00:22and I'd like to start by thanking
00:24Stephanie Salazar and all of the
00:26social work fellows for the thought
00:27and time that they put in to
00:29creating this wonderful event and
00:31for inviting such a fantastic speaker.
00:33Dr. Henderson, we're delighted
00:34to have you with us today. And now
00:36just before we get started,
00:37a quick announcement that next week
00:39we'll welcome Dr. Joe Ledoux for
00:41an in person grand rounds again.
00:42We'll be here
00:43in the Cohen. Join us if you can in
00:46person or please join us at via zoom
00:48as we continue our hybrid event.
00:50Dr. Ledoux will be talking
00:51about how our brain encodes and
00:54stores information about danger.
00:56And so without any further ado,
00:58I'd like to welcome
00:59Stephanie to get us started for today.
01:04Thank you so much, Kieran.
01:05Can you all hear me OK?
01:08The social work fellows are so
01:10delighted to invite Doctor Zuleika Rugo
01:12Henderson to this year's grand rounds.
01:15Dr Henderson holds a doctorate in social
01:17work from Howard University and is a
01:19licensed master level social worker.
01:20She's the founding director of the
01:23Center for Blackwell Being CBW,
01:25an organization reimagining mental health
01:27service delivery for black people.
01:29She was previously a lecturer at the
01:31Columbia University School of Social Work,
01:33where I was lucky enough to take.
01:34Whatever courses she focused her research
01:36and scholarship on the intersections
01:38of ancestral healing practices,
01:40trauma, and pathways to Wellness.
01:42Inspired by her commitments,
01:44intergenerational healing and well-being
01:46for people of African ancestry,
01:48Doctor Henderson translated insights
01:49from her research, practice,
01:51and personal experiences into the
01:53development of CVW, a healing centered,
01:56culturally rooted collective practice
01:58that works with individuals,
01:59communities,
02:00and organizations to create and sustain
02:03the conditions that support Wellness.
02:054 black people Doctor Henderson,
02:07we are so happy that you here
02:08and that you could join us.
02:09I hope you feel welcomed and we
02:10look forward to your discussion.
02:25Their ancestors.
02:29And my silent thoughts.
02:31I hear the distant wailing of your cries.
02:35And my body, I feel the burden of your tears.
02:40I too would never have wanted
02:43to be ripped away from home.
02:46All those centuries have gone,
02:47our spirits still harmonized and hurt.
02:50We nurture our babies with those same wounds.
02:53As the legacy of that pain persists,
02:56it often feels as though our souls have died.
03:01Sometimes I wish I could have bottled
03:03the antidote for that kind of agony,
03:05secretly sent the cure back in time
03:08over those Atlantic shores so that
03:10my Mama would not have inherited
03:11the remnants of that anguish,
03:13and none of us kids would have had to watch
03:16this cycle of terror with our own eyes.
03:18Better yet.
03:20I wish I could have intercepted
03:23the original blows.
03:25Made duds of every weapon of subjugation
03:27violently launched by our oppressors so
03:30that toxic venom wouldn't be embedded
03:32in the DNA of their successors,
03:34who to this day ensure that in addition
03:37to carrying your pain in my blood,
03:39I also know the direct sting of my own.
03:44Apparently I can't depend on
03:45them to cease firing. So so you.
03:48You felt like my only hope.
03:52To be honest,
03:53I really did try to start with begging Mama.
03:56I pleaded with her to care for her injuries,
03:58to bandage those wounds that
04:00Granddad left in her body memory,
04:02but her eyes just seemed to keep
04:04telling me that she can't do.
04:07What?
04:07She don't know.
04:10Grandma's eyes had the same testimony.
04:13So I came here.
04:16Originally because I needed you
04:18to know so that she could do so,
04:22that I can make sure that they
04:24don't get dragged onto the field
04:26to fight my battles when they
04:27are facing a war of their own.
04:31But on the way I found a
04:33stack of your narratives.
04:35I must have rummaged through
04:36volumes of your words,
04:37trying to find the blueprint to bring
04:40back to show Mama and them. Instead.
04:43In those pages, I find evidence of
04:45how hard you fought to protect us.
04:48How you persevered under conditions I could
04:51not have imagined to endure because of that.
04:55We survived. Because of that.
04:59I hate the fact that I even had
05:01to come back here desperate,
05:03desperately pleading for even more
05:05bravery than you have already shown.
05:07So I borrowed your prayers for my trip home.
05:11When I called out to God with this dilemma,
05:13she reminded me that your story is far more
05:15than the transfer of pain, and that this.
05:19This is just my leg of the journey.
05:22When you found out that they were
05:24in route to destroy your body,
05:26you planted these seeds way
05:28deep inside of me.
05:30My mission is the realization of your faith.
05:34This desire for healing has roots that
05:37are directly connected to your heart.
05:39And Mom was too.
05:42Now that I understand,
05:43I had to stop back by to leave
05:46gratitude on this altar for your fire.
05:48I will honor it. I will embody it.
05:53I will pass it on.
05:56With love.
05:57Your great, great, great granddaughter.
06:01Welcome everybody.
06:09I will share my screen.
06:15But I start today with that
06:19poem as an offering. Each.
06:21Segment of it captures a different
06:24layer of my journey, all parts of.
06:28The reason why I am here today,
06:32invited to talk to you about something
06:35that I just feel like is the reason
06:38why I'm on this earth healing. And.
06:41In that piece, you'll see the journey.
06:44I actually shared this piece of a few years
06:46ago when I was invited to give a keynote
06:49for a black student graduation at Columbia.
06:51And it was a different piece.
06:53And at that time it was a different piece
06:57from when I had written it years before.
07:00And what I discovered is that.
07:02In writing it,
07:04it was a manifestation of
07:07some internalized oppression.
07:09What I had grown to do was to look
07:11up at those who raised me and start
07:14asking questions with the stank.
07:16Face a judgment like why didn't y'all?
07:19How come you didn't? Why you ain't got?
07:23Because if you would have did this,
07:24then I would have.
07:27The way that that history was alive in me,
07:31it invited me to look up at those who
07:35invested and sacrificed for me to be real.
07:38To stare in the face of the things that
07:40I thought were shortcomings for them.
07:43And to look at them with
07:45the face of judgment.
07:46Essay because y'all didn't do.
07:49I'm carrying. So before I do anything.
07:55I remember. To go back humbly.
08:00To revisit the faces of those folks.
08:04My father dimani,
08:06my grandmother Gloria,
08:08my other grandmother Ruby may,
08:10and my grandfather but Owens.
08:13All who I ancest is now.
08:16But there was some reworking that I had to
08:18do in my relationship and my understanding.
08:21Every choice that they made,
08:23every tear that they cried,
08:25every seed that they sold was
08:27all poured into the soil.
08:28That is the foundation of who I am.
08:31So I don't go anywhere without giving thanks.
08:35I also don't go anywhere without
08:38reminding that I am doctor Zuleika Rugolo,
08:41Clinton Henderson.
08:42The Rugolo is in the middle there.
08:45The way we do back home is that
08:47family get excited and they'll merge
08:49the names of some family members.
08:51And so I get to be called.
08:54And every time I say my name,
08:55I get to bring forth my grandmothers
08:58Ruby Mae and Gloria. So I greet you.
09:00As the Lake Arlo Henderson
09:02from East New York, Brooklyn.
09:05Is excited to be here with you all
09:08to share about this journey of of
09:10healing and the creation of the
09:12sense of for black well-being.
09:14Take a breath for me in this room
09:16and in whatever rooms that you're
09:17in on the zoom screen,
09:19bring some life into this room.
09:22How you doing? How you feeling?
09:25What's present for you?
09:30Connect with it for a second.
09:35Are there people? Who you might just
09:39give a thought or breath to as they
09:41played integral roles in your own.
09:43Well, presence in your well-being
09:45journey bring them into the space.
09:51Breathe out anything that
09:52you might need to let go.
09:58And if you there's anything that you
10:00learn about Zuleyka from Brooklyn,
10:01this thing just going to be
10:03Zuleika from Brooklyn talking.
10:04So I hope you're ready we presented today.
10:10So. Much of that work, much of my work
10:14and much of my story of growing up,
10:16and I often describe that something
10:20that I've grown to accept as a part
10:22of a gifting is to have sensitivities
10:25to other people's feelings and often
10:27sensitivity to other people suffering.
10:30And so because I could walk into a
10:32room and be like, oh, I could feel,
10:34I could sense that from young.
10:37I feel like those were some of the
10:40seeds that created the foundation.
10:42You are healing to be such an
10:44important part of my life journey.
10:46And one of the things that you know,
10:49we'll look closely at is,
10:51Umm, I did many things,
10:53but one of the more recent things
10:55that I did was just to ask the
10:58question of what did our ancestors do?
11:00How were they healing?
11:02And so before getting started,
11:04it looks like it'll be really small.
11:06So I'll read it aloud. Sorry about that.
11:08And then you can feel free to
11:09get up and walk to a screen.
11:11But I want us to engage in the beginning.
11:14I read off the four quotes that came
11:17from the research that I'll talk about
11:19later and I'll ask you to just identify
11:21one that most resonates with with you.
11:24It doesn't have to resonate because you
11:26feel like you agree with what it says.
11:27Maybe it's sparking a question,
11:29an inquiry,
11:30maybe it maybe like some kind of reaction,
11:33but I'll read them aloud.
11:35I'll ask you to identify one that
11:38you know lands for some reason and
11:40then just take about a minute with
11:42the person who's next to you and.
11:45Identify the one that you've
11:47chosen and then just say a little
11:49bit about how it's spoken to you.
11:51So top left.
11:54Enslaved women attempted to preserve
11:57family well-being by teaching
11:59children the meaning of signs,
12:01signs in nature.
12:02And human behavior conveyed the threat
12:05of death, the meaning of dreams,
12:08importance of future interactions
12:10with neighbors and enemies.
12:12Within a sacred vision of health,
12:14signs served as remedies against
12:17misfortune alongside herbal medicines.
12:20We'll call that number 1 #2 top right.
12:26Mama with doctor on me with tea and
12:29grease made from weeds and marrow bones.
12:32My mother looked after most of us
12:33when we were sick. She used roots,
12:36herbs and grease and medicine.
12:38The overseer got in town,
12:40but my mother got through rubbing you.
12:42You would soon be well.
12:45We'll call that number 2.
12:48#3 bottom left.
12:49By reading the movements or
12:51alignments of coffee grounds,
12:53cards, bones, and other materials,
12:56the divine or discerned information to help
12:59an afflicted person pursue, pursue a cure.
13:02We'll call that #3.
13:05And #4 and bottom right.
13:07In time of illness or other trouble,
13:10fellow enslaved would turn in and help out.
13:14Men and women aided the afflicted
13:16person through different types of work.
13:18Nobody was left to suffer alone.
13:21And all this loving care
13:23cheered up the troubled soul,
13:24whether he got well or died.
13:27We'll call that #4.
13:28So just a few minutes,
13:30and if you would, let's take a minute.
13:33If you need to get closer to
13:35the screen to locate one,
13:37identify one that resonates with you.
13:39And then I'll ask that you go back to your
13:41seat with whatever you get in a minute,
13:43and then just talk to who's next
13:45to you about what came up for you,
13:47and then we'll come back together.
13:49Cool. All right. And feel free on zoom.
13:54If you feel move to add it in the
13:56chat you can do that as well.
13:58OK.
14:04See.
14:07If you can see, this is what this
14:09is what working with narratives did
14:12to me too right to get you going.
14:15So feel free to finish
14:17whatever thought is happening.
14:21But did you?
14:25Feel the energy that filled the room.
14:29Everybody was able to maybe locate something,
14:33maybe because you were asked to,
14:35but the volume I've taught in
14:37classrooms when people don't really
14:38feel like answering it, be real quiet.
14:43So anybody have anything,
14:45one or two people that you
14:47really feel moved to share?
14:50Yeah. Despite your action.
14:54There were always something
14:56that when you got sick,
14:57whether with the healer or so forth,
15:00for example, cognitively.
15:07I'm sorry. All you had to do is cough
15:09or sniff and immediately someones jammed
15:12down your throat and so let's see.
15:15So I'm 59 now so that was about and
15:18probably 9 or 10 and so even now I
15:21still do those things like you hear
15:23my voice now and so having finally
15:26getting COVID and still lingering cough.
15:29So mixtures of cranberry juice,
15:31honey, apple cider vinegar.
15:33And so I that follows through
15:35with my grandchildren.
15:36If you come over the house and you're sick,
15:38then you're going to get
15:40something jammed down your throat.
15:42And so that resonates because
15:44it means we need you to you.
15:46We need you to be well emotionally
15:48and psychologically.
15:49And so even listening to you,
15:50when you first started,
15:51we all had that experience.
15:53Like, I'm a little bit older
15:54than you was like, well,
15:55why didn't you do this?
15:56And then as we grow older,
15:58we understand that we were limited
16:00because of the systemic racism.
16:01So it's very powerful.
16:04One years old and when you said color
16:07oral at tasted it in my mouth immediately
16:10and I was like but it is what it is
16:13it is what was happening whether your
16:15stomach hurt or your throat whatever
16:18you was getting so sweet thank you for
16:21sharing that and I'm I'm also checking
16:23the chat so you are not forgotten
16:25on zoom anybody else had anything
16:27that you really wanted to share.
16:33Sweet.
16:41John Jackson, an elderly man,
16:43recalled his boyhood in slavery.
16:46You know, they laid the heap of
16:48stress on education these days.
16:50But education is one thing,
16:52and fireside training is another.
16:54We had fireside training.
16:57Jackson's act frase conveys the process
17:00of learning from enslaved elders after
17:02the Sun had set on the day's work.
17:05Here's why. Elder Jackson's.
17:07Quote really sent the whole
17:10vibration through my body.
17:13The idea of fireside training meant
17:15that our ancestors were intentionally,
17:18in the context that they were in,
17:20intentionally carving out time to
17:22say whatever healing gifts I have.
17:24I'm going to pass them on to
17:26you so that you know how.
17:27So we could be in the room today
17:30talking about cod liver liberal.
17:32Right, so while we get.
17:35A range of stories about what
17:38happened during that form of
17:40mass group trauma historically,
17:41and talk about a lot about how that
17:44led to the transference of pain.
17:46When I read these words and I was like,
17:48oh,
17:49they was intentionally carving
17:51out space for healing,
17:52and not only for them in that time,
17:55but they were intentionally
17:56creating pathways to pass that on.
17:59So that we could have those things
18:01and there was something about the
18:04intentional transfer of knowledge
18:06that meant that they had faith
18:09in the fact that what they knew.
18:11Will contribute to healing for generations
18:13of people who were not even there.
18:15At that time.
18:17Fireside training was huge for me.
18:20It meant that there was a
18:21trail that I need to go back.
18:23And follow.
18:24It meant that there was more than
18:26some kind of transference of pain,
18:29which I was so grateful for,
18:30historical trauma theory in my
18:32early doctoral studies because
18:34it gave me an important lens.
18:35It affirmed some things.
18:37It actually helped me transfer that blame
18:40and that judgment into the right place.
18:43Right?
18:44And so I was so grateful
18:45for having that framing,
18:47that understanding.
18:48But there was something about
18:50knowing that healing was being
18:53transferred to that was so crucial.
18:56For my own healing journey,
18:59my relationships not only with my
19:00family members, but but with myself.
19:02And so this very fact of fireside
19:04training was something that
19:06inspired me to go on the journey.
19:08So in the poem,
19:09when I talk about going back and
19:11rummaging through their narratives,
19:12I was trying to follow.
19:14I was like, oh,
19:15you were intentionally
19:17leaving information for me,
19:18original instructions.
19:19So I wanted to know,
19:22I wanted to get closer.
19:24I wanted to answer the question
19:26what did our ancestors teach
19:27us about healing our past,
19:29present and future?
19:32So again the journey was with
19:35historical trauma theory was so
19:38instrumental to this work, right?
19:41So being able to have this framing to
19:43say Oh no it it wasn't just a first
19:46generation of people transferring some
19:48trauma response to the second generation
19:51without some other things happening,
19:54right that the the existence of not only.
19:58Current or real time acts of terror,
20:01but also the systematic and structural
20:03transference of those things.
20:05That was the reason why we was passing
20:07on trauma responses in the 1st place.
20:09Don't forget that that part of the story,
20:12right so strong historical
20:14trauma was real for me.
20:16For each person in my family,
20:17I got to have a map to be
20:19able to locate some things.
20:20Oh. That's why grandad.
20:23That might be where that came from.
20:27So following this journey it gave me
20:29an important framing for being able
20:31to see and also to hold space with
20:33the people that I was working with
20:35as a clinician and therapy, right.
20:37Being able to offer a sometimes an
20:40expanded view of the things that we feel
20:43up and up close and personally right,
20:46to offer new language,
20:47to offer new framing,
20:49to offer insight into that I am not damaged.
20:55So reading the work of Doctor
20:58Maria Yellowhorse Braveheart and
21:00finding this conceptual model of
21:02historical trauma was important.
21:04In that way, it helped to make
21:06sure that we weren't telling some
21:08a historical story of black folks.
21:11It helped to make sure that we
21:12weren't acting like, oh, you.
21:14It's just in your DNA to be less there.
21:17It's because of your makeup that
21:18you have more health disparities.
21:20Oh no. Right.
21:22So that level of affirmation
21:25and accountability was huge.
21:27What I discovered though,
21:29was that in the center.
21:32Is that triangle that takes up
21:34less space than most other things
21:37on the map where it talks about
21:41resilience and protective factors.
21:43I'm so glad that they were there,
21:46but Elder Jackson and fire started
21:48training and that energy made me want
21:50to take a deep dive into that triangle.
21:53What was happening in the story of
21:56resilience and protective factors?
21:58Well, what was there?
22:01To me,
22:01the best way to do that was to not just
22:04search for other contemporary models,
22:06but to go and hear the words of my ancestors.
22:10What would they say,
22:11and who were they being?
22:12What were they doing?
22:14So my colleagues and I wanted to find
22:18a way to get into that triangle,
22:21and we wanted to do it again through hearing
22:24the voices of those who came before us.
22:27And so we decided that we were going to
22:29search for narratives that could say,
22:32you know,
22:32share with us what was happening
22:34in the world of healing.
22:35What was the language that we had?
22:38Around that,
22:39what were the world's that
22:41we created around healing?
22:46So we did a study and thank you.
22:50Part of the invitation was letting me know
22:54that many of you have found that article.
22:57So conceptualizing healing through
22:59the African American experience
23:00of historical trauma is that
23:02article that shares these findings.
23:04And So what we did is we asked
23:07what were the practices,
23:09strategies and roles that our ancestors.
23:13Uh other uh implemented or the
23:15roles that they the positions that
23:17they were in and what were the
23:19ways that they preserved those
23:21practices and strategies as well.
23:23And so we found a text Sharla
23:27Fett's work on health and healing.
23:30Which is also here.
23:35I'll show you.
23:36But on southern plantations,
23:38what was helpful is that that that
23:41they had already done an exploration
23:44of finding some artifacts inside,
23:47finding some data about healing
23:49on southern plantations.
23:50And so while we definitely are
23:52excited to do some primary research,
23:55what felt very primary about it
23:57was that we got to actually look at
24:00and engage with the words as people
24:02in these bodies and to discover.
24:05Maybe different angles or or
24:06new elements of what was there.
24:09And So what we found is that in
24:11terms of roles on these plantations,
24:14there were those of our ancestors who sold,
24:17served in the roles of healers
24:18and those who served in the roles
24:20of seekers of healing.
24:21And they weren't discreet, right.
24:23So in one situation you might have
24:25been somebody seeking healing
24:26and another you might have been
24:29somebody performing healing.
24:30And so we kept following and
24:32through looking at, you know,
24:34what they expressed and.
24:35Uh, the evidence and the examples,
24:37what were they doing?
24:38Right?
24:39And so we came up with these findings
24:42in terms of the seekers of healing,
24:45we felt discovered that there was a
24:47part of their healing practice that was
24:49about figuring out what to do, right?
24:51So before engaging in some healing,
24:53you would see exchanges between
24:55them and saying, oh,
24:57I need to go and consult with a conjurer,
25:00a diviner,
25:00a healer in the community so that they
25:03could tell me what to do to pursue a cure.
25:06So this step of figuring out
25:08what to do was essential,
25:10fighting back and resisting.
25:11So healing was also about, oh,
25:13we about to transform the conditions.
25:15That's creating distress and
25:17despair in the 1st place.
25:18So oh,
25:19you are a healer who gets to
25:22travel to other plantations that
25:25go you tell them what's about
25:27to go down or they trust you on
25:30the the plantation as the nurse.
25:32So you get to share information
25:35and strategically.
25:36Evaluate their knowledge and then
25:39decide how to use that wisely in
25:42order to create an outlet for relief,
25:44right?
25:45So fighting back and resisting,
25:47seeking relief,
25:48addressing and confronting pain.
25:50So back to the cod liver roll.
25:52So there were many stories about
25:55being led to into the forest and
25:57like figuring out what herbs to
25:59pick right and then taking those
26:01to address to create healing,
26:03enduring and pushing through.
26:06So sometimes.
26:07It was just tapping into this cognitive
26:09space that they were able to curate.
26:11That was a protected space.
26:12And I was like, all right,
26:13I know what's happening in front of me.
26:15I know the constraints that are imposed.
26:18But there is a world inside that
26:20ain't nobody got access to.
26:22So while I'm being threatened with violence,
26:25while I'm being dehumanized, oh,
26:27the part of me that knows fully who I am.
26:30So being able to retreat into that
26:32space was an essential part of healing.
26:35And then again for the.
26:37Healers.
26:37So the overlap was in figuring out what to
26:40do. So even if you are a healer,
26:42you might be engaging with spiritual
26:44guides about what information to now
26:47share with the person who is the seeker of
26:49healing accessing original instructions.
26:51So many of the narratives talk about
26:54having an African born parent who said
26:57do this and now I'm following that.
26:59And so though that was a pattern of. Use it.
27:03Relying on those original instructions
27:06to figure out your path for healing,
27:08fighting back and resisting in ways that
27:10we would describe performing healing.
27:12So sitting by the sick bed of someone
27:15sourcing the land and creating medicine,
27:18standing in the gap and holding
27:20each other in love.
27:21So sometimes it was just holding space,
27:23being there. Words weren't necessary,
27:25but the description of, you know,
27:27being able to to to be there while
27:30somebody was on their sick bed performing.
27:32Past that, they weren't able to do not
27:35just the expected test on plantation life,
27:37but you not going to be able to
27:39look out for your baby or you know,
27:41this person and so that wasn't a critical
27:44part of creating space for healing.
27:46And then lastly,
27:47laying the foundation for
27:49intergenerational healing and well-being.
27:50So again, going back to Elder Jackson,
27:53it was like, oh.
27:54They weren't just like, oh,
27:55this is what's going to get
27:57us through right now.
27:58But I believe that these are the tools
28:00that's going to help my children,
28:02my children's children,
28:03and believing that they are going
28:05to be useful for the different
28:08types of challenges and adversities
28:10that we would face to come.
28:11So when we discovered these strategies,
28:16and you can read about our description of the
28:19first two that overlapped in the article.
28:22What we realized is that it offered
28:26something to add to that conceptual
28:29model of historical trauma.
28:32For us.
28:35We added cultural and spiritual
28:37heritage and ancestors at the top.
28:40So one thing this act of going back for,
28:43you know, what your elders did was
28:45important and meant that we were always
28:48dipping into an original stash, right?
28:50That no matter where we were,
28:51we still had access.
28:53And even though that access was
28:55the intention was to disrupt that
28:58through those forces of subjugation,
29:01we found ways to always access also.
29:05The framing of our lives is that we don't
29:07just think about life as one-dimensional.
29:09Like I only get to engage with who's
29:11in this room at this very moment.
29:13I also get to engage with the people who
29:16been gone and the generations to come.
29:19So while access quote UN quote
29:21was cut off in this world,
29:23what we had was a world
29:25that was trans temporal.
29:27So you you.
29:28That's cute, but the way my life is set up.
29:32I got an inheritance that
29:34I can always tap into.
29:35So while the other models start at
29:38subjugation and mass group trauma,
29:41there is an important beginning that when we
29:43talk about healing and working with anybody,
29:46children, adolescents and their families,
29:48the reminder that you got a
29:50stash that can't nobody touch.
29:53So putting that on the model was important.
29:56Then in the middle.
29:57So that arrow from mass group trauma
30:00to that by that directional arrow at
30:03the top just reinforces this notion
30:05of trying to attack you know that
30:09preservation of that that Wellness
30:12wellspring even though there was
30:15attempted to to disrupt that that
30:17we still maintain those connections
30:20and access and would perpetually
30:22be able to tap into that resource.
30:25So mass group trauma on the
30:28primary generation.
30:29So yes,
30:30it created historical trauma responses,
30:32but the fact that we are here means that
30:35wounding was not the only thing involved.
30:37So for us,
30:38you will never tell our story without
30:40elevating our healing experience to the
30:43same status as you talk about wounding.
30:45And so for us in this model,
30:47it's imperative that when you see us,
30:50when you dare to tell our stories,
30:52make sure you tell the full story.
30:53And even when you don't, this model
30:55actually for you is so that this is my first.
30:59That training.
31:00So my nieces will forever know,
31:01my nephew will forever know their children,
31:04will forever know that we we are
31:06more than just the story of despair.
31:09Finally, those things, right.
31:11So when we talk about intergenerational
31:14transmission, again you say,
31:16hey, well,
31:16the generations that came before they,
31:18they had these things going on.
31:20So that's why we see the incidences
31:22of whatever in the next generation
31:25often talking about pathology, right?
31:28But if those same pathways work
31:31to transmit trauma?
31:33Guess what?
31:33They can also transmit some other things.
31:36They can also transfer some other things.
31:38So, and again,
31:40that fireside training piece was like,
31:42oh,
31:42and it was intentional to
31:44transfer those other things.
31:46And so if we are endeavoring
31:48to figure out what
31:49the world of human looks like
31:51with black folks, if we only
31:53look at half of this story,
31:55you're in the wrong room.
32:00You start an empty handed.
32:04And again, it ain't for you to know.
32:06Because the way that our lives are set up.
32:11All of the ways, well that is due to
32:14sound but is humming tap like movement.
32:17Our ancestors made sure that we
32:20had a way to reconnect to the
32:23possibility of healing and well-being.
32:26So when we were looking.
32:28And many, many discussions about
32:31intergenerational transmission talk,
32:33talk about kind of social transmission
32:35and talk about kind of what gets
32:38transferred from like in the womb from a
32:41mom to a child or what gets transferred
32:43because of what people didn't heal.
32:46And so that stuck out to me when
32:47looking at historical trauma theory and
32:49discussions of post traumatic slave
32:51syndrome and the conversation that,
32:53oh, there were no counseling centers
32:55set up for black folks at the time.
32:58And so for me, it originally there was like,
33:01Oh yeah, that's right. So we couldn't.
33:03But this whole work was like,
33:04Oh yeah, no, we might not have been
33:07sitting on nobody's couch,
33:08but healing was happening.
33:11Healing was happening.
33:13And so when you want to use all
33:15of the cute words given to me,
33:17cultural whatever,
33:18and inclusivity and all
33:20of that kind of stuff,
33:22and you are not creating arms that
33:24are big enough to hold the ways
33:27in which we identify Wellness and
33:29well-being and which we define healing,
33:31then you ain't including nothing.
33:36What ways do you centers?
33:38What ways do you counseling spaces?
33:40What ways do they make space for
33:42the different ways in which black
33:44people pursue and experience healing?
33:46What ways are they doing that?
33:50How do you know?
33:53And if you leave here and you only take
33:55what's in this article, what I say,
33:57then you still ain't being inclusive.
33:59Because the way black folks are set up,
34:00we ain't monolithic.
34:03So whoever is in your office may not
34:06be down with God live all. Thank you.
34:10The only way you'll know if you're
34:12being inclusive in that space is
34:14at one you check who you're being.
34:17What are the the healing frameworks
34:18that I'm bringing into this office?
34:20It's who I'm being.
34:23Spacious enough to invite the
34:25fullness of who those other
34:27people are into the room with me.
34:30It's who I'm being.
34:33Spacious enough?
34:33So that if somebody has a world
34:36of healing that doesn't resonate
34:38with what I know and what I learned
34:41inside somebody's classroom,
34:42that I still know how to make space for
34:45it is who I am being inclusive enough.
34:50If not. Cool. Don't get stuck there.
34:56Figure out. And I'm not just saying
34:59shape shift and act like it.
35:00I don't like performative.
35:04You might discover that you
35:06need to check out. This is
35:08where the journey ends for you.
35:12Or you get to ask yourself.
35:15Am I willing and able?
35:20To make that space.
35:24Which starts with critical
35:25dialogue at the level of you.
35:27So while this model and this this way
35:31of framing healing is absolutely and
35:34it's creation definitely for my people.
35:37It's an invitation for everybody to say,
35:40well, what is my story?
35:43What is the experience and framing
35:45of healing that I take into
35:47whatever buildings and classrooms?
35:49Be aware of it.
35:51So that you don't intentionally
35:53or unintentionally weaponize it.
35:56As a way to create barriers and boundaries
35:58in the spaces where you have power,
36:00so that people cannot breathe and
36:02be themselves and access healing in
36:04ways that resonate with who they are.
36:05Who are you being?
36:08What is your story?
36:10Who told you what healing is?
36:16The last treatment plan that you wrote up,
36:18whose definition of healing was that?
36:26So the model.
36:30This is a part. Of the baton that I
36:33realized that I needed to carry to
36:36make sure that there were expanded
36:38ways in these stuffy academic rooms
36:41and journals to know that there's a
36:43framework for us to be able to justify
36:46the things that we know in our bones.
36:51The conceptual model of
36:53intergenerational healing.
36:57So. I'm horrible and this time
37:01following. So yeah, I gotta you
37:03gotta link at me or something.
37:07So lastly, it wasn't good
37:10enough for me to make a model.
37:13And just write up a discussion and
37:16an implication section and be like,
37:17alright, y'all have that,
37:18go do something with it.
37:22It's like, oh, I don't got to wait for that.
37:26I don't just have to say what's missing.
37:30I get to go create.
37:33What insights have been given to me?
37:37So ultimately.
37:40But I got the brilliant gift to
37:42be able to do was to ask myself
37:45what would that model look
37:46like as a real living thing?
37:53Now births the Center for
37:55black well-being. LLC.
38:00Our framework is to go to all the
38:03layers of this model and to use it
38:06to inform and shape our guiding.
38:08Use it as our guiding philosophy.
38:12So what we said about cultural and spiritual
38:15heritage and ancestors in practice,
38:18that looks like remembering who we are.
38:21Activating and remixing cultural strengths,
38:23assets, and original instructions
38:25as a vital healing source.
38:28Maybe you're asking what does that look like
38:30in your work with individuals or families?
38:33Well, in order to remember,
38:35sometimes might need to know.
38:36Do you know? Do they know?
38:40Maybe it's just creating space.
38:42What's your healing story?
38:45One thing that I love is to
38:46take the genogram and flip it.
38:48Use it as a way to trace
38:50healing across generations.
38:52How are people healing back then?
38:53What parts of that do resonate with you?
38:57And what parts did you feel like
38:59you wanted to run from a transform?
39:02Where did you feel like
39:03healing wasn't happening?
39:04What do you think was the impact on you?
39:07People get to create their own
39:09personalized map and now you have
39:11a tool that you get to use that is
39:13really all the nice social work
39:15cliches that write Stephanie.
39:16I was like,
39:17don't write those in the papers
39:19that you submit to me,
39:20please.
39:23But meeting somebody where they are.
39:26That that's what it can look like.
39:31Next, amplify healing as an essential
39:33possibility and part of our present,
39:35past, present, and future.
39:37So wherever we are going,
39:39whatever space I'm invited to,
39:40we are talking about healing center.
39:43I'm grateful for the things that trauma
39:46informed awareness has given me and.
39:48The way that it gets to look when
39:50I put healing at the center.
39:52Healing is the intention.
39:54Healing as the reminder old man.
39:57How creative I get to be,
39:59how creative we get to be,
40:01how creative they get to be.
40:02What does that look like in practice?
40:04Just asking radically imagination.
40:06What would it look like if
40:08this thing was transformed?
40:10What would it feel like to you?
40:13Right.
40:16Next, affirm African cosmological beliefs
40:19and the transpersonal nature of healing.
40:22So again, you may have somebody who
40:25doesn't just think in this dimension.
40:27They believe that they have tools that
40:29they can access from other spaces,
40:31spiritually and otherwise.
40:32You might need to ask questions about gifts.
40:39What were? What else was available?
40:41What do they know?
40:43What are the stories from their families?
40:46Maintain space where we can identify
40:47and explore spiritual gifts and healing.
40:49So similar to what I just named
40:52Createspace to intentionally share
40:53our healing gifts and wisdom.
40:55So that's fireside training,
40:57and I'll talk in the next slide
40:59really quickly about what that
41:01looks like at the center.
41:04Createspace for relief and Joy and #7.
41:07So this ain't no order of priority,
41:10it's just what I got to next
41:12when I was trying to write OK.
41:15Acknowledge and share about the
41:17impact of traumatic exploitation,
41:19violence and subjugation, violence,
41:21subjugation and oppression for
41:23affirmation and accountability.
41:25So while I know that my work right,
41:28I like Jay Shetty and in his
41:30book think like a monk,
41:32he talked about Dharma, right.
41:34And how you don't really have to do it all,
41:36you just have to be focused
41:38on what your daughter is.
41:39And I believe that my
41:40Dharma is healing center,
41:41somebody else's dormer is trauma informed,
41:44right?
41:44So while the things that I am
41:48involved in will prioritize the
41:52commitment to well-being and healing.
41:54It's not, you know,
41:56omitting or not prioritizing
41:58awareness of mass group trauma
42:01and forces not just historical,
42:04historical,
42:04but ongoing forces of subjugation.
42:07That's very present you know,
42:09for me and so how that out
42:11pictures in the work that I'll do,
42:12I'll be able to share quickly as well.
42:19So at the center, here are some
42:22of the things that we've done
42:25created spaces for relief and joy.
42:28We do a monthly event called
42:30the Digital Oasis, right?
42:31Something that played an instrumental role
42:33in healing and well-being was just gathering.
42:36So having a monthly space where
42:37we just get to be together.
42:39Sharing information.
42:40So at each Oasis or at each event,
42:43somebody gets to share of their gifts.
42:46So whoever comes gets to learn
42:48a new modality or walk away with
42:50information that can be applied
42:51that they don't have to wait to
42:54figure out insurance and wait to
42:56figure out finding somebody that
42:58they like you know to work with.
43:00But what if we just create spaces
43:02where we're sharing the information
43:04that people can access and grab
43:06and put in their own toolkit
43:08and experience Wellness and.
43:09Right now in ways that are needed.
43:11And we do that collectively.
43:15So a range of things we got together.
43:18Talk about online dating.
43:22Black pleasure and passion.
43:25An event focused on music,
43:28right,
43:28and creating music that affirms a
43:31creating music that can help recenter
43:33us in times when it's needed.
43:35Sharing the tool of emotional
43:37freedom technique or tapping.
43:39So you know,
43:39we mix it up and just keep it
43:42simple and Createspace as the model
43:45is the theme for those events.
43:48And lastly,
43:48our Community level engagement is when
43:51we work as consultants with organization.
43:54So there's the time where I get to.
43:56Amp up #7,
43:57right.
43:57So when you want to bring me in because of
44:02all your beautiful DI lovely commitments,
44:05what's beautiful is that we get to
44:08merge the skills of clinical practice,
44:11our awareness of who we are and
44:14healing centered engagement and
44:16create spaces where we invite
44:18organizations to be held accountable
44:20and to reimagine what it could look
44:23like to create an organization.
44:26That feels like Wellness,
44:27especially to the black folks and
44:29to other folks of color who inhabit
44:32or are parts of those spaces.
44:37A lot of stuff I'm missing.
44:38I don't know where we are
44:39in time, but. 10 minutes.
44:45OK, OK, so I will, I will stop here.
44:50The long and the short of it,
44:52and we were talking about this earlier.
44:57This is because. Of every single
45:01person that was in the gratitude
45:04page earlier. This is because.
45:09My parents the same Mama that
45:11I referenced in the poem.
45:14With everything knew how to
45:16create a world, to Createspace,
45:18to surround me with tools that even if
45:21she wasn't directly giving them to me,
45:24I had access to the things that
45:26ultimately held up nearest to myself.
45:31Helped me to go inward and discover, yeah,
45:34you know, I might want to do social work
45:37and I might have wanted to Dibble and
45:39dabble in academia, and I might have.
45:43Wanted to do something that would be helpful
45:46to Anton from the YMCA where I worked.
45:51But it was about growing the
45:55healing story that was inside of me.
45:58In a way that invited me to just
46:01follow the path to my own Dharma,
46:03to my own destiny.
46:04And so I don't just ask myself
46:06about a professional identity,
46:08but I ask myself, what are the
46:09things that are supposed to be out,
46:11pictured and realized because I am here?
46:15If we look back at any of the
46:18narratives or at the model,
46:20what's beautiful is that our
46:22ancestors were doing CBT.
46:27Our ancestors were, you know,
46:30when you look at those stage
46:32theories of help seeking, right,
46:34they would demonstrate it.
46:35Oh, let me figure out what to do first.
46:38Let me find a world that it
46:40made sense to do that in.
46:41Let me find some people that could trust.
46:44Let me check back in with the home with
46:47the fam and see what was safe to do.
46:49Right. And so we were methodically.
46:53And ultimately,
46:54let me check back in with who I am.
46:57I know what this world is trying to tell me.
47:00But the way this DNA is set up?
47:02Oh, there is.
47:04A wellspring of Wellness information
47:07that is mine.
47:09Hey, what's happening into that in
47:11the midst of circumstances that
47:12I couldn't even have imagined?
47:16So I had to return to that
47:19poem and transform it.
47:20Originally it said this dear ancestors,
47:23please get well.
47:24Please get well soon.
47:25That was the original version of the poem.
47:27It was a plea for them to heal so
47:29that somehow I could get healing.
47:31Because the way intergenerational
47:32transmission work is that if
47:34you're not well, I'm not well.
47:38But I had to really reevaluate and
47:41discover who they are and who I am,
47:44so that I could transform that
47:46and that my heart could speak to
47:48their hearts and say I see you.
47:51I thank you. May the healing that you
47:54have fought for me to be able to do
47:57reach back to you as well. Thank you.
48:07Thank you is this.
48:09Is this on? OK. Yeah.
48:11Thank you so much for that work.
48:13We're going to go ahead and
48:15move on to questions.
48:16We have about 10 minutes.
48:20No, we're going to answer
48:22all the questions that we
48:23have until we can. Does.
48:30Alright, are there any
48:31questions in the chat too?
48:32We have somebody in the chat.
48:34Please say your name too and your
48:36affiliation with yell when you.
48:39Hi, my name is Sam Hayek and I thank you so
48:44much for sharing. All your
48:46knowledge with us and experience.
48:54I have. My question is what does
48:58it take for? Non black folks.
49:04To be healers of black folks.
49:08How can we? Transfer or
49:12transmit this this knowledge,
49:14this you know, generation,
49:18generationally transmitted.
49:21Intuitive. And practical know how?
49:27To people who are not born into it.
49:31Because otherwise.
49:33You know the ratio of, you know,
49:36doctors and psychologists and psychiatrists.
49:39That are non that that are black folks too.
49:44Black, black folks.
49:45It's very very low.
49:46So we need to head train non black
49:49folks to work with black folks.
49:53Can you help me there? No.
49:58So.
50:03Something. Whenever I go somewhere,
50:05I usually say. I got home training.
50:08My Mama taught me not to walk up in
50:10somebody else house, take off my shoes,
50:12turn their chair there and tell them
50:14what temperature to set their house at.
50:16So. Often our professions amp us up.
50:20They put the battery in our back
50:23with this audacity to believe that
50:24we have an invitation to places that
50:27we don't necessarily always have.
50:29So there is the work of critical self
50:32reflection. I think that that is huge, right?
50:36Is there an invitation here for me?
50:39And if I really have a deep investment
50:42in becoming and showing up as
50:44somebody who would have an invitation
50:46to support healing and well-being,
50:48what transformation?
50:49Where am I willing to go in order
50:52to become that?
50:54So I can't sit here and give a blanket answer
50:56for what that looks like because again,
50:59we're not monolithic.
51:00I might be like, all right here,
51:02do all these things and you
51:03show up to somebody who like,
51:05I don't want that, right?
51:07So how are the I I think a lot of
51:09the answers to these things start
51:12at the level of self inquiry.
51:14Who am I being? Who have I been so far?
51:17And investigate.
51:18Flip some of that research to really
51:22understand at the level of you.
51:24What is it that has been keeping
51:26distance between me and the people that
51:29I thought I put on these licenses to help?
51:32What is that thing?
51:33They're leaning in and and getting insights.
51:36The people who are going to have
51:38the answers you need are the actual
51:40people in the room with you,
51:42and so they will be able to share.
51:44And maybe your work is other things, right?
51:47So one, in those healing narratives,
51:49we weren't only just inviting healing
51:53support from people of African ancestry,
51:57right?
51:58We also had other collaborations we were had.
52:03There were stories that I remember
52:05about communities with Native Americans.
52:07And so there are ways in which
52:10we identify that people are.
52:14Have a heart that feels like
52:17healing and well-being to us.
52:19The last thing that I was so it's not an
52:22exclusionary experience in that sense.
52:24Sometimes there is an invitation, but the
52:28particular ingredients for what makes.
52:31Us in terms of whatever.
52:34Credentials we walking in with
52:36what makes us a space where people
52:38feel like healing can happen.
52:40The answer for that is going
52:42to be very different.
52:43What you might ask yourself,
52:44is that the level where my power is, is at.
52:49With what I understand about what
52:52creates the conditions that reinforce.
52:55The absence of well-being or harm
52:58or hurt in this role that I got,
53:00what can I do?
53:01So it might not be sitting in the room
53:03with black folks and their families.
53:05It might be working at the level of
53:07your power to transform the conditions
53:09that create the need in the 1st place.
53:12How are you being to the people
53:15that you teach?
53:16How are you being to the people that
53:19you lead as directors of your program?
53:21What are the ways that you're making
53:24it so that the people who are are are?
53:27Reporting to you don't feel like
53:30they can be well in there every day.
53:33Maybe that's where you have to start.
53:36And then that might be a blueprint
53:38that lends to other discoveries
53:40that help you Createspace to become
53:42a person who is invited to support
53:44the healing of well-being of black
53:46folks in the way that may be desired.
53:53Thank you. Thank you.
53:56We have one more question. On him.
54:00One of the things for for marriage
54:02therapy is we say that our our clients
54:06are the they know themselves now whether
54:09trauma and transgender trauma they know
54:12their experience and so I always look
54:15at it's about relationship because when
54:17you come into the room your clients
54:19know if you're genuine or not and
54:22we as black people understand that.
54:23So we know most of the time if you really
54:26are trying to help us or is it are
54:29you trying to check the boxes and so.
54:30I just needed to tell you publicly.
54:32You rock. So I. I need that model.
54:38One of the things I was looking at
54:40as I went through because I just
54:42finished my MFT program.
54:44Looking at ways that will help us.
54:46And so just what I can see from the
54:48board and I'm going to go back and look,
54:51your model is phenomenal.
54:53If nobody ever tells you black girl magic,
54:57you got it all together.
54:58I appreciate you.
55:00And I would snap,
55:01but my fingers are not loud enough.
55:04Excellent. Thank you.
55:07Lastly, I would also say so,
55:10the idea of fireside training,
55:11what it inspires me to do and what we
55:14do at the center is to create something
55:16called the black Clinical Scholars program,
55:19right? So one of the.
55:23One of the things that I now understand.
55:26Going through my own healing journey is that,
55:28oh, we were just talking about this upstairs.
55:31I am the magic.
55:34I don't need to put it
55:36in a certain container.
55:37I don't need to put it in a container
55:39where I gotta fight for creating the
55:41things that actually I know are necessary.
55:44So in the spirit of fireside training,
55:46which is one of the guiding
55:48principles for the center,
55:50we've created something called the
55:51black Clinical Scholars Program.
55:53And So what it does is that it invites
55:55blacks social work students from.
56:00Helping professions,
56:00programs to be able to meet with us.
56:04We we've built it out in different ways.
56:07But originally we're trying to go for
56:10some grant funding and monies for it.
56:12But then I was like, Oh yeah,
56:13no, that's not the model.
56:15Keep it simple and Createspace.
56:17So what are the things that I was trying
56:19to write to somebody to get the funds
56:21for what's available for us to do now.
56:23And so we've created space to be
56:25able to meet with black social work
56:27students and students and other.
56:30Department of Psychology who just need
56:32a space to kind of talk about who they
56:35are and what are the options for how
56:37you get your magic out there to do,
56:40especially the healing work.
56:41And there's also a high school
56:43version of that that I have a model
56:45for as well that we plan to do.
56:47So that actually is kind of my personal
56:50response to the question that you brought up,
56:54which is if.
56:56As many black folks are often looking for
56:58black folks to create spaces for healing,
57:00how do we just expand and?
57:05Lastly.
57:06The idea of the spiritual
57:09transmission of healing,
57:10meaning that in many of the
57:13narratives people talked about.
57:14Having spiritual gifts just
57:16because of who they are, right?
57:18Their family lineage.
57:19And so imagine creating spaces for high
57:22school students to be able to like,
57:24actually talk about that,
57:26you know, and you know.
57:29Graduate students,
57:31undergraduate students as well.
57:32And then you get to come through your
57:35academic process really figuring out
57:37what's your thumbprint on this thing, right?
57:39So what is the thing?
57:41Again, that can happen through you.
57:43And then we cover more territory.
57:44You know,
57:45if we're all doing the same thing,
57:46mastering the same theories and formulas,
57:48then that's cute.
57:49But what about the people who
57:50don't want those?
57:54Thank you, Doctor Henderson.
57:55I know we're running out on time.
57:57We're already did.
57:59So thank you all for coming.
58:02Claps. Thank you for inviting me
58:05and thank you for choosing to
58:07spend your afternoon in this way.
58:09It really means a lot to me.
58:10So thank you.
58:11Thank you everybody on Zoom as well.
58:152nd.