Talks with My Ancestors

In this paper, I will present a reflection on my journey of decolonizing my relationship to holding space for healing trauma, and co-creating communities around wellness. I start with the specific way that I was trained in U.S.-based social work mental health practices and end with the insight I gained through the co-creation of a wellness studio for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). My story will begin with what I began to unlearn and the ancestral wisdom and technologies that I tapped into to transform my approach to healing-in-community. As a healer of mixed race (Black-Caribbean; Haitian and white), I explore the depth and breadth of my healing work as I connect to ancestral knowledge through my relationship to my lineage. This occurred after unlearning much of what was taught to me in my master of social work program, so that I could remember ways of co-creating safety, connection, and community that do not reinforce patterns of colonization. I will use my experience co-creating a safe and sacred physical space: a wellness studio in the South End of Albany centered around BIPOC, as a case study illuminating how centering BIPOC in the creation of spaces for BIPOC creates safety, connection, and community.